There was a time I thought of "grace" as akin to some kind of "spiritual mustard" or invisible holy water...someTHING that got "smeared" or "sprinkled" on people, after which they were "saved". Don't laugh too hard...at least I didn't think physical mustard or holy water did anything spiritually real. Now I understand "grace" is active.
For God loved the world in this manner--that He gave His Only Begotten Son...Grace.
The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world...Grace.
Grace...came by/through Jesus Christ.
Maybe "gracing" is a better translation, since Theologians have muddied the meaning. I don't know. Like all those pesky bible-words, it's a word first. Technically, it's a noun. But I think of it as a "gerund", from:
G5463
χαίρω
chairō
Thayer Definition:
1) to rejoice, be glad
2) to rejoice exceedingly
3) to be well, thrive
4) in salutations, hail!
5) at the beginning of letters: to give one greeting, salute
Part of Speech: verb
Does that moisten or "undry" the theology a little?
What a "gerund" is (I wasn't an English Major either, but I dig words):
http://www.softschools.com/examples/grammar/gerunds_examples/95/