thread of grace

I love telling stories - no surprise there!  I especially get excited when I tell youth (currently my confirmation class) an encounter Jesus had with someone and it changed them.  It gets even more exciting when I hear them repeat the story.  This weekend, among other stories, we talked about the woman that was to be stoned and the woman who was at the well.  These stories for me demonstrate the power of transformation and the ripple effect that can change communities.  The transformation was not just planted in the lives of these two women but in those who were witnesses in the moment and in later conversation.  It reminds me that stories are powerful and their transformative power can have a ripple effect that changes unseen lives. I will and I invite you as well, to ruminate on your story and the activity of grace that is woven throughout.  (As a United Methodist I believe that God's grace is at work in you whether you aware of it or not - prevenient grace) During these next three weeks of our Lenten Season may we focus on the thread of grace that weaves together our story so that on Easter we will see it's ripple effect as a light shining in the darkness.