My Grace Is Sufficient For You

I first received my Grace necklace for Christmas in 2013. Grace was continually on my heart. Bible verses such as "It's by grace you've been saved... it's freely given.. my grace is sufficient for you..." I've always believed these to be true. I need God's grace. Satan finds my darkness and quenches all Light. He knows my demons and gets in my head to tell me all kinds of lies.

During dark days, I struggle with family relationships, my self-identify and worth, and my focus is all on my (perceived) failures. I don't see or feel God's presence. It's dark. But... "my grace is sufficient for you, Courtney". See, all those lies about how I'm a horrible wife, mom, etc... it's not Truth. All those lies about feeling like a failure- I'm not. I need His grace to cover me. I cannot fail with the Holy Spirit in me and working through me.

2 Peter 3:18 says "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen." Christ accepts me, just as I am. And boy- that's grace.

Currently my family is transitioning out of state back home to Texas. I'm giving my Grace necklace to a very special friend, Amanda. I see a lot of similarities between us. She has gone through cancer, difficult family relationships, raising her first baby while she was still very young, multiple deployments of her husband in the army, many moves across the country, personal health issues, premature babies, and more. She is very hard on herself and expects perfection. But she doesn't see what I see. I see how resilient she is, how strong her character is, how great a mom she is (to 3 precious children now), how her relationship in Christ has grown, how God is using her in our church and in our community, and how God has used her in our friendship to make me a better person. She is not a failure. She is a daughter of the King who gives her grace: the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God.

-Courtney