Grace is enough

Well, it's Sunday and our week of vacation is almost over. My daughters' elementary school (and my new place of employment) was closed this last week, so we had a week at home. We were planning on visiting my parents for my dad's birthday, but illnesses caused us to cancel the trip. Thankfully it was colds and mild flu, not major health issues for my dad, that changed our plans.

I had hoped that I could use this week to rest and prepare for the busier schedule which starts for us this next week. Instead, I have lazed about with a low-level flu that won't quite go away. My husband and one daughter had it as well this week. I accomplished very little on my "to do" list for this week, and I still don't feel very rested. We will have a busy afternoon today, trying to finish up what has to be done before tomorrow. We may not be very prepared for our visit with the tax accountant tomorrow afternoon, bah...

In many ways, this week was a reality check for me - an open view into my weaknesses. Anxiety, depression, ADD, perfectionism - I'm tired of trying to understand labels that might define the what, how, and why of my struggles. If God is true in what He says that His power is perfected in our weakness, then I only know that I must be a living example of His power in ways that I just can't see right now. God's grace is what it's all about, I see that ever more in my life.

Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,

My grace is enough; it's all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.

Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness.

2 Corinthians 12:7-9 (The Message)