(a 6 minute read) Casey and Dakota have been rooming together for 4 months now. They’ve known each other for quite some time before college but have never lived together. Oh how excited they were when they found out they can room together. You see, Dakota had so much respect for Casey. The things that Casey volunteered to do; to help with this neighbor or help with the local homeless shelter. Casey was always engaged with some project. Dakota also loved hanging out with Casey. The things Casey would come up with and say, always managed to have Dakota laugh from within if you know what I mean. It was just pure joy for Dakota to be around Casey.

Of course living together brings in a different perspective on things, and Dakota quickly found out that as much as Casey is such a servant to people out there, the story was quite different as a roommate. Little things that Casey did not do began to add up and irked Dakota. So for example, Casey loved to make peanut butter & Jelly sandwiches. Once done with making the sandwich, Casey would drop the spoon wadded with peanut butter into the sink. The interesting thing is the dishwasher is right next to the sink. The spoon typically would have bounced as it was dropped into the sink, creating a peanut butter trail stuck in several spots. Dakota would come after Casey, and have to clean the sink from the peanut butter, clean the clumps of peanut butter off of the spoon and place it into the dishwasher.

As things like that continued to happen, Dakota was not sure how to approach Casey about them, and ended up excusing such behavior with, “My love for Casey is stronger, I’ll let it slide”.

One bad habit of Casey’s was to use the last of the toilet-paper and not put a new roll on……….. That one was pretty frustrating, yet Dakota would excuse that with, “Casey may notice someday and work on improving.”

If I was Dakota, I would have read Casey the riot act by now, right?

Casey rushed into the room one afternoon, made a sandwich and tossed the spoons in the sink. Casey thought, “I ought to clean up my mess.” Diverted by the thought of getting to the next thing, Casey turned around and walked away from the sink. Casey returned to the room that evening and started to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. “I’ll clean the spoon I left in the sink earlier”, was Casey’s thought. As the thought formulated, simultaneously there was a realization that the sink is now clean………..  Casey stopped making the sandwich and with hands covering the face and the head shaking collapsed into the chair by the table.

As soon as Dakota came into the room later that night, Casey wanted to talk ,”Tonight I realized that my behavior here for 4 months now is actually pretty offensive. Dakota, you have not once confronted me with any of the things that I do around here. Not sure how you tolerate such actions and yet smile at me and laugh with me day in and day out. You have simply illustrated to me the meaning of the phrase ‘Your Grace is Sufficient’. Although I already think the world of you, somehow this has elevated how I feel and think about you.”

“The world does not revolve around the things I want to do or the things that are important to me.What I do here at ‘home’ is more of a reflection of who I am, and not what I do ‘out there’. I sincerely want to be better in who I am and not in what I portray out there”, Casey stressed.

“The simple recognition of your grace Dakota towards me, and let me tell you, I will be that much more cognizant of this grace now as you continue to portray it, as I am not going to change overnight or maybe ever………… “   Both Dakota and Casey just busted out laughing

 

You see, if I am not aware of the acts of Grace that my Lord and Creator is extending me, all day, how then can I express my gratitude?

If there is no Gratitude given to a specific act of Grace, then is the Grace sensed? Or is the Grace simply talked about?

I saw this line, “Grace works best on messy people” by Madyson Grace.

I may ‘know’ that I am messy, but do I ‘feel’ messy?  I won’t feel the Grace without feeling messy……….. Grace washes the messy, and therefore Grace sensed = No Guilt

My Lord my Creator and my Maker, may experiencing ‘Your Grace is Sufficient’ be sufficient to comfort my messy me, whether I change overnight or maybe ever, may my gratitude be the reminder that I ought to continue to try and try and try. I love you and I thank you my Lord.