In a Nutshell

Children should come with instruction manuals. They should have one for every stage. A teen manual would be wonderful. Even one that just said: "Your child is normal, other people have gone through this!". I would appreciate that. A lot! What would be better is a manual on adult children.

For some reason, depending on the experience, our adult children seem to think that now is a good time to tell us all the things we did wrong. Like: not letting one child get a tattoo when she was 16, also making that same child pay for her own cell phone service (she had a job) and not getting the other girl drivers training. And seriously!...what is up with that one girl making those choices??!!

In a nutshell, children, we aren't perfect. I know that I often exude the mirage of perfection by the way my hair is perfectly coiffed, the way I am always dressed to the nines and the way every word I say is laden with knowledge and worldliness. Uh huh....that's me. However, besides all that lovely perfection (NOT), we do the best we can. We are, after all, only human.

Each girl has crawled into a nutshell. Sometimes they camp there, holding on to the tattoo that never happened or dating a new boy every month. Sometimes they hide there, pretending it's a bubble. Sometimes, it's a good nutshell. A growth shell, if you will. Sometimes, in their nutshell, they cry over most things. And I just want to shout "There's no crying in baseball!". Even though we're not playing baseball.

I don't remember when I crawled out of my nutshell, don't know when life started clicking for me differently. As I was growing up, I had bits and pieces of sanity then I would choose to crawl back into my own nutshell. I often chose the wrong way. And there are things that I look back on and see where my parents should've taken responsibility. They make much better parents as grandparents. I also see where I hold on to things (just like tattoo girl) that I should let go. Because, GASP, my parents weren't/aren't perfect either!

So here it is, the big "IN A NUTSHELL": It's all about grace. Grace you give your children when they back talk, grace they give you when you become "Mom/Dad-zilla". Grace to your partner in crime, the one you choose to love daily. Grace they give you when you get mad over nothing and make them sleep on the couch. Grace you give that person who drives crazy in front of you. Mostly, it's about Grace. The grace that God gives. The undeserved favor that He bestows so willingly, so lovingly. And all we have to do is accept Him. I can NOT do enough to gain it. In fact, there is NOTHING I can do. It's a gift. Free and clear.

I no longer live in a nutshell....a nut house, yes, but not a shell! Reach out, grab Him, my friend. He waits for you.