Waiting For Grace to Come

I have this sort of routine every day where I greet the day with my garden boots on, cup of coffee in hand, cell phone in the other and cat at my side.

What started out as a means of escape from the early morning school rush madness has turned into a morning meditation. With one step outside I am transformed from ciaos to tranquil peace.

My cat joins me in this daily practice. She demands it really. She has a slight addiction to "the nip", the catnip being one of the many herbs I have on the patio.

Well...hard to deny a habit with bits of the evidence on your nose. 

I usually sit for a brief moment while she snaps off nip leaves and smacks her way into morning bliss. While I take in deep breaths and sip more coffee she slinks off, down the few steps that lead passed the pool to the little chunk of yard I've claimed for the garden.

As she brushes against my garden boots while wandering the yard I scan from the ground to the sky. In the words of Brother David Steindl-Rast, "We so rarely look at the sky." It's always a stunning display of clouds here in Texas.

I soak up the morning's sights, sounds, smells and take inventory of sorts of how my body is "coming to" that day. And I'm grateful. I feel grounded and grateful for even if this is the only quiet peace I have that day, I know I can always call it back tomorrow.

In a Facebook post by writer Elizabeth Berg she refers to a similar practice her friend does every day. She writes of her friend's experience, "She sits for ten minutes every morning, essentially waiting for grace to come. And it always came, in one form of another."

Ms. Berg explained that she tried it herself and she found the same experience. "Grace came, usually in the form of a kind of peace. A stillness inside that makes for a shifting of priorities, so that it was easier for what should matter most to matter most."

I can't find a better way to phrase this morning meditation better myself. Grace comes- and not always in the form you think it might.

Nature goes on and if you ask it how, and you're patient enough to wait for her answer, she'll show you.

Hummingbird egg shell. Grace and beauty come in all packages. 

I bring my phone outside with me because it has an awesome camera and I love to capture these little gems of grace. Some days nature's grace takes on simple forms, like a lady bug. Yesterday it was tiny blades of grass in the most beautiful shades of green only matched by Crayola. Grass growing in our yard during a long drought is amazing.

Exodus 14:14 The Lord will fight for you; You need only be still. 

Carve out a little time daily to be still and wait. Wait for it...wait for it...and there. There it is. Grace.

Shania Twain Gets Back Up

When I woke up yesterday I had every intention on finishing another piece for the blog. Then I saw Shania Twain's reaction to her fall at the CMA Awards the night before. I thought her comments after the fall were so honest and sweet. I loved the fact that she was thinking about donating the shoes to be auctioned off for charity. I hadn't seen the video of her falling yet but I instantly thought, "Sounds like a Falling With Grace theme to me."

Ouch. Then I saw the fall. Man, that had to hurt. Sometimes when you see video of people falling it makes you say, "Oh!" Then there are times where it's a funny fall and yes...I will fully admit that I come from a family that loves a good funny fall. This is only if the person isn't hurt though. Shania's fall made me say, "Ouch!" It wasn't the "what the heck" kind of expression she had on her face. It looked like it hurt.

None the less...it was a fall. You know what? Her reaction to it made me like her even more. That's the grace part of the fall. She's gotten back up from tougher falls and seems to have taken to her feet brilliantly.

I have really enjoyed watching the series Why Not on the OWN network. The series chronicles Shania's journey to "find her voice" which somehow had been lost along the path. I think that we all can relate to some point in our lives where a piece of us has been lost. It's a powerful moment when a person can get back up and look forward. I admire her humility and honesty that she's projected in the series. Her willingness to share her journey shows that maybe she already had her footing after all.

Update 8/16/2011:
This is a link to eBay where Shania is auctioning off the shoes she wore. Proceeds benefit Shania Kids Can.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230659721756&ssPageName=STRK:MESCX:IT#ht_848wt_932