joy of nine9

On Tuesday, November 18, 2014, social media will be exploding with uplifting stories of people who are embracing the “grace of yes”! The Grace of Yes Day is inspired by Lisa Hendey’s latest book, The Grace of Yes, which offers a guide through eight virtues that can help anyone to say “yes” to God.

Just one of Melanie’s stories about saying “yes” to God

 I have said “yes” to God hundreds, maybe thousands of times

Each time going deeper

Deeper into surrender

Deeper into trust

And I am looking at another thousand surrenders, a thousand more times I will let go and say “yes”

One “yes” was especially difficult

The yes of surrendering my family to God

I stood on the hub of a wagon wheel with my large family balanced on the rim. I crouched on the hub, frantically turning this way and that, grabbing all the broken spokes, desperate to hold the crumbling structure together.

God was telling me to let go

But I was frozen in fear, afraid that if I let go, my entire family to tumble down into the abyss.

I was trapped.

Yet, I realized that once again, my tension, my control acted like a wall, shutting out all life. My sincere concern and earnest self-sacrifice actually magnified everyone’s brokenness, by freezing everyone and everything.

Then a friend helped me realize…I was trying to save everybody

I was acting like God

Stealing God’s job

Well when I heard it put that way…I was shocked

Shocked by my arrogance

Shocked that while I considered myself a committed Christian

I really was a heathen at my core

I was shocked enough to say “YES” to God one more time

And experienced so much joy,

I wondered what took me so long.