Wait for the Lord 13 - Grace and Freedom

So, I am a day late in writing this, but yesterday morning I was getting ready for our early service and happened to glance out my office window and saw a beautiful lavender-ish light that was filling the street. My office window faces north so I couldn't see the sunrise directly to see what was ultimately bringing that color. So I grabbed my camera and headed out to see these colors. It was wonderful. I wanted to try to get a shot from higher up though and I zipped upstairs to look out one of the upper windows only to find that by the time I got there, the colors had faded. At first, I was a bit annoyed but the more I reflected on it, the more I thought about how that initial moment was a true gift. Prior to that, I was in to-do mode - were the Advent candles ready to go, did I have my sermon all prepped, was the battery changed in my mic, and so forth. That single moment led me to remember the gift that God has brought to us - a gift that is not based on what we do or how many things we accomplish but instead on a gift given to us simply out of love.

"Compassionate Lord, let me know the power of your gift of grace" - Henri Nouwen