The Impact of Grace

When I was in elementary school, my neighbor impacted my life. Mrs. Bongers had a little girl of her own that I baby sat some times. I still remember the day she brought her 2nd baby home from the hospital. As I peered with her into the crib at this precious little boy, she showed me the mark on his foot from a test they did that showed he was "retarded". I had never heard that word before and was so sad for her on that day.  I couldn’t take in all that she was sharing with me at the time except that I observed Mrs. Bongers was full of grace.

Over the years, she kept inviting me into her home. She played the piano and would play and sing hymns for me. She involved me in the routine of her life which included baking and decorating cookies! The cookies were simple, and decorating them was so much fun. Her kitchen was a mess, but we enjoyed turning simple cookies into colorful masterpieces. To this day, I cannot bake or decorate a cookie without thinking of the simple way we can mark a person’s life. Mrs. Bongers grew roses at her front door as well. BEAUTIFUL roses like you have never seen – all colors and giant in size. These roses were often displayed on the kitchen counter in my own home as she would cut them and give them to my family.

TODAY - that precious baby boy has grown into a fine young man.

TODAY - Mrs. Bongers still smells of the fragrance of Christ.
TODAY – you have the opportunity to touch another life. With God’s grace in you others will be able to smell it just as I could smell those roses.  The fragrance . . . “Jesus”. They will be able to see grace in you in colorful ways as well as I did through the simple cookie decorating activity. The song in Mrs. Bonger’s heart impacted mine! May God bless you and pour songs into your heart today that will impact those around you.

If you were impacted by grace during your school years, please comment with your story.