Fiction

A Name Called Grace

by Miranda Rusere
09/17/26
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“Mom, why did you name me Grace?” the young girl asks as she sits at the kitchen table, colouring a picture of a cat eating ice cream and munching on an after-school snack of apples and cheese.

Her mom smiles at the girl who hasn’t looked up from colouring, concentration furrowing her brows.

“Do you know what ‘Grace’ means?” she asks while peeling potatoes at the kitchen counter.

Grace shrugs, plopping a neat cube of cheese into her mouth. Her mom always cuts it just the way she likes it.

“I know it has something to do with God. Miss Clark was talking about it in Sunday school.”

“You’re right about that. God is full of grace, which means He blesses us with good things that we don’t deserve."

Grace lifts her head of blond curls, cocking it to one side as she tries to understand what her mom is saying.

“Why don’t we deserve good things?”

Her mom smiles at her once more, enjoying the innocent yet insightful questions the curious ten-year-old is asking.

“The Bible tells us that humanity has been separated from God because of our sin. The ultimate gift of grace is that God made a way for us to have a relationship with Him by sending His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross in our place, for the forgiveness of our sins.”

Blond curls bob as Grace nods, her attention back on the colouring page in front of her. She remembers learning about all of this in Sunday school.

“So, why did you call me Grace?” she asks once more, returning to the original question.

Her mom sets down the potato peeler and leans her elbows on the counter, catching her daughter’s eyes.

“Long before you came into Daddy’s and my life, your daddy and I didn’t know Jesus. We weren’t Christians yet, and we made some bad decisions.”

Her mind drifts back to those days and the first positive pregnancy test she ever received. A seventeen-year-old girl, not yet graduated, with her whole life ahead of her. The fear and anxiety that crushed her then are just a memory now, but one she remembers well.

The decision was made—two kids on their own, thinking they could handle it alone. She thought about that baby every day in the years that followed. Even today, the thoughts find their way in at times. Had things been different, they would have a seventeen-year-old now—the same age she and her husband were when they faced the consequences of their actions.

Despite the odds stacked against them, their relationship made it through, though not without a few scars. But God, in His loving-kindness, by grace, saved them.

“We didn’t deserve you, my girl. And yet God was so kind to us, and He continues to be so kind. You are a living example of His grace in our lives. That’s why we named you Grace.”

She takes in the sight of her beautiful daughter sitting at the table, completely unaware of just how cruel this world can be. She knows that one day she will share the full story with her, but for today this is enough.