Walking in Grace author Sabra Ciancanelli shares a heartwarming story from the first day of the Lenten season with this powerful Lent devotion:
All are from the dust, and to dust all return. —Ecclesiastes 3:20 (ESV)
This morning my husband and I drove through our old town, past our old house that I’d loved and nurtured for almost a decade. We inched forward slowly, but not slowly enough, to catch up to all the memories.
Then we passed the local grocery store, where I shopped every day for years. I loved the man who worked there stocking shelves. Brian always greeted me with a heartfelt “Hello there!” as if he hadn’t seen me in months. I learned from a friend he’d had a car accident in high school. He spent a long time in a coma and was lucky to be alive. And though he’d made a miraculous recovery, he never fully regained all of his abilities.
Once I had an awful day at work. I was exhausted and starving as I snaked through the aisles, picking up something for dinner. When I reached for a jar of spaghetti sauce, I lost my grip and it shattered on the shiny linoleum floor. Looking at the mess, I broke down and cried.
Brian ran over. “It’s okay. Accidents happen.”
I noticed his forehead had a smudge of something as he got a mop. “Rough day,” I sighed.
“Ash Wednesday,” he said. I had totally forgotten. Brian went on. “Beginning of Lent. Forty days to get ready. Jesus saved me, you know. He saves me every day.” As he mopped up the broken jar, I took his words to heart.
Dear Lord, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day of my life and forget what a blessing it truly is. Help me to use this special time to recharge and renew and draw closer to You.
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