Grace

The other day, our dog Lex gave me a lesson in grace. You see, I had spent the majority of the day hanging out with some of the guys from youth group playing some games and had left him out like we have done for a while now. He hadn't done anything to give us the need to put him up. So I get home from our service that night, and I find not one, but TWO chewed TV remotes(this makes 3 or 4 for Lex)! I gave him a good spanking and yelled at him and put him in the kennel. I was steaming mad. He had used the living room floor as his own personal toilet. So he knew I was mad. He just stood in his kennel staring at me. So we left to get some food and came back, let them out and sure enough Lex comes over to me and pushes up against me for me to pet him like nothing had ever happened.
When I get punished or hurt or the critics seem so loud, it is really hard for me to forget that. When something happens, I tend to remember it for a while and it comes to mind whenever I see that person. There is always this level of protectiveness that I feel I must keep. Still, thinking about Jesus and how much he loves us and how often we let him down, I can't help but feel inadequate in the area of grace. I need to give grace more often like my dog...just forget the things that hurt quickly and get back to becoming who I need to be.