According to Wikipedia (I know terrible source but...), a "grace period" is a time past the deadline for an obligation during which a late penalty that would have been imposed is waived.
In other words, it is a time you or someone else allows you to mess up without consequences.
I think my grace periods for myself have become longer and for others shorter. I am not a fan of this new tendency of mine.
For example, this semester I have been LATE to everything. I blow it off like it is no big deal and say that I am living in polychronic time so all of the monochronic people need to just deal with it or become more culturally enlightened.
That is not what I believe at my core. I believe we are supposed to love people how they want to be loved and interact within the bounds of the society we are in.
In other words, I need to give myself less of a grace period and get my butt in gear. Being late does not speak highly of my character in Western society. Perhaps my discontentment of Western society leads me to rebel by pretending I was in a Latin country and being late all the time.
Whereas, I do want to treat people more important than the tasks at hand. I need to realize that I need to take my own advice and operate in a way that my culture (now matter how much I dislike it) values.
So therefore I need to decrease myself, and extend that grace to other people because that is what Christ would do.
So I stole this idea from my roomie, she has a delightful tradition of blogging 7 things she adores each Monday. I am going to blog on Wednesdays things that remind me of, are, or mean "grace".
As many of you know, I am a die hard fan of the show GLEE. This show feeds my inner performer and gives me a creative outlet that I do not have at this time in my life. I know it is pretty "gleekly", but I follow most of the actors on Twitter. My favorite actress has always been Dianna Agron playing my favorite character, Quinn Fabray. I also follow Dianna's blog, which really shows her real personality, and I love that.
This Wednesday, I became a Dianna Agron fan for renewed reasons.
Just like her character in the show handled an unexpected pregnancy with grace, dignity, and integrity, Dianna did the same amidst a recent controversy.
To start off, I found the pictures, and they are surprisingly racy (especially Lea's). However, Cory is almost 30 and both girls are well into their 20's. They are adults and have every right to participate in any kind of photo shoot they want. Especially, since the show they are representing is not exactly a show for the whole family. GLEE poses some adult questions not suitable for young children.
Dianna had every right to ignore these parents concerns. No one would have blamed her for saying she was a big girl and she can do whatever she wants.
But she didn't. She apologized to those who were hurt by the photos, expressed regret, and looked to tomorrow. She admitted that the photo shoot idea was not her favorite but stood up for herself by saying she is an adult and can make her own decisions.
She handled this controversial issue in a very mature and GRACEFUL way, and I commend her for it.
"At the time, it wasn’t my favorite idea, but I did not walk away. I must say, I am trying to live my life with a sharpie marker approach. You can’t erase the strokes you’ve made, but each step is much bolder and more deliberate. I’m moving forward from this one, and after today, putting it to rest. I am only myself, I can only be me. These aren’t photos I am going to frame and put on my desk, but hey, nor are any of the photos I take for magazines. Those are all characters we’ve played for this crazy job, one that I love and am so fortunate to have, each and every day. If you asked me for my dream photo shoot, I’d be in a treehouse, in a wild costume, war-paint and I’d be playing with my pet dragon. Until then.." Dianna wrote in her blog. Read the whole blog at here.
This phrase is used so frequently in Christian circles. I am not sure I fully comprehend its significance. All I can muster is that because of God's grace (and ONLY by the grace of God) something happened.
If we assume this is the definition, it is by the grace of God that I have survived the past three weeks.
To start off, school is back in session, which means balancing homework and work and social life. On top of that, I was filling in for our baker at my workplace, while she was on vacation.
The first week was difficult to bear.
The second week was overwhelmingly filled with despair. I broke down into sobs more than any one person should probably in a given year let alone a week.
I was...
stressed
homesick
exhausted
forgetful
chronically late
clumsy
cranky
negative
hungry
hopeless
I was a complete shell of a human trying to accomplish both work and school.
But on Sunday I rested and planned. Planned for this week--a week that was filled with joy only by the grace of God. I still did everything I did the week before but I did it with much more grace than before. During one of my breakdowns, my mother prayed over me, and I remember her saying if I survived these crazy weeks, it would be through the grace of God.
