Two Slaps

Yester:

Thanks to my brother and the Press Coffeehouse & Lounge for the opportunity to play and sing some music for a small group of friends and a few strangers at the coolest café in Olympia. Performing always gives me further inspiration and challenges me to perform more and perform even better.

The Moral Of:

Sometimes I really don't want to give grace to other people because I don't feel like they deserve it. I feel like they ought to earn it somehow, like they need to work for it because they've done some kind of damage that requires repair.

I don't want to be kind to the person who cuts me down in front of my peers, or invest in someone who always flakes out, or go out of my way to include the person who overlooks me.

When I was a teenager, I used to lay in my mom's bed at night and talk her to sleep. I would tell her about boys that I liked, probe her mind about things that I didn't understand, and ask her advice about how to deal with people I didn't get along with.

She would always listen... she would listen so well that often, I would think she had fallen asleep while I was talking.

"Mom," I would say, "are you still awake?"

"Yes."

"Well, what do you think?"

"I think you still need to be gracious, Amanda. When you see that person, smile and say hello. No one's asking you to be her best friend, but you do need to be kind and give grace, no matter what."

Sometimes she would use the phrase "be the better person," or, "don't stoop to their level." My mother's advice may seem simple and trite, but her instruction is like gold to me.

It's not that giving grace makes me better than anyone else, or puts me on a higher level than other people; rather, giving grace makes me better than I was. Giving grace grows me in such a way that I reach a higher level than I was at before. I compare myself with no one but myself.

So, I'm trying to be gracious to you. I know I have enough grace for you because He gives it to me... more and more and more and more and more, etc.