Most people are desensitized to the unofficial American greeting. "Who are you and what do you do?" is just a social nicety we expect.

We're even programmed to answer with short, clear phrases:

"I'm Jodi, home health care nurse."
"Katherine, divorced mom of one."
"It's Emily, blogger and church volunteer."

These post-comma words give us a feeling of security. They let us categorize an identity quickly and easily: "This is me in a nutshell."

But our short answers are never the whole story, are they?

When I was five, my parents surprised me with piano lessons. Let's just say Mom and Dad were waaaay more excited than I was. Every week I trudged next door to Mrs. Tabor's house, struggled through a lesson, then dragged my feet back home to practice for next week.

Oh, how I hated piano!

If my little five-year-old brain had known enough words, it would've cried, "Loathe! Despise! Abhor!" all the way to lessons and back.

It wasn't poor Mrs. Tabor's fault. She was a kind, patient soul who made us cookies each time we had a recital.

It was me.

Happy New Year!

As we contemplate God’s grace at the start of another year, it’s important to know what we're looking at. Christians have long known the word "grace" and used it freely. But ask us to explain it and many of us pause and "hmmmm" and find it hard to define.

Thankfully, Scripture has much to say on the subject. Here are 10 truths of grace to encourage and teach our hearts what this beautiful concept actually means and does in our lives!