Mercy in the Mess: How God Revealed His Character in My Mess and How You Can Find Him in Yours

A Note from Lauren

Cause I’m just a nobody; trying to tell everybody; all about Somebody; Who saved my soul. Ever since You rescued me, You gave my heart a song to sing; I’m living for the world to see nobody but Jesus.¹

Let’s be honest – I am a nobody. I am not famous, but God has done a work in my life, and I will sing His praises.

I don’t personally know or have a relationship with big-name Christian authors who can leave glowing reviews of Mercy in the Mess. I am a mom to two boys, a wife, blogger and podcaster who has an intimate group on social media. However, I have a tight-knit group of friends who are like my family, in addition to my blood and married-into family. I am beyond grateful to have these people in my life, and their opinions matter deeply to me.

As such, I gave Mercy in the Mess to these women because I care about them, and I care about you. You can trust their opinions because these women are like you and me. They are always honest and truthful. Their words ring in my heart, and I put them here so you can know these precious souls and love them as much as I do.

With love,

Lauren Greci

In this book, you will learn about the God who gets involved in our lives to draw us to Himself, even when we are in the midst of a mess that we have made or that people around us have created. You will see a girl who did not have faith grow into a woman God has filled with faith in Jesus, a woman who desires everyone to know her Lord and Savior, and a woman who continues to grow into the godly woman God desires. This is a special story that can be yours too.

Linda Clark, Jesus-follower, prayer warrior, wife, mom, grandmother, great-grandmother, author and ministry leader

I love this book and the author! The book is written in an easy-to-understand story of God’s purpose for our lives. Lauren shows how God loves and cares for us even when we are far from Him. He is patiently waiting for us to come to Him. Even though we walk away, He is always there!

Heather Greci, my beautiful mother-in-law, wife to Tom for almost 50 years, Jesus-follower, travel lover, spoiler of grandchildren

This book is two parts: a beautifully compelling testament to who God is and how He relates to us, as well as an honest, heartfelt testimony of the role He plays in Lauren’s life. If you are struggling to see God in your life or don’t know Him yet, Mercy in the Mess is a must-read!

Sarah Nguyen, my sister in Christ, wife, mom to three exceptional children and listener to all my problems

Lauren’s use of her personal struggles and real-life examples make this book both accessible and encouraging. Add to that her use of Scriptural truth, and you have a strong example of God at work that will teach and inspire those who read it.

Emily Honea, wife and mom to two adorable boys, writer, teacher and podcaster, Go & Tell Podcast guest

This book is a good reminder of who God is, what He’s done for us, and how we can trust Him in our daily lives! Lauren opens up her life to her readers to share the struggles we all face while pointing everything back to Christ and His incredible love for all of us. It’s encouraging to those who are already walking with Christ and inspiring to those who may not yet know Him.

Heather Page, wife, mom to two precious girls, animal lover and insect connoisseur

Lauren shares real-life messes from her own life, growing up as a child to the present day as a woman, wife and mother. Her book Mercy in the Mess doesn’t just share messes but gives hope and encouragement, which ultimately leads you to Gospel truths that we all need to hear! I appreciate Lauren’s boldness for shining light onto some of today’s current culture messes many of us deal with. Her solution: salvation through Jesus and pointing to God’s attributes! This book is a must-read for any woman! I appreciate how there is a good amount of Scripture throughout the book to keep pointing back to God’s Word and not ourselves.

Lara Austin, aka The Green Heart Mama, wife, mom of three and wellness advocate

Mercy in the Mess

How God Revealed His Character in My Mess

and How You Can Find Him in Yours

Lauren Greci

Copyright © 2022 Lauren Greci.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by

any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying,

recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system

without the written permission of the author except in the case of

brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

844-714-3454

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or

links contained in this book may have changed since publication and

may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those

of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher,

and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Cover Design: Scott Greci; https://gurudesignco.com

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible,

New Living Translation, Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale

House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers,

Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked ICB are taken from the International

Children’s Bible®. Copyright © 1986, 1988, 1999 by Thomas

Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are taken from the Amplified® Bible,

Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked ESV taken from The Holy Bible, English

Standard Version® (ESV®), Copyright © 2001 by Crossway,

a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®.

Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-5536-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-5535-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022900514

WestBow Press rev. date: 2/22/2022

Contents

Dedication

Introduction

Chapter 1: Good, Good Father

Chapter 2: Love Like No Other

Chapter 3:T Righteousness

Chapter 4: Great is His Faithfulness

Chapter 5: Merciful, Gracious and Forgiving

Chapter 6: Patient

Chapter 7: Blessedness

Chapter 8: Holy, Holy, Holy

Chapter 9: The Way, The Truth, and the Life

Notes

About the Author

Dedication

To my husband, Stephen, who has always believed in me and encouraged me to keep going and to pursue my dreams. I am grateful that God placed us together all those years ago. You are my best friend and teammate, and I love you more than you know.

To my boys, Troy and Clark, you have changed me in the best way possible. Parenting is sanctifying, and I wouldn’t be where I am today in my walk with the Lord if it wasn’t for the two of you.

To my grandmother, Linda Clark, who has been instrumental in my journey. You have helped refine and guide me over the years, and I am so grateful to you.

To Mom and Dad: Heather and Tom – you have loved me like your own daughter since day one, and I love you both very much. You love our boys so well, and I can’t begin to thank you enough for all your support, love, generosity and guidance through the years. Thank you.

To my dear friend, Sarah, you have watched me raise my boys and grow in my walk with the Lord. You are wise beyond your years, and I am glad that God placed us at the same MOPS table years ago!

And of course, to my Lord and Savior, thank you, Jesus, for giving me the wisdom, discernment, and guidance that only You can provide.

I am nothing – You are everything.

Introduction

Hi there! I feel like I need to formally introduce myself: I am Lauren Greci, a mom to two precious boys and wife to my sweet husband. I have a mound of laundry the size of the Empire State Building on my bed. Oh, and little building blocks are strewn across the floor that only Simone Biles could gracefully navigate with abounding flips and backbends. Dust bunnies have colonized and made their own extended families along my tables, blinds and fans.

You might be surprised to learn by that previous paragraph that I am a recovering perfectionist. Clean freak. OCD organizer. Vacuum-my-way-out-of-a-room-and-leave-perfect-lines-on-the-carpet kind of gal.

Before becoming a stay-at-home mom, I taught fifth grade. Every Friday was Cleaning Day in my classroom. My homeroom class was tasked with wiping down their desks with disinfectant wipes . . . and that was before the pandemic (I was a trend-setter)! They also needed to maintain an organized cubby throughout the week. My desk was always super tidy: students’ papers were organized on little shelves by their class block number, with a ‘graded’ and ‘not graded’ side. I had my lesson plans typed out and printed for the week and would update the saved computer document weekly to remember it for the following school year.

Everything was in my control.

I giggle now because control is not something I can do, yet I still struggle with it.

All my frustrations stem from feeling out of control.

But God.

God has worked in my life in so many ways. He has absolutely done a WORK (yes, that needs to be capitalized) in my heart this past year. My once perfect standards started to dissipate by finding joy and contentment even in the mess. Do I still have moments where the mess absolutely stifles me and I feel like I will crawl out of my skin? Yes. But those moments happen few and far between these days.

The once weary, exhausted perfectionist striving for control is slowly fading away to a newfound freedom that can only be discovered through Christ.

That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, even though I