Finding Grace: Embracing What Is

This Lent, I’ve been using Kate Bowler‘s reflections to make the season meaningful. This one reflection of hers on Finding Grace (shared later in the post) has stayed with me and I thought that Good Friday was an appropriate day to share it. After all, what is Good Friday if not a remembrance of Grace freely given.

I’m Finding Grace: Embracing What Is

For so long, I’ve tried to stay positive.
Tried to find a steady place
between being hopeful and being realistic.
I knew the future held no guarantees,
but I still believed—
maybe this would be my year.
The year something shifted.
The year I finally said yes
to the unfamiliar,
to growth,
to courage.

I had vision.
I had plans.
I had heart.
And for a while, it felt like nothing could stop me.

But then, it changed.
Momentum slowed.
And now, it’s hard to remember
what I felt back when I believed so fiercely.

I’ve been asking myself quietly:
How do I trust the unknown again?
Is it worth it
to keep hoping
if disappointment might follow?

I don’t have all the answers.
But I do have this truth:
Grace hasn’t left me.

And maybe that’s enough.

Even here—when life doesn’t look like I imagined—
grace finds me.
In the pause.
In the questions.
In the quiet, everyday spaces
where I least expect it.

So I’ll stay.
I’ll be right here.
Not in the future I can’t control,
not in the past I can’t change—
but in this moment.
This April.
This breath.

I don’t have to force it to look beautiful.
Grace already makes it so.

I can still live well today,
even if I’m tired.
Even if my heart aches.
Even if I’m unsure.

If I have energy, I’ll give it.
If I’m weary, I’ll rest.
If I’m inspired, I’ll move forward.
And if I’m in pieces, I’ll gather what I can—
and let that be enough.

Grace meets me in every version of myself.

So I will stop striving
to be everywhere at once.
I will stop believing
I have to figure everything out first.

Instead, I will slow down.
Sink into presence.
Let go of the pressure to perform or prove.

Because grace is not earned—
it’s received.

And right now, in this ordinary moment,
I receive it.
I rest in it.
I begin again,
not with certainty,
but with trust—
that this moment is sacred,
simply because I’m in it.

And that’s more than enough.

A Blessing For Finding Grace

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A post shared by Kate Bowler 📚 🇨🇦 Author + Prof (@katecbowler)

Blessed are we, the graced.
We who don’t deserve it.
Whose failures haunt us.
The things we said.
The things we left unsaid.
The decisions, addictions
and broken relationships
that have ripple effects we still feel.
Somehow, we receive this mysterious gift.
Grace doesn’t erase pain we’ve caused.
But grace, still.
For us, the redeemable.
And if we are…that means they are too.
Yes—even them:
The rude neighbor.
The estranged father.
The unforgiving ex.
The boss who screwed you over.
The doctor who messed up.
The selfish pastor.
The family member who did the unthinkable.
Despite our mistakes we are graced.
Blessed are we who wrestle with unforgiveness.
You who make amends.
You who reach for forgiveness.
You who say you’re sorry even
if it’s not enough.
You who find the bridge
to forgive.
Even when you cannot forget.
Or can’t go back.
Or they aren’t nearly sorry enough.
Blessed are we who live here
In this mystery, this scandal, of grace.

Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie. “For Finding Grace

Some journaling questions for you, dear reader:

1. What hopes did I begin this year with? How do I feel about those hopes now?
2. What would it look like to trust that grace is enough for me—right now, in this very breath?