Grace: As gleaned from a 2-year-old.

I'm learning to use my camera. He's always a good subject.

Until ADPi Adventure 2010 commences, I'm playing mommy. The other day, the 2-year-old I babysit and I were dying Easter eggs (I mean, why not, right?). And what does Lucas do? Make a supreme mess. Forget the little wire contraptions and calculated color-striping. He reveled in pouring the brilliant grass-green shade right into the royal purple. Then combined that concotion with a radiant red. Mind you, there are eggs in the cups during all of this--mere pawns in Lucas' mad-scientist-plan, which sacrifically take on the skitsophrentic shading and color mixing. Poor eggs. Except they actually turned out kinda pretty...

Precious, huh?

I like parallels. I like drawing similarities. The following passage I found scribbled into my journal back at the beginning of June:

In watching Lucas play every day, I'm just like him--a doe-eyed little child looking at my God sometimes after I've mixed together every Paas shade in the book. Thinking about how he applies grace. Thinking about how he takes even my ugliest mistakes and touches them. Applies his Creator's touch and so suddenly it's part of His beautiful plan--like nothing ever thwarted it.

Because honestly, nothing ever can thwart it.

So I'm not saying let's run around with the markers and color on all the walls in the house (I'm looking at you, Lucas.). BUT when I do take a risk, stray from the lines, I see grace. Every. Single. Time.

And that kind of grace demands praise.

"When we wallow in guilt, remorse, and shame over real or imagined sins of the past, we are disdaining God's gift of grace."

- Brennan Manning, as tweeted by @CalvinFields. Thanks, Calv.