Lisa, my wife. That’s the picture I have. Grace is undeserved, selfless, understanding, comforting, beautiful and amazing. All of which she is to me, and all of which He is in blessing me with her.
It is my habit, each night as I seek to fall asleep and each morning as I wake to pray a prayer of gratitude for my wife. This silent liturgy centers me, feeds my contentment and pushes me toward loving her better. It likewise reminds me that she shows me grace in two directions.
First, I see grace in her. I watch Lisa interact with our family, knowing the fierceness of a mother’s love. I listen to her often as she speaks grace and wisdom into the lives of her friends. She is always there for them, giving a faithful word from God’s Word. That grace flows out of her because His grace has flowed into her.
Today marks the anniversary of her birth. Which one I will not say. In God’s good providence Lisa did not have a childhood marked by ease. When she encourages others to recognize God’s tender and mighty hand at work even in hardship, she knows of what she speaks. Her father, who loved her deeply, passed away when she was not even school aged. Her mother, who loved her deeply, faced her own demons along the way. As did her stepfather. Yet Lisa gives thanks for her upbringing. She honors her parents.
Every step along the way, every annual trip around the sun has brought hardship into her life. And every day she praises the Son. She is keenly aware of His presence, profoundly shaped by His nearness. She seems His blessings in all things.
Second, I am the recipient of His grace in being given her grace. When she found me I was the walking dead. She prayed me out of my grave. None of which I deserved. God used her to teach me ever more deeply about grace.
Lisa and I often remind marrieds who are struggling of this obvious truth- marriage is two sinners who love each other. The devil wants us to believe that the sin cancels out the love by persuading us that loves cancels out the sin. But the truth is we sin against each other. The solution isn’t merely to try harder. It is to forgive more quickly, and more fully.
I will never forget the morning I walked into a courtroom in cuffs, knowing I had blown up my world the night before. We had been together only a matter of a few weeks. But there she was in the gallery. She mouthed these words to me, and saved my life again, “The boys are OK. I love you.” She has stood by me as no one else has.
On this day, her birthday, I, her children, her friends, we are the recipients of this great gift- His grace through her. Give thanks. We rise up and call her blessed.