Grace and Mercy

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

Can you believe that there was a time when car seats didn't really exist? Would some parents really let their child sit in their lap... while they drove? There are now an abundant number of car seats on the market. Naomi was fortunate enough to receive her first car seat from Auntie Leia. Richie and I were ready to buy some kinda of Graco, but Le insisted on buying us a Chicco - with the entire travel system, no less! It's been very good to us since day 1 and still continues to be a breeze for us to put her in and take her out.

One of my favorite times to take Naomi's picture is when I'm riding in the back of the car while Richie is driving and she's sitting in her car seat. She's not moving around so I don't have to worry about taking a quick shot before she tries to make her getaway. Here is a lovely little slideshow of the various photos I've taken - many with my cell phone:



Shortly after Naomi's first birthday, we upgraded her car seat to a convertible-style which works both rear- and forward-facing. We were hoping that she would find it exciting to be facing forward,; she could enjoy the view better which would reduce the whining time. We were going to buy a Graco or Safety 1st brand car seat, but my sister recommended Britex for their top ratings. It didn't hurt that we had a 20% off coupon at Babies R Us, but even after the discount, the Britex still came out to almost $300. Richie refers to it as Mimi's "Ferrari" ;)

I hate to admit that at times I would take Naomi out of her car seat and nurse her on the down low. Not to make an excuse, but she was usually hungry, so I would feed her. But I do know that sometimes she just didn't want to be in the seat and I just didn't want her to cry anymore. That was "Before"... but "Then" happened and changed my whole perspective.

Our roadtrip to Reno was the first time we took the Britex on the road with us and we even set it up facing forward, "for the morale." On the way back home, for the most part, Naomi sat in her seat - even in the extreme heat and even through some crazy rubber-necking traffic on the Carcinas Bridge while a couple lanes were closed to film a movie. It wasn't until we were probably only 10 miles from home when Naomi started getting upset. So I took her out and nursed her. No biggie.

Right around that same time, Grandma Lily (sitting in the front passenger seat next to Richie) asks us, "What is the difference between grace and mercy?" My mom had recently re-affirmed her relationship with Christ Jesus and was enjoying all of God's Word and Good News with the wonder and amazement of a child =) So Richie and I talked a little about what we thought of grace and mercy and how the two can sometimes be interchangeable. I happened to have my BlackBerry handy, so I looked both words up on my dictionary app and began reading:

grace: favor or good will; one definition even listed "mercy; an act of grace"
mercy: compassion, pity; I especially mentioned: "at the mercy of, entirely in the power of"

Within seconds of me reading the definition out loud, Richie yells something out loud along the lines of, "OH SNAP!!!" Of course, that totally scared me, so I yell back "WHAT?" I don't even remember if he had time to tell me, but I saw for myself: a bicycle was laying in the middle of the fast lane and the car directly in front of us had slammed on its brakes. "OH MY G!!!" Richie swerves the van with a hard right and barely misses the vehicle in front of us. Our van crosses over, not one, not two, but three lanes! We wobble a little bit before Richie straightens out. Alas, no one or thing is harmed. We made it! PRAISE GOD!!

I need not remind you, that little Mimi is laying on my lap while this all happens - she cried out a little bit, more out of fear when I yelled, and I held her with all my love as though her life depended on it. And it did. It really did. As soon as the van straightened out, even though we were all safe, I was on the verge of tears. That was way too close for comfort. I apologized profusely to the baby and placed her back in her car seat. Which she was extremely upset with me, but I just knew that it was the right thing to do.

We all acknowledged out loud that God was teaching us a valuable lesson in grace and mercy - by showing us. It's not something that can I can read in a dictionary to truly understand. In my heart of hearts, I knew that Naomi should always be in her seat, but it took a close call for me to see why. An act of grace. I had to live it. To experience it. To receive it. We were all at God's mercy. He is always in control. loves us so much that even when we are foolish, He gives us exactly what we need to know that He is always there and always cares.

I don't even want to get into the "What ifs" - but my mind sure did for a brief while. The scariest part is that we were on road for 4 hours and it wasn't until the last 3 miles that this all happened. Maybe even less. I remember strapping Naomi into the car seat and that's when we exited the freeway. It all happened literally "down the street" from our home. NEVER AGAIN will I take Naomi out of a moving vehicle. What good is the "Ferrari" if she's not even sitting in it? And... we also decided to face the car seat back to the rear position since she's not even 20 lbs yet. NO MORE taking chances. LORD, THANK YOU FOR YOUR GRACE AND MERCY - even when I don't deserve it, You give it to us freely!

Go figure, ever since then, Naomi doesn't even seem to complain about sitting in her carseat as much as she used to. Either that, or I'm not as bothered when she actually does whimper. We do a lot of singing and playing back there to distract her. Driving Miss Mimi =)

Lately, I've been giving her "baby quizzes" while we cruise the set. I'll fill you in very with fun details of how smart our lil miss really is, but here is just a sample of the many things that Naomi knows:



*sorry if the video is kinda tiny, still trying to figure out the best way to upload my Crackberry clips*