"Only by the grace of God": Cliche or Truth

As I walk up to the check out line and prepare to unload my groceries from my cart, with the help of 10 eager hands ( of course), 9 times out of ten, after I am greeted with a, "Hello, how are you today? Did you find everything you were looking for?", I am asked the question. "Are these all yours? (referring to my 10 helpful hands). Sometimes the voice behind the counter is kind and others times rude, but all the time it is full of pity, as though they feel sorry for me. And inevitably the confession that follows the question is, "I don't know how you do it. I just have two and I can't handle them".

There was I time that I did not know how to answer the clerks. Besides saying "Yes, they are all mine" and "No, I don't have a daycare", I was tongue tied. How could I let them know that I am not supermom and some days are hard. But also let them know that those 10 little hands (soon to be 12 hands as soon as Laylah is big enough to throw an orange on the conveyor belt) bring joy to my life and I wouldn't have it any other way. I would go home and tell family and friends about my experience and ask them what they would have said. The most common response was, "Tell them that it's God's grace that helps you". Hmmmmmmm....well, it sounded good, but I am not one to throw around Christian cliches. I have to know what I am saying is true. I don't want to leave someone with something that just sounds good or worse, just sounds like a "religious" phrase. And I know that what I want to say to someone after having been asked the same question for the 100th time, would probably not glorify my Father. So I had to think about it. Is it true, was it His grace that helped me? And if so, what exactly did that mean?

So, I continued to smile and nod my head yes, to the men and women at the cash register. I tried to tell them that it was God's grace, but some how the words just fell to the floor. Empty. Until one day while a was reading Titus Chapter 2, I read past the exhortation to older and younger women and I found my answer. In verses 11 and 12 it states, "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, TEACHING us that, denying ungodliness and worldy lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world,". Oh my goodness, there was my answer. That's it! The grace of God TEACHES me. It teaches me how to be a mommy that glorifies Him. He teaches me by His grace, to love the way He loves. He teaches me how to deny ungodliness and to choose His way. He teaches me not to cry or yell over spilled milk. He teaches me to open my mouth with wisdom and to let the law of kindness rule my tongue. Oh my God, thank You for Your grace.

Twelve years ago, I was pregnant with my first born son. I remember being 8 months pregnant and on my hands and knees in the new Noah's Ark nursery, crying. I was so scared that I would not know how to be a mom. That I would ruin my child because I would not know how to love him because of my childhood. How would I ever teach him to avoid the mistakes and sins of my past, I thought. Well, now that baby will be twelve years old this summer and he has five younger siblings and I can truly say that, "only by the grace of God" have I been able to love my babies with the love of God. To ask their forgiveness when I have been wrong. God's grace is greater than my past. His grace and love has turned my selfishness into a willingness to be completely spent for them. Yeah, sometimes I complain that I don't have anytime for myself or that I am never caught up on laundry or anything else for that matter, but His grace pulls me back in and teaches me to look at the great purpose I have as a mother and I realize how blessed I truly am. And even better still, that grace is extended to my children and He will teach them by His grace, just as He has taught and is teaching me.

So the next time I'm at the check out line and am asked "the question", my reply won't fall to the ground. But will be a resounding, " Only by the grace of God. Would you like to know His grace too?", because it's not just a cliche.........its TRUTH.