Losing Teeth and Borrowing Grace

I was loading the dishwasher when Chase appeared in the kitchen, a tiny trail of blood trickling down his lower lip. Because I expected him to be in bed and was shocked about seeing a streak of red on his chin, I let out a gasp.

He practiced a crooked smile and held a treasure toward me. “I lost a tooth!”

Chase’s pink palm held a tiny pearl nugget, his second loose tooth.

“Can you put this in an envelope for the Tooth Fairy? Please, mom?” I carefully clasped the tiny tooth and sent him back into his room with a playful backside swat. Grabbing an envelope from the office, I placed the tooth inside, wrote ’Chase’ across it with heart-tipped letters, and headed into the boys’ room to put the envelope under Chase’s pillow.

After kissing both boys goodnight again, I padded into the living room, where a glance at my hubby brought on a sharp realization.

The First National Bank of Tooth Fairy was out of cash!

“Do you have any cash on you?” My whispered words were high-pitched. The going rate for a tumbling tooth in our house is two dollars, and my wallet was empty save for a couple of dimes and a handful of pennies. Trevor pulled a lone twenty-dollar bill from his wallet.

Oh no.

A few days prior, Cole lost a tooth one evening before dinner, and I had asked my hubby to bring home singles. Unfortunately, it was already a few minutes past 9:00 that evening, and neither Trev nor I planned to go out again.

Where would the Tooth Fairy get two one-dollar bills to exchange for Chase’s tooth?

I thought about the container of change in the kitchen cabinet, but it was mostly pennies, dimes, and nickels. Worry rippled through my mommy’s heart, until I remembered…there was some cash in our house.

The boys’ wallets.

One Mario, one Star Wars, both wallets oozing with a couple of five dollar bills and a few ones. Cole meticulously counted his cash, but his brother was still learning to count money. Chase didn’t know how many singles he had in his wallet…

Trevor reminded me that Chase wouldn’t know and I could get cash tomorrow to replace the two borrowed dollars. Still I folded inward like a crumpled piece of paper, ready to duck and cover when the parenting police slapped a ‘Bad Mommy’ bumper sticker across my forehead..

Talk about a cheap Tooth Fairy! Chase would be paying for his own tooth!

I was torn between giggling and groaning as I borrowed two dollars from Chase’s wallet and exchanged them for his tiny tooth in their night-light lit bedroom. I was thankful I didn’t have to work the next day, so going to the bank was priority #1 in the morning.

Later, as I was reading in Ephesians, God’s word echoed the situation.

“But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” ~ Ephesians 4:7

Grace. Amazing grace. Never-ending grace, given freely through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus promised Paul, ”My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). Matthew Henry said that ”Grace is the free, undeserved goodness and favor of God to mankind.”

Because of Jesus Christ, none of us have to borrow grace. God has given us an abundant supply through His Son, and we don’t have to store it up for life’s ups and downs or for difficult days. It’s always there, in abundant supply through our Savior.

“Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” ~ Hebrews 4:16

Tumbling Trials

I was returning from running errands one Saturday when I came home to a curious gathering in our driveway. Our two sons kneeled together on the concrete, safety goggles engulfing their faces and hammers in hand. Next to them were two piles of tile, one gray and one tan, and a couple large white buckets. Trevor loomed over them, watching as hammers went up then down, chipping, cracking, and breaking apart the square tile.

A couple of months ago, Trevor’s dad had given us some leftover tile from various remodeling jobs. We were so grateful for the beautiful tile, and soon the kitchen and most of the great room were finished. The only spot left was a three-and-a-half by five rectangle of bare concrete just inside our entryway. Trevor had drawn some sketches and planned to fill the space with a unique mosaic of the colorful tile.

On the driveway that afternoon, Trevor had the boys break apart the tile he planned to use in the entryway space. I smiled at the giddy grins on their faces as they were given the green light to smash something, over and over and over. As the buckets began filling up with broken pieces of tile, I headed inside.

While unpacking groceries, I noticed through the back doors the new toy my hubby had just rented. It was a dirty, ancient cement mixer that he and Chase had dubbed, “the Cannon.” Trevor was going to take the buckets-full of cracked up tile pieces, add water and small stones, and tumble the sharp edges smooth.

I was curious to see how the tile pieces turned out, or if my handy hubby just wanted to play around with a fun new tool for a few days. I trusted Trev’s judgement, but my inexperienced eyes and impatience kept me from visualizing the finished product – that the broken, jagged tile pieces could become smoothly shaped, useful pieces of the mosaic after a few hours of bumping and tumbling in the mixer.

Brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. ~ James 1:2-4

Later that afternoon, Trev lugged four or five buckets of the thoroughly cracked tile onto our lanai and set about preparing the first bucket for its tumbling trial. He sprayed water into the cement mixer then added a bunch of small, smooth stones we had in our fish tank a few years back. The multitude of tiny tan pebbles would aggravate the tile’s sharp edges with constant bombardment, helping shape and soften the jagged points.

With a click of the cement mixer’s switch, the tumbling began.

“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” ~ 2 Timothy 2:3

I was amazed as Trevor dumped and rinsed that first load of tile. The triangle-shaped edges and cracked, angry veins of color had changed completely. Sharp tile now had smooth, gently rounded edges and veins sanded down so that each individual piece would fit beautifully into the mosaic.

Slowly, as bucket after bucket tumbled and changed, I noticed the gentle, useful beauty of the pieces coming out. I even became fond of the crunching sound coming from our backyard every afternoon because I realized the necessity of the tumbling to create a beautiful, purposed piece of tile.

The next weekend my hubby began working on the entryway, laying down a border then carefully choosing each individual tumbled piece for the mosaic. It was tedious work, and as I watched him my mind went over the steps of the process and how the finished product was truly worth the jarring, smashing, tumbling trial it underwent.

Are we any different, Lord? I wondered. Our lives are guaranteed to bring tumbling, soul-cracking trials. Each one shapes us, refines our heart, and changes us for the better – with a stronger faith and solid hope in the only Hope. Christ-followers have a faithful focal point during trials - Jesus - and we’re gifted with God’s grace for each turn and bump of the trial.

Keep your eyes on Jesus and your hands full of God’s grace as you thump along in life’s cement mixer. God is shaping you into a beautiful piece of His mosaic.

Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. ~ 1 Peter 4:12-13