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It’s like a treasure hunt.
Looking for glimpses of grace,
signs of God’s presence and provision for us,
has become a habit.
Grace comes.
But sometimes you need to look for it.
     Sharol Haynor
“Joy in the Journey”

The grace that’s in this moment is your manna.
Wish for the past and you drink poison.
Worry about the future and you eat fire.
Stay in the moment and you eat the manna needed for now.
     Ann Voscamp

On the long cancer fighting journey, periodically the intensity cranks up and everyone is pushed closer to the edge of the “I give up” zone. Just the presence of a common cold virus can set it all in motion for us. Any significant fever sends our little one to the hospital ER for a blood culture to make sure she’s not harboring an infection. When parents and kids are already run down and cranky with a festering virus, you can imagine how well such a trip is received. Tears, cries, screams, flailing — frustrated and sad parents — all sitting in one unhappy lump for much too long in a busy ER at night.

When times are tough, it’s easy to feel like everything is just simply BAD. We become blind to the grace moments sown among the harvest of woe. Those grace moments are put there for a reason. They are the manna, the bread of life divinely supplied, providing us with what we need to keep going. If we fail to hunt for grace and consume it as our daily bread, weariness wins and faith fails.

We welcomed grace moments in the midst of hardship — moments when God showed up with His unmerited favor, His lovingkindness towards His children, His presence and provision in difficult circumstances.

God’s grace came once again in the midst of our rough bit of road. Our chemo girl did not have an infection and avoided a hospital stay once again! Everyone was knocked down by the virus, but by His grace, recovery is coming. No, it wasn’t easy, but by His grace we will persevere. It could have been so much worse. Thank you, Lord, for bodies that heal!

Let us then approach
God’s throne of grace with confidence,
so that
we may receive mercy and find grace
to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews 4:16