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