Serving With Grace

Serving with Grace

[The Lord said,] “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”

2 Corinthians 12:9

William was our family’s first and only cat, a scrawny fuzz ball of a kitten rescued from behind an auto-parts store. In a rush of sympathy, we adopted him without consulting our miniature dachshund, Alexandra.

At first William caused Alexandra no trouble. He slept in a cardboard box and drank kitty formula from a doll-sized bottle. But when he began stretching his paws to the top of the box, I knew that soon, instead of waiting to be lifted, he would hop out on his own to explore the backyard. Alexandra’s backyard. It had always been her exclusive domain, and she was becoming a cranky old lady. I feared for William’s safety should he decide to cut his teeth on her tail instead of my beleaguered index finger.

One rainy day I went outside to fetch William for his feeding and found the box empty. I thought the worst when I saw Alexandra across the yard, with four kitty legs and a bedraggled tail hanging from her jaws. My panicked orders, “No! Drop him, Alex!” went unheeded. But before I could get to her, Alex brought William to me, dragging him carefully across the wet grass, his head completely but gently enclosed in her jaws.

Alexandra had no previous experience in motherhood; she just did her best. Though she never got the hang of the scruff-of-the-neck grip, William never seemed to mind her bad breath and the temporary blindness she thrust on him. Until he was taller than she was, whenever Alex decided William needed help, she pulled him to safety—headfirst.

—Kathleen Brown

Lord, let me step up each time you call me to serve, even if I feel afraid and unqualified. When the world looks at me, may it see not my fear, but your loving care and grace; not my weakness, but your glorious power at work. Amen.