Grace Rarely Makes Sense

So, we're getting ready to embark upon a few months that are going to require a great deal of grace on our part as parents. Mike will most likely move home, John will be not doing too much because he thinks he is heading to jail, and Salinda and the baby will come home not wanting to be there. I know that dealing with all this is going to take some effort on my part.

In the introduction to the book, "The Shack," I found these words by William Paul Young:

Grace rarely makes sense for those looking in from the outside.

Whenever we ask anyone it seems their advice is for us to kick kids out or not let them move back in, or to stop providing this or that. The idea that we continue to offer grace doesn't make sense.

And you know what? I'd say the same thing to someone else in my situation as I looked from the outside. Be tougher, save yourself the hassle, take care of you.

But it's grace folks. That unmerited favor that God extends to us. Sometimes we have to say no -- we have to protect ourselves and the other kids -- but at this point it's not about danger. So they're coming back and we're going to extend grace and see how it goes.

And we don't expect it to make sense to anyone else.