{"id":818,"date":"2013-04-17T18:57:04","date_gmt":"2013-04-17T18:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kandynolesstevens.com\/?p=818"},"modified":"2013-04-17T18:57:04","modified_gmt":"2013-04-17T18:57:04","slug":"just-when-i-thought-i-was-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/?p=818","title":{"rendered":"Just when I thought I was safe"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Picture<\/a>

Picture found at www.awayathomemom.com whose blog on this subject made me chuckle.<\/p><\/div>\n

I had the honor of speaking to a MOPS group in a town not-so-far from my own this morning.\u00a0 It was a blessing, bringing joy to my heart with the knowledge\u00a0that my story of forgiveness touched other lives.\u00a0 Time and time again, God has used events in my life to teach me about His heart for forgiveness.\u00a0 Totally unscripted as I stood there before those sweet mommas; I knew how I was to end the talk.<\/p>\n

Without forgiveness, mercy and grace are just words.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It was a great experience, and I am glad I had the chance to go.\u00a0 But that isn\u2019t what I am choosing to share with y’all.\u00a0 No, today I am going to share one of those divine appointments that just make you smile.<\/p>\n

One my drive to the church, I had drunk a large Coke which didn\u2019t seem to be a problem until I was backing out of the parking lot to head home.\u00a0 Now here is a serious lesson in pride – something this girl could use some work on.\u00a0 I was too prideful to scoot back in and ask to use the church’s\u00a0restroom.\u00a0 Racking my brain on what was available in Montevideo, I made a bee-line to the mecca of all Southern girls: Wal-mart.<\/p>\n

As I entered into the bathroom, I ran into a mom of one of my children\u2019s former classmates.\u00a0 We hadn\u2019t seen each other in a while, and I don’t think\u00a0she recognized me at all.\u00a0\u00a0Thus, it wasn\u2019t time for a reunion in the potty department. First, I really had to go, and second, who does that?\u00a0 Hey!\u00a0 I know our daughters were not really friends, but your child used to be a classmate of my child.\u00a0 So nice to see you! \u00a0Glad we bumped into each other.\u00a0 I love what they\u2019ve done with the place. <\/i>\u00a0That probably never really happens.<\/p>\n

I soon discovered that this mom wasn\u2019t using the facilities, in the traditional sense.\u00a0 Nope! Instead of bathroom, it was her conference room. She was having a cell-phone conversation with another one of her children (who apparently made a bad choice at school).\u00a0 She proceeded to coach the child on what she expected of him; told him, yes\u00a0in fact, he was in trouble; and explained how he was to apologize the teacher and make better choices for the rest of the day.\u00a0 She ended with the words all children need to hear: I love you.<\/p>\n

Then it came over me, and I knew why God put me in\u00a0THAT bathroom at\u00a0THAT very time. Seriously God! I am tinkling here, and you want me to tell that Mom you are proud of her.\u00a0 <\/i><\/p>\n

Apparently, her child thought the conversation was over and hung up.\u00a0 But this mom called back to the school to make sure she connected with the teacher. (This was a good thing because I still needed to wash and dry my hands, and I didn\u2019t want to have to chase her around the rolled-back discounts.)<\/p>\n

While she was on hold, I walked right over to her and said, \u201cIf no one has told you this in a while, God wants you to know: \u00a0YOU are a really good momma.\u201d\u00a0 I stayed long enough to see tears well up in the corner of her eyes, and then I excused myself.<\/p>\n

I keep my eyes and ears open to how I can bless others, but this was new. . .\u00a0even for me.\u00a0 So I guess, today I am thanking God for good mommas and full bladders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had the honor of speaking to a MOPS group in a town not-so-far from my own this morning.\u00a0 It was a blessing, bringing joy to my heart with the knowledge\u00a0that my story of forgiveness touched other lives.\u00a0 Time and time again, God has used events in my life to teach me about His heart […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[52,63,228,266,304,312,403,421,422,464,581,647],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}