We think of grace in terms of our salvation – and we should. It was given by the grace of God – not because of anything we did or didn’t do. We must receive that gift of grace through faith, since it unwrapped the only true gift that changes our future.
Here you are blessed with a secret sister. The love and care is no secret, yet you pray with God’s heart, because you don’t know the name and can’t fit in your thoughts. You send cards, knowing that they lighten the heart of someone you know, but you don’t know.
Who it is, so again, you are a pen in the hand of the true lover of our souls. You give gifts because you know a few personal things about the other which helps to choose something they’d enjoy. And oh how grateful we are that God’s gifts are chosen because God knows our hearts and what we need and desire. And you give it in a cup of joy – that instrument of fellowship and warmth.
I’ve chosen 1 Peter 4:10 for the scripture today: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace”.
I want to highlight the word steward; it is the Greek word “oikonomos” and it means “a manager of a household, guardian”. It comes from the root word “oikos”, meaning “house, and nemo, meaning allot, apportion” (measured out).
The head of the house (God) has entrusted to each of us the management of His affairs, and so, He is entrusting your secret sister to you, because she first belongs to Him.
When President Gerald Ford passed away, I watched some of the service in the capitol rotunda. At every president’s funeral each prior presidential family is represented by someone in that family. Hence, the daughters of the late President Richard Nixon represented the Nixon name. I noticed with interest Tricia Nixon, seeing her grace and repose in a circumstance that undoubtedly reminded everyone there that President Ford ascended to the presidency because of the failure of her father, and she and her sister Julie came and stood with grace to honor Mr. Ford and their father.
So, I did what I do occasionally, I wrote a letter to Tricia Nixon Cox (the Nixon Library actually gave me her home address over the phone) and I told her how impressed I was with her grace in this moment and how I remember her Rose Garden wedding and how she elevated the Nixon name. Never thought I’d get a response.
The collage of pieces I have framed here were pictures Tricia sent to me as a way of saying thanks, with the signature piece: to Rev. Jean Halverson – with appreciation for your thoughtfulness and with every good wish.
People at all levels of life need grace – given and received, and your secret sister is a precious daughter to the King of Kings. I know you will grace her this year.