I had a plan for the day, and it didn’t include a seat at my table. But the text came just as I was walking in the door. I had a number of items on my mental list to mark off, 3 hours to complete the mundane things till I had to walk back out that revolving door of my front porch into my second home, aka my car.

And there was a time when I would find myself letting anxiety pile up if the list went unchecked. There was a time when I would have not been able to enjoy the blessing of coffee growing cold across a table marked by love because our words were abundant and our conversation full. There was a time when I would  have worried about all the wasted time.

But time and life and trials and pain cement us together and give us the foundation to build real grace together with the people we are surrounded with. And experience gives us depth. When we invest in one another with the authentic and real pieces of ourselves, we carve out doorways of spontaneous joy and rich wisdom. But we can’t do that without giving a bit of ourselves away, or setting a piece of our time aside.

Our moments are decorated by love when we live them out in the truest colors grace paints over us… where we see others as the gift they are and are willing to look past the little things that trip us put. Because they are little things, those minute differences we think divide and segregate. The small issues are immaterial, most of the time, the ways that we allow ourselves to miss the beauty of the how we are all made uniquely different yet the same. And if we really pay attention, we see how it all fits into these glimpses of God shining brightly within.

I wonder if we disrupt the glorious way grace is meant to bind us close when we fail to see the power of being one together, of being interrupted for the sake of covenant.  And maybe how looking close, of searching for purpose, in those moments God sends us exactly what we need…at our most desperate places, our emptied and hurried times and our less than stellar scenarios.

Would we learn that hospitality is perhaps one of the best ways to heal our brokenness together and maybe the key to changing the big things is by focusing on the small ones first?

Let love for your fellow believers continue and be a fixed practice with you [never let it fail]. Do not forget or neglect or refuse to extend hospitality to strangers, for through it some have entertained angels without knowing it. – Hebrews 13:2

Sometimes those unplanned moments, the interruptions that make us pause, are the blessings of grace that add fullness to our living. They make us stop and consider what is before us and what is behind us and what is beside us as we go… and if we let ourselves embrace them, if we let ourselves enjoy them, if we let ourselves learn from them, we will be rich with grace.

But I can forget that in the busy-ness of living out these days because I can fill it too full with all that I think will fill me.

What if we choose the wisdom of grace? What if we saw those #gracemoments as interruptions to our plotted days and set about looking for more of the unexpected? Would we make more time for the people we are missing? Would we dig up joy in the ordinary?

This summer I am purposing to read more and to slow down, to invest grace and to sow love liberally. To fill up on the gospel good things, the life altering simple holy things that are all around us in the presence of my people and my community.

Because it is necessary.

And because all too often the people in our sphere of influence are speaking slow and singing deep into the crevices of our hearts, longing to be heard and needing to be known. But sometimes we are too busy to listen. We are inundated with the beeps and the notifications and the numbers to notice the faces behind them.

And we need to change that.

Because the little moments are the defining moments. The interruptions are sometimes the saving spaces. The minutia of living is bound by the connectedness of the people we know. And it is something that can only be done together.

“You and I don’t live in a series of big, dramatic moments. We don’t careen from big decision to big decision. We all live in an endless series of little moments. The character of a life isn’t set in ten big moments. The Character of a life is set in ten thousand little moments of everyday life.” – Paul Tripp

Jesus didn’t wrestle with the interruptions that found Him. He turned them into purpose. He met them with a gentle grace that left goodness behind. He brought out healing and opened blinded eyes. He spoke to raging waters and taught by example. He welcomed the young and called the unwanted. He prayed and delivered and set free through the various distractions. And in the process released grace that multiplied.

We need to see the interruptions as the blessing they are, the #gracemoment they are meant to become, and embrace them. We need to make time to really start seeing those people right in front of us. We need to be ok with our lists not always being complete and let our hearts be fuller because we live life deeper together.

It was such a good lesson to learn today.

Where are you being interrupted by grace?

IT’S YOUR TURN TO BE A GRACE COUNTER! SHARE YOUR GRACE MOMENT IN THE COMMENTS BELOW AND THEN COUNT GRACE WITH A FRIEND WITH COMMENT ON A BLOG OR TWO.
If you are a blogger, link up here with a post about finding grace moments in your life or one of your favorite inspiring and encouraging posts from this week. Share your thoughts in the comment section telling me about the #Grace Moments you experienced this week. *(only 1 post per link please)*

Take time to visit your neighbor next to you, and if you want visit a few more friends on the journey. We all need a little encouragement and affirmation as we travel together.

If you don’t have a blog, you can connect with me via my Journeys in Grace FB page by sharing a photo or a comment. Or you can join the party by sharing your images on Instagram with #Gracemoments hashtag.

Each week I will try visit as many of your amazing posts as I can.This is a safe place to sit and dwell in grace together, friends. I can’t wait to pour a cup of friendship with you and take in the grace moments you have to share. Don’t forget to leave a comment below, I love to hear from you.

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