Lynn H. Blackburn

Twenty years ago today, I turned 16.

I remember the day clearly for several reasons.

My family threw me a surprise party and . . .

I caught my hair on fire when I blew out the candles!

Really.

What can I say? It was 1990. I used a lot of hairspray.

I’ve been thinking about my 16-year old self lately. She didn’t know how easy she had it. She had a pretty good idea of how her life was going to go. She was going to go to college, fall in love, get married, have kids, maybe cure the world of cancer in her spare time . . . you know, all the important stuff.

And she did all that (except the cure for cancer). But strangely, she never anticipated the challenges along the way. And thank heaven she didn’t. If 16-year old Lynn had known the plot line of the next 20 years, she would have been paralyzed by fear. She wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the many happy times because she would have been dreading the tough times.

While I pondered all this, smug and superior as I remembered my naivete, a new thought struck.

What will 56-year old Lynn think of 36-year old Lynn? Will she remember the day she turned 36? How she took Emma to a new dentist and had lunch with her sister? Will she remember the way life was back in 2010 and shake her head and wish things were as easy as they were then? Will she be glad that 36-year old Lynn had no idea what was heading her way?

That kind of thinking could get depressing. Except for one thing.

Grace.

Tom Hayes, an evangelist that I’ve known my entire life (he and my dad were roommates in college), wrote a song called New Grace. The chorus goes like this . . .

Grace not yet discovered
Grace not yet uncovered
Grace from His bountiful store
Grace to cross the river
Grace to face forever
There’ll be new grace I’ve not needed before.

God’s grace has been sufficient through every trial and challenge. And it will continue to be. No matter what comes my way there will be grace that I have not yet discovered and it will be bountiful and abundant and it will be exactly what I need, when I need it.

I have no idea how 56-year old Lynn’s life will look and I don’t need to know.

I put my trust in the One who does know.

The one whose grace is enough.