The Word I Needed Today

My deadlines today, right this minute, are about as tight as they get in my world. Two enormous projects are due tomorrow--one that would normally have me tight-lipped with anxiety, and another that adds a whole new dimension of stress.

I've reminded myself of all the things I tell the Boys when they're under pressure. That this will all get done, one way or another. That they're capable and resourceful and know how to use both of those traits. That this stress has an expiration date.

Then this morning another straw was thrown on the camel's back and it almost did me in. As I left for an appointment I hadn't anticipated I was clench-teethed with anxiety at what the delay would do to my schedule. My friend at the next desk knew this and wished me well.

"Grace," she said.

It was the perfect thing to say. As I drove toward the appointment that had me stewing, I thought about grace, about the undeserved joys in my life, and how these joys are often intertwined with clenched-teeth tentacles.

I love and am grateful for my job, and would not love it nearly as much if it did not challenge me. I love and am grateful for my Boys, and the clutter that accompanies them is a small price to pay for having them home. I love and appreciate the three-day weekend that has me scrambling to have everything done in time.

Grace comes wrapped in some convoluted packages, but when the convolution is gone, the grace remains.

The grace remains.