For Edie

Life in Grace is a wonderful blog. Actually, Life in Grace is more than a wonderful blog. It's the journal of a woman who is living just exactly the kind of life you'd expect for someone whose blog has a name like that.

Edie is full of grace. She knows the One who gives her grace; she takes no credit for the life she's been given. In fact, her blog tagline is "living a dream we don't deserve."

But Edie is a woman who isn't content simply to be full of grace herself. She could be, you know--with a husband and six kids and a busy life homeschooling the younger group of those, no one would begrudge her just living in grace, using all that grace to minister to her family.

But Edie is more than full of grace. She's full to overflowing. She overflows with joy and exuberance, with more than enough love and care to go around.

I first met Edie through her blog, of course. Back in the fall of 2009, I was already a reader and fan of hers. She decided to put together a series of posts called "12 Days of Handmade Christmas," and she put forth a call to crafters, asking for submissions of crafts that would make good gifts. Hesitantly, I contacted her, suggesting that I could write a post about the homemade fudge I make every year. Edie didn't know me, so I wasn't sure if my little idea would be good enough to include in her series.

Since no description I could write would do justice to Edie's spirit, here's the email she sent to me:

Richella,

Oh I'm a huge fan of homemade fudge and make it every year myself!!! I'd love to have you participate. If you don't mind to show it packaged up somehow in a festive Christmas-y way---that way it's easy to imagine giving it as a gift. I would need you to email me the post in 2-3 weeks. Let me know if you need help doing that----I just recently learned how to do it! I've been snoopin' around on your blog and I love it. Very nice to meet you.

Hugs and blessings,

edie

Can't you just feel the welcoming spirit oozing out of that little email? "Very nice to meet you," she says. And just after that, "Hugs and blessings." Not "sincerely," or "Have a nice day." No, "Hugs and blessings" are what Edie offers, even to someone she's just met.

Grace is, I'm convinced, the single greatest need of our hearts. Without God's grace we would be lost. Edie can tell you that with God's grace, we're not lost, even when all seems lost. And she'll do more than that. She'll let God's grace spill out of her, and it'll splash onto you. She'll hug you and bless you.

And you'll thank God that, 41 years ago today, He brought such a beautiful life in grace to this world.

Happy birthday, Edie.

**Joining lots of friends for Edie Day at Life in Grace**