Life by Grace Alone

I have a dear friend whom I met at my husband's first church in California. Jan's little girl who started to walk shortly after our friendship began, is now the married mother of 3 children. My friend and I live on two different coasts . We are both grandmothers, actively involved in the lives of our grandchildren. Although we don't talk much now, we have a history that cements our friendship. I remember at the age of 45 taking advantage of our different time zones. I had received my diagnosis of breast cancer that day. It was approaching 2:00a.m. and I could not sleep. Bothering my physically and emotionally exhausted husband was out of the question. Then I remembered Jan who was 3 time zones away. I called, afraid I was too late even for Pacific standard time. Thankfully she answered. In a quavering voice almost hushed after so much weeping I asked "Could you pray for me please?" She did. Time passed. Again Jan had a friend who was battling cancer. After y...

Why is it that the simplest, most crucial life lessons are the ones we have to keep relearning. I know this is not the first time I've understood this principle. This week God drove it home in a powerful way. Eight months ago I had surgery. As you would expect the bills were numerous. Insurance seemed to have done its fair share but we were still in the process of paying the remainder. On Monday a letter arrived from the hospital inquiring about a bill of $18,000 we had not paid. It sounded like the insurance company was not going to pay any more. I felt like I had been socked in the gut. How were we going to handle that much additional debt? Calling the insurance company only increased the heaviness in the center of my being. At some odd point perhaps after sharing with the 3rd or 4th person about the dreaded bill, an overwhelming thought entered my head. I'm acting like I am alone in this and God is nowhere to be found. What if this is somehow my fault and we have to pay al...