Grace Comes in Many Flavors

I am thrilled to share with you that Summer Greek School finished today at 12:00 noon! The past 8 weeks of intense study of this New Testament language has challenged me on so many levels. First and foremost, I was forced to use the part of my brain that is not involved with "Mommy-mode". Secondly, there was so much memorization that I should be able to memorize things above and beyond grocery lists now! Our professor would often tell us that the more we do memorize then the more we will be able to memorize. Although I had my doubts holding the 350-something vocabulary flashcards in my hands, I do believe there is a thread of truth in her wisdom. It still was not easy, and there were days that I truly hit the wall feeling I could not learn another thing in Greek. But by the grace of God, my classmates and I continued to endure the challenge before us.

Let it be known that grace comes in many flavors! Grace came to us this summer in the flavor of goodwill as our Greek classmates supported each other in carrying one another's burdens, both academic and personal. Grace came to us this summer by the way of kindness as our Greek professor and teacher assistants had a genuine desire for my colleagues and myself to truly understand New Testament Greek and to have a great sense of humor in doing so. And grace came to us this summer in the flavor of a wonderful gift; that God was able to meet each of my colleagues and myself within our individual limitations and abilities and work through us so that we might read His word in a new way and be drawn closer to Him.

As I left class today with my graded exam in hand, I was jumping for joy like a child. Yes, my stress and anxiety had finally climaxed and was subdued. It was almost like Stress and Anxiety slid down the slide of my spine and ran off to bother someone else! I was elated not only because I received the grade which I was unsure of being in my reach, but that I had a wonderful sense of accomplishment in my very first graduate course. It was a humbling sense of accomplishment because I know I did not do all this work on my own ability. And I am so enriched as I remember Paul's words from Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength". I do need to also mention that it takes an incredible husband to allow accomplishments to happen as well!!!

Needless to say, Doug has been saying he is so glad to have his wife back for 11 days. And I am excited to be just a wife and mom during this next week of rest. We are celebrating the finale of summer school by taking a family weekend trip to Highlands, NC this weekend. We are looking forward to having down time with the girls and time to just relax.

Speaking of relaxing, I am typing and not relaxing. So I am off to do just that!!! Thanks for all your support and prayers. Grace & blessings on your weekend.

ps....What flavor of grace did God show you this summer?
Carson