Gracious Women

God has allowed my daughters and me to be surrounded by gracious women. We do not realize this privilege until someone comes into our lives who has a less than gracious spirit. This happened to us several weeks ago and it was shocking. The incident was not a big deal, but it caused us to see how truly blessed we are not deal with this particular trait on a regular basis. Many people in the world deal with it on a daily basis. It is an expected part of life.

A gracious stranger entered my life today. I made my first sell on E-bay. I set up the transaction with fear and trepidation due to the novelty of the situation. Last night, as the bidding time was ending, I realized I made an error on the description of the 3rd grade math book I was selling. I mistakenly wrote that the book was in new condition. It was in very good, used condition, but definitely not new. Try as I may, I could not figure out how to change the description 2 hours before the bidding was to end. I was horrified!

When the bidding was over, I sent the invoice, along with an explanation of my mistake and what I hoped would be a satisfactory compensation for the error. The gracious stranger wrote me a very kind note and a counter offer which turned out to be less in her favor but was how she wanted it to be handled. When I went to bed last night, I had decided to never sell on E-bay again. Today, I have changed my mind. I will sell to kind, homeschooling moms. I will have to write on the description, "Only gracious folk are permitted to bid!" The gracious stranger made my day brighter and my burden lighter. Is this not what all Christian women should see as their mission? Is this not what we should be training our daughters and sons to be as they are salt and light in a dark world. The gracious spirit shines.

To those of you who visit my blog and are the gracious women in our lives, we thank and bless God for you.