Deer Browsing in the Graveyard--and Buried in Arms of Grace

Sometimes God brings us back to the graveyard of something in our lives that we buried a long time 

 ago--in order to heal that hurt in our lives.

 Maybe it was a hurt or a grief or a personal failure or some failure of others that we had to forgive and forget--

and it got buried.

And then suddenly, there it was again. 

You were just browsing through life, like this herd of deer I saw in a cemetery on the way to church one evening, and a gravestone pops up at you.

Something that you buried. 

And there it is again.

 It happened to us at IHC this year. 

We had just opened our eyes after closing prayer after a message about loving our brethren and not having things between us, when I felt a tap on my shoulder. 

I looked up into the trimly bearded face of a young man who asked, "Do you know me?"

Of course I should have known him, I figured, but I didn't!

So he quickly told me his name, and then, before I could even respond, he threw an arm around my shoulders and gave me a hug!

I could hardly speak, as he also shook Jonathan's hand.

He was the oldest son of ones we worked with on the mission field, was 15 when both our families came home to the U.S., and I had always wondered how he felt about us after we left the mission.

It was something unknown, along with all the knowns, that we had buried

as we had come home and built a second home out on the Colorado prairie.

And here it was, staring us in the face,

and the face was friendly--and kind--and generous--and open-hearted.

That face had extended an arm of grace to someone who had wondered and hurt.

We visited for a bit, and I told him how much it meant to us for him to come greet us and how we appreciated it.

That evening, Jonathan took me in his arms and whispered, "Was that healing?"

What arm of grace is not healing??

You can shovel all day to try to get rid of cold shoulders and icy stares and shivering worries.

 But the warmth of the sun,

and the warmth of a simple hug--nothing attached,

just an extension of grace, eye contact with warmth and openness

can melt a lot very fast--

like there was no ice to begin with.

And it happened again the other day.

A disappointment and nixed plans ended up turning into a time of fellowship with ones we needed to experience grace from and show grace to.

No cold shoulders, icy stares, or turned backs.

Instead,

warmth, friendliness, eye contact, openness, laughter.

What needs to be said when it's just all buried

in arms of grace?