that's too much grace

Cristian is a pretty normal ten year old boy and tonight was not my first bedtime rodeo. 
That is why we have a checklist:
lunch packed? yes
backpack ready? yes
teeth brushed? no
are you going to go brush them? no
don't you brush them at night? I'll just brush them twice in the morning
potty business taken care of? I don't have to go
and my final instruction:
get a glass of water because you are always thirsty after you lay down...
his comment:
"I don't need any water, I just had a bunch of milk."
"Are you sure you don't need any water?"
"yes"
his favorite blanket was located, adjusted then re-adjusted 
I turned the lights off
he was a little more chatty than normal at this time of night so I asked: 
"did you take your gummy?"
no, he forgot
so we get the gummy

"Grandma, I need some water."
"Cristian, we had this discussion earlier"
and what followed was a minor meltdown on his part 
         and a moment of pure grandmother privilege on mine.
I got him a glass of water.
Even though we'd had the discussion that he'd want it and he denied it, I got the water.
As I handed it to him I said, "Cristian, this is grace. Tomorrow this is not going to happen. You are going to get your water before you lay down or you are going to be very thirsty all night."
A humble and gratitude filled  "Thank you grandma" was his reply.
It was no surprise ten minutes later that he had to go to the bathroom.
Really bad.
And I calmly told him to go.
"Thank you grandma."

On his way up the stairs he said "this is too much grace."
And my heart was struck.
I wanted to hug him tight and tell him "no, sweet boy, it isn't."
Because I was suddenly keenly aware of the grace that has been lavished on me by God. This getting Cristian water and allowing him to go to the bathroom, it was nothing.
I know that there is a time and place to instill discipline.
This was not one of those times.

This was the time to extend grace.
Too much grace?
I am thankful that is not a thing.

Crisitan is sleeping soundly near me now. And I am praying God's grace over him. Humanly speaking, any grace is "too much". We certainly don't deserve it. It is a gift given to those who choose to follow Jesus. God seems to enjoy lavishing it upon us. We cannot buy it. We cannot earn it. I pray that Cristian never takes grace for granted. I also pray he learns to accept it, to rest in it and to extend it as it is given. Freely. No strings attached. 


"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us." Ephesians 1:3-8