When I finished my last post, I realized that even as I was busily wiping the slate clean for everyone else in my life, I continued to leave a whole lot of regrets scribbled on my own. Things I said that I can't take back. Promises I made that I was unable to keep. Confidences I had broken. Opportunities I missed or ignored. Trust misplaced. Projects abandoned.

The first time I remember putting it into practice, there was a boy who came to a free gym class that I was helping to run. He had a terrible attitude from the start and when it was time for him to leave he refused to move.

I was very firm with him. I said, "Okay, it's not funny anymore. You need to go." Nothing. I threatened to tell his teacher. He just laughed. I even raised my voice. He thought it was funny.

I realized that there is that tendency in all of us when grace is extended to a guilty party to complain about the unfairness. This first grader was upset, and rightfully so, that I was being nice to someone who deserved to be punished.

Grace is the opposite of everything that our nature screams. It says forgive when we want to hold a grudge. It says trust when we would rather be suspicious. It says give when saving makes so much more sense. Grace means ignoring everything the world tells us is "right" and "fair."