Amazing Grace

Not long ago, I was asked to give a short talk at a church gathering about how thankful I am for my salvation. If I had been asked to do that when I was 20, I would have said all the right words, but they would have come from a completely different heart.

I was raised in a Christian home, by Christian parents, who had me in church every time the doors were open. Daddy was a minister of music for many of my growing-up years, and Mother always sang in the choir and taught Sunday School. Being a Christian was just part of who we were. At the age of 20, I would have given thanks for salvation much like saying a "blessing" over a meal—thanking God for the food, but not really feeling like He actually gave it to me.

So, if you had told me when I was 20 that by the time I was 40, I would be divorced, and that my children would be bouncing back and forth between their Dad and me, and that we would all be dealing with the painful issues that come with that situation, I would have said you were crazy! That was not the life intended for me.

When my life took that unexpected turn, I suddenly didn’t know who I was. For the first time in my life, I actually FELT lost! And in the midst of feeling lost, I learned how very much I needed to be found.

When I was going through the worst of that time in my life, I asked a very wise and trusted Christian friend, “What if I'm not able do the right thing and pull this all back together?" He said simply, “Well…you just may have to be saved by grace like the rest of us after all!”

What a slap in my self-sufficient face! Ever since, I have been so grateful for God’s amazing grace! How sweet the sound! That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now I'm found...blind, but now I see.

Thank you, Lord, for your amazing grace!