O Christmas tree O Christmas tree

It has been a doozy of a week - we had a touch of stomach flu last week and it hit all our family - not my favorites scenario but we muddled through. I have found this week to be a mad dash to finish all our presents - hopefully that will be sucessful. But today amidst listening to the church sermon I was reminded of God's grace as the starting point and the renewal of life in all this.

I think that amidst all the reading and studying I have been doing this year some things have stood out profoundly. One movie that I watched recently really struck a deep chord. It is called Aftershock.  It is about a family put in an impossible situation. During a catastrophic earthquake a mother must choose between the life of her two children - a twin girl and boy. To save one the other will most probably die - both cannot be saved. The mother chooses. Both children end up surviving but their family is torn asunder. This story is about how they survive from that moment on.

Overarching themes of forgiveness and repentance were woven in with grace, sorrow, and joy. How these people dealt with an impossible situation, the misunderstandings that marked a whole life lived and then the grace given for redemption and forgiveness.  It moved me to the core. I am still feeling the thoughts tumble down and in this time when my main job is mothering it really was relevant. This was a "big" circumstance in this movie and yet these are about the small circumstances as well. I had to watch a few scenes over and over they were so moving. How do we transcend our sinful natures to be the creatures God intended - grace. The simplicity and wholeness of God's grace. Now in a house filled a little more with Christmas cheer from the lights of the tree, I pray for grace. God is good. Carpe diem.