Editor's Note Found on Facebook Marketplace By Darcy L. Fargo

November 15, 2023

“How did you get that thing in the back of a Hyundai Elantra?”

That was the first question I asked my husband as I looked over my most recent Facebook Marketplace/online garage sale purchase. I bought a school audio visual cart – the kind of metal stand made to hold a giant, box-style television on top and a VCR or similar device below and be wheeled from classroom to classroom.

It turns out, my husband had to drive 30 minutes on a cold evening with the hatch of his car open. Even then, the cart barely fit in his small car.

“That thing is way bigger than I thought,” I said, laughing.

This cart is massive. I’m six feet tall, and the top shelf is just below my shoulders. The bottom platform is big enough that I can (and did) fit my whole body on it.

While it will be perfect for its intended use as a stand for 3D printers and, my vinyl/paper-cutting machine, and my filament and vinyl stash, the photos included in the online listing didn’t give me any indication of scale, and it didn’t occur to me to ask. Similar carts were used in our classrooms when I was in grade school, and I thought I roughly remembered their size. Boy, was I wrong!

I thought about my awesomely huge AV cart as I was reflecting on a recent conversation with a friend about grace.

I’ll be honest: Grace isn’t something I think about often. After this conversation, I was thinking about grace.

Google defined grace as (one of several definitions), “the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings.”

It occurred to me that we’re sometimes blessed to get glimpses of and to recognize God’s grace active in our lives. I can think of countless times in my life when the fruit of a particular grace took a long time to be revealed. I’m sure there are countless times I’ve had no idea God’s grace was even active in my life, but it was and is.

God’s blessings, his mercy, his goodness and his gifts are far bigger and better than we could ever imagine.

That thing is way bigger than I thought.