Last weekend, my husband told a story in his homily about one of our boys. As we talked about it, I realized, though it is an oft-told memory in our family, I had never blogged about it. I did, however, write about it in a short collection of pre-Lenten devotions I wrote several years ago. So, since this blog is the place for family memories to be immortalized, below is the original devotion about the light saber story. :)
The Lord be with You. . .Because the Force Isn't!
Reading: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. Romans 3:23-25
Many years ago, one of our sons received a light saber as a gift. Actually, if memory serves, all three of our sons received a light saber, and I have no one to blame by myself, since I was the purchaser of these weapons. But they're boys! Boys need light sabers, right? So said my husband! That is what I told myself while standing in the toy section at Kohl's, three light sabers in hand. I recall even calling my husband -- is it really a good idea to give three wild and crazy little boys weapons? On purpose? He reassured me that it would be fine, so I used my Kohl's coupon and bought all three for Christmas.
Fast forward a month or two. The boys love the light sabers. "Thank you mom and dad, you're the best!" They understood the rules: no light sabers open and wielding on the main floor -- they were only allowed to be used in the basement. Things were going along pretty well and the boys were following the rules and using them responsibly. I'm sure I was patting myself on the back about our decision.
But one winter evening, when Daddy was out of town (of course!), one of our sons was holding his (unopened, therefore legally allowed) light saber in the family room. And for reasons still not fully known to us, the Force was in reverse and the light saber flew right out of his hand. Through the sidelight of our picture window. Our just-replaced-two-years-ago picture window.
Immediate tears and hysteria ensued, followed by a phone call to Daddy (which began with me saying, "Are you sitting down?" and ended with a tearful apology and forgiveness granted).
We soon got an estimate to repair the window, and it came in at $400. Our young son wanted to make things right. He insisted that he pay for that new window. $400? Even if he saved every penny for the next five years, he wouldn't be bale to pay that debt. So he handed over what he had, which totaled about $15.
$15? Way short of a new window! The window had to be fixed but he couldn't pay it. So we covered the rest. We paid a debt our son couldn't pay.
Sounds familiar, doesn't it? We Christians call it "grace". We receive what we don't deserve. Mercy. "All have sinned and fall short". Way short. But we are "justified" (made right with God) "by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith".
My son was grateful for our forgiveness to him, even at his young age. As we prepare to enter Lent in just two days, may we grow increasingly grateful for this great grace that has been gifted to us: the blood of Jesus that covers our sins.
Discussion/Reflection: When did you receive a gift (maybe forgiveness) that you didn't deserve? How did you react?
Prayer: We do not deserve it, Jesus, but you give it anyway. Thank you for your grace and make our gratitude grow. Amen.
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