Grace Day

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God."  Ephesians 2:8

Today when I picked up Holden from school, I wouldn't let him speak.  I was shushing him every time he tried to talk to me.  He eventually starting laughing at me, but played along.  When we got in the car, he asked when I would explain.  I told him he would know soon.  As we drove away from the school and headed in the opposite direction of home, he stayed silent while I just smiled and drove.  

"Mom, where are we going?"

"Sssshhh."

We pulled into the parking lot of Chili's.  We sat down and Holden looked at me with questioning eyes.  I told him today was "I Love Holden Day" no matter what kind of a day you had at school.  Just because.  He asked if this was the grace we were talking about last night when we were working on his Power Card for church.  I smiled and said, "Yes my love, this is grace.  No matter what you have done today, I love you and want to have dessert with you and ruin our dinner."  

He said, "Well, I didn't get a check today."  I told him it didn't matter, but I was proud of him.

When the waitress came, I ordered us two molten chocolate cakes.  Holden's face lit up.  When the waitress left, he said, "Mom, I don't deserve this."  

And I was able to say, "I know.  None of us do, but we are loved anyway.    

I smiled at him, and he said, "Stop smiling at me like that.  You are making me feel weird and guilty."    

When he said that it made me think of how I will feel the day Jesus comes back and I stand before him, knowing I don't deserve His grace.  But He will give it to me anyway.  

It has been a long time since I have seen Holden that happy.  It almost reminded me of his face the day before and the day of our wedding a year ago.  Just a special day.  

You see, for the last week or so, Holden has been having a rough time at school.  Just speaking out and not making the best choices.  But I wanted to make sure he knew that no matter what happened at school today, eating dessert before dinner was not a reward...but just Grace.  Holden has dubbed today GRACE DAY.  

When we got home, Holden finished his homework and came in the kitchen to see what I was making.  I told him to go in his room and play and I would call him when it was time to eat.  He said, "But you said I can't play until after dinner."  I said, "It's Grace Day, right?  Go play."  Holden ran down the hall yelling, "I love Grace Day!!!"  

I love Grace Day too.  I hope Holden and I have many more Grace Days in our future.