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The Dance of Grace

Galatians 6:18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. (ESV)

Music pulsed through the air as God's people lifted praises high and unashamed. Chris Tomlin's simple, God-inspired choruses had 5,000 singing loud and proud. Among the crowd was my little family of six.

As a particularly stirring song played, I watched my six year old raise her hand in worship. Five little fingers elevated to the One who is worthy. My heart beat a thunder of gratitude to God; I was witnessing a moment of true beauty.

With the last notes of that evening hanging in the air, I read Galatians 6:18, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit." This is a verse I've breezed through dozens of times but somehow this time the words played a symphony on the strings of my heart.

I saw grace dance through my daughter's spirit with my own eyes. I tend to think of grace like it's an event but what if instead I considered it as the living, breathing work of God flowing in the heart of every believer? What if grace can waltz through my heart at regular intervals.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I find it relatively easy to be thankful on a day dedicated to gratitude but what about an ordinary day of preparation like today? Today I will clean floors, run errands and do dishes. Is it possible to have a thankful heart in the midst of every day life?

The key is to allow the grace of God to be with my spirit. When I sway through life to the rhythm of God's grace, every ordinary act of living becomes an extraordinary act of worship from which flows gratitude. God's grace can pervade my life because grace is not an event. Grace is God.

As you prepare for Thanksgiving today won't you join me in a dance of grace as we worship the Giver of all grace with thankful hearts?

19 comments:

  1. Hi Shannon - I read on a blog today to give thanks for the ordinary makes it extraordinary because we now see God in it. Great post my friend
    God bless
    Tracy

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  2. Beautiful post, Shannon! I love seeing children worship. It's the sweetest thing! And what a great reminder to give thanks on the ordinary days! Thank you for stopping by my page and for your wise comment. You are inspiring. I'm following you back and liked your fb page. Looking forward to stopping in more often. -Blessings!

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  4. Tracy, I absolutely love that. We can see God in the now hen we look toward Him.

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  5. Monique, wow I am so honored by your visit and follow. So thankful that God connects my heart to so many amazing women! Sweet Blessings to you!

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  6. Happy Thanksgiving, Shannon! Can anyone have greater joy than a parent watching grace dance in the life of their child, bringing forth fruit unto eternal life? What a blessing! God be praised!

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  7. Gwendolyn, that is absolutely correct - it was a moment of true gratitude to God. His grace is so abundant!

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  8. Hi, Shannon! I just read your post on my blog (http://christintheclouds.blogspot.com/) and wanted to say first of all 'thanks' for stopping to check out my blog....and for following it! I don't want to let the number of followers to influence what I write, but today, it gave me a little boost of confidence, since I'm still new at this. I also wanted to say how much I appreciate your post today....absolutely I LOVE Chris Tomlin's music and can relate to getting excited to see my kid worship through praise! I also agree that only way to be happy is to allow God's grace to fill us with gratitude and joy every day! God Bless you and your family this Thanksgiving and every day to come!

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  9. What a sweet post! I'm visiting with the Winsome Wednesday blog hop. I enjoy seeing your site postings on Facebook.

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  10. Of course, we should try our hardest to have a thankful heart everyday- I know I should! :)

    I can imagine how awesome it would be to see children worship.

    Happy Thanksgiving to you, Shannon :)

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  11. It truly makes my heart sing when a child worships with abandon, doing just what their heart wants them to. I hope you have an awesome Thanksgiving.

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  12. Ann, I am so honored by your visit and thankful you left the oasis refreshed and ready to face our special day of gratitude tomorrow. Looking forward to stopping by your site again!

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  13. Renee, I am thrilled to see you here today and you definitely made my Wednesday with your visit!

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  14. Pepperific, it definitely enhanced my worship experience to share it with my sweet hubby and our four precious children!

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  15. Marie, amen! Children are so authentic and I love how they lack the masks of adults. They just do as their hearts lead. No wonder Jesus told us to become like little children!

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  16. Grace is God. How beautiful is that. Only because of His grace and mercy am I alive today! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!! Chelle

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  17. Shannon, what an amazing moment you must have felt as a mother and a child of God, seeing your daughter raise her hands in worship! Ah...I got chills reading that. I pray my daughters will one day feel that profound love for God, the love that says "I don't care what others think, I'm lifting my hands in praise!" I know they are getting there, but are too shy right now to actually do it in church.

    I pray that you and your family have a blessed thanksgiving day filled with laughter, love, and lots of good food! :-) Thank YOU for this amazing blog, that is an inspiration and encouragement each morning as I wake to see your latest post sitting in my email inbox. And thank you for your friendship.

    ~Hugs,
    Rosann

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  18. Chelle, there is no bounds to His love, mercy and grace. Truly something for which to be thankful.

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  19. Rosann, thankful for you this day and every day. XOXO

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