Part One: Grace

My mom loves asking conversation-starters. A few months back she asked my favorite word. This sounds simple enough, but I take questions like this seriously. I treat it like it’s a commitment, like I’m stuck with that answer forever. My mind plays out a crazy scenario where I run for president. During the campaign, someone will dig up the casual answers I gave to questions like this and grill me about them. So, of course, I didn’t answer right away. The question rolled around in my mind, bouncing around the dark recesses of my subconscious only to pop back out unexpectedly.

Grace.

To reach the status of “favorite” a word must be special. It is more than the way it feels as it forms in your throat and passes over your lips. A word’s meaning and life-changing power factors in as well. More important still is the history we have together. Grace changed my life and every relationship in it. It is more than just a word I quietly whisper as I exhale frustration. It isn’t just the secret to a happy marriage or the path to reconciliation with God. It is all this and more. Diving into the inward and external depths grace is a transformational and lifelong pursuit.

The more I’ve explored, discovered, received, and shared grace, the deeper my realization of the urgent need humanity has for it. When our relationships are bound together with grace, every misunderstanding can be worked through and resolved. Grace is interwoven with forgiveness and gratitude, which together can overcome the greatest wounds and harshest trials.

Let our lives be shaped by an abundance and overflow of grace.

In our little corner of the internet known as “Grace, Truth, & Coffee,” our conversations are shaped by grace. We may explore hard or controversial subjects, but we do so with grace. Grace shapes communities and changes lives.