Multiple Graces

(Written in 2023)

There are multiple things on a mom’s checklist when it comes to a beach trip:

Sunglasses, swim suits, sunscreen, swimmer diapers, regular diapers, wipes, set of clothes for mom & 3 girls x 5 days = 20 outfits, Oxyclean, water bottles, plastic bags for wet clothes, hair ties, detangler spray, brush, first aid kit, towels, snacks, shade tent, beach bag, flip flops, picnic “fixins,” blanket, goggles, sand shovels,... (fill in the blank for whatever else I notoriously forget _________).

There are multiple things on a mom’s wish list when it comes to a beach trip: safety, sunshine, blue sky, no rain, gentle waves, puffy clouds, clean ocean, dolphin fins in the distance, hunting shells, chasing seagulls, lots of laughter, sound sleep (with littles, what’s that?), escape from the hubbub of normal life, fresh air, quality time with family – added bonus – quality time with the kids’ grandparents — and… a spicket to rinse off the sand before reentering civilization.

I find a spicket! The fun day at the beach needs washing off before supper in our Airbnb.

Fresh water splashes sand off the flip flops, ankles, toes, shovels, shells. My husband plays with our three girls alongside another dad occupying his three kids while the wife meets me at the waterhole; multiple items in her hands to wash off.

“Life of a mom at the beach,” I comment with a wink.

The mom chuckles as she nods, “Yeah, especially with 3 little ones.”

“What are their ages?” I ask.

“7, 5, 2,” she shares. “You?”

“Mine are 2, 4, 6,” I smile. We continue rinsing.

“So where are you from?” I squint my eyes into the late afternoon sun to face her.

“Nashville,” she smiles below her sunglasses.

“Oh! Tennessee! We’re from Chattanooga,” I chime.

“Yeah? We love visiting Chattanooga at times,” she reports. “They have the coolest aquarium in your town.”

“Yeah, it’s a great aquarium…” I fish to return a complement about her hometown. “You know, I haven’t visited much in Nashville other than… they used to have a really good Old Spaghetti Factory we’d enjoy after my doctor visits at Vanderbilt. We appreciate their Center for Multiple Sclerosis.”

She stills. “Oh, you have MS?”

“Yeah,” I shrug, realizing I just dropped a doozie on a stranger. I keep rinsing.

“Man, I’m sorry… my mother-in-law is currently passing from her MS…” And just as quick as the words fall out of her mouth, I see her wince, as if she would have rather stuffed her sandy flip flop in her mouth if she had the chance to rewind her comment a few nano seconds earlier.

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” I reply.

She stammers, “Yeah, it’s ok, she’s had it since she was in her 50’s and is tired… uh,… I’m really sorry you have MS,” she concludes.

I straighten from the faucet, “Thank you.” I glance up at the blue sky, take a deep breath, try to keep it light.  “You know, I was diagnosed at 22, got on treatment real quick, focused on a healthy lifestyle, haven’t had a difficult journey, really; have a great husband, had 3 healthy pregnancies, have 3 healthy girls, (and have hope of eternal life with Jesus), so I really could die a happy woman.”

Her white teeth break into a smile, her eyebrows no longer in a furrow. “That’s cool.”

As I stroll back to the Airbnb in the setting sun, my mind swirls.

I. have. Multiple sclerosis. Multiple = many. Sclerosis = scars… on my brain and spinal cord. A relapsing, remitting, chronic, incurable autoimmune disease that can cause multiple degenerative symptoms over time. I’m in remission.

Back resting in the Airbnb is my father-in-law. Ted has Multiple myeloma. Multiple = many. Myeloma = blood cancer tumors. A progressive, chronic, incurable disease. He’s in remission.

Ted tells me he once had a choice to make as a young Nebraskan cowboy. “I had to realize – as a young man, I might not be able to choose how much money I’d make in life, but the one thing I could choose – I could choose to be happy, to be grateful –regardless – and I’m thankful the Lord helped me choose the latter.”

I believe his attitude of gratitude has helped Ted “fight the good fight” up to today. My father-in-law is one of the most genuinely happy people I know – regardless…

The next morning, I awake early to meet my Savior under the sunrise.

“For of His fullness we have all received and grace upon grace.”

-John 1:16

I keep reading…

“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord….”

-2 Peter 1:2

It hits me. Jesus is the true multiplier- not of scars or cancer tumors – but of all things grace.

Jesus… the fullness of Him, the knowledge of Him, the Lordship of Him in my life, the eternal salvation I have in Him regardless of what I face this side of heaven….

Jesus = Multiple Grace.

Multiple = many. Grace = free, unmerited favor of God.

My heart is drawn to combat the reality of the bad multiples in life with God’s good multiple graces…

So I get out my “1,000 Gifts List” I’ve been challenged to complete with fellow mom friends this year – recording all the ways I see God’s every day goodness in my life all around, combating the grumbles with gratitude, the destruction with doxology, the poison with praise (as Ann Voskamp puts it in Devotion 40 of her book “One Thousand Gifts Devotional”).

#752 – Safe travels

#753 – Fuchsia Azaleas blooming under Spanish moss

#754 – Remission health

#755 – Dolphins in the distance

#756 – Our girls’ love for their grandparents

My oldest daughter wakes, rubbing her eyes, and cuddles in on the couch.

I invite her to help me think of things she’s thankful for to Jesus.

She starts listing…

#757 - Sunrise

#758 - Hilton Head

#760 - Condo

#761 - Sea that sails by

#762 - Elephant Ears

#763 - Grandma Jo & Grandpa Ted

#764 - Ice cream

#765 - Mom

#766 - Dad

#767 - Sisters

#768 - Police Officers

#769 - My first Junior Ranger Badge!

My mother-in-law, Jo, graciously calls her into her bed to cuddle “so Mommy can finish her quiet time with Jesus…”

I keep chronicling God’s love gifts I can recall.

My middle daughter saunters out and plops bedhead curls on the couch into a cuddle.

“The sunrise…” she whispers.

I invite her to add to the list…

#776 - Sunrise

#777 - Grandma Jo & Grandpa Ted

#778 - Sisters

#779 - Grandma Dawn & Grandpops

#780 - Granna & PopPop

#781 - Cousins

#782 - Jesus

#783 - My braid starting at the top

#784 - Frozen characters

#785 - Frozen songs

#786 - Llama, “of course”

#787 - Taco Bell

#788 - A warm place to stay

“Do I need to fill up the page?” she asks.

“No, you can just stop whenever you want,” I reply.

“But I want to…” She continues…

#789 - The beach!

#790 - Seashells

#791 - Daddy playing wrestle with me

#792 - Mommy taking care of me when I’m sick

#793 - My friends

#794 - Biscuits

#795 - Fruit Loops

#796 - The big sand dollar Ella found

#797 - Ella playing with me

#798 - Painting

#799 - Aunts

#780 - Uncles

…

One thing’s certain: Life brings a multiplicity of stuff that can catch our attention. Packing lists. Sand in the van. Brain scars. Cancer.

I’ve been humbled to see on this gratitude journey that my default is to focus on the negative multiples in my life. My brain ticks off this list with ease.

I’ve really appreciated this shared pursuit with mom friends to help me see that ultimately, it’s a choice – there’s so much of God’s daily, good multiples to see all around me, if only I choose to see with Christ as the common denominator – regardless of whatever bad multiples come my way.

Author Ann Voskamp says, “If a joy-filled heart is good medicine, then giving thanks is my daily prescription.”

It’s a replacement principle – to replace focusing on the negative multiples with focusing on the good multiples – God’s good graces all around.

With so many things to dwell on, I’m forever grateful for the one core truth that Jesus multiplies what is good in my life with His good graces.

It’s my choice to see them.

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

-James 1:17