I’m going to tell you a story. If you’ve been following these posts for a year or longer, you’ve probably heard it before, so you can skip this one if you want.

Three years ago, I went into the Williamson County Animal Shelter looking for another little cat to love nine days after I said my last goodbyes to Lucy.

I knew I could never hope to replace Lucy, but I needed a place for all the love to go that was still in my heart. I had no idea what this new cat would look like.

I did hope that the cat would more or less pick me. I prayed that the right cat would choose me to be her human rather than me choosing the cat.

It hadn’t worked the way I planned. I looked at a few cats that were nice (if not super affectionate or friendly). I even had one picked out that I thought I could grow to really love in time.

But then I turned around to see a little kitten paw reaching out from a cage behind me. Actually, it was my nephew who pointed her out to me, I think.

She was all alone in her cage, crying for me to take her home. She had picked me as the very human she wanted to spend all her nine lives with.

Her name at the time was Marcie, but that name really didn’t fit. I don’t know what inspired the name Peanut, but it seemed to fit (plus it got three votes from my nephews and niece).

So three years later, I have this quiet and gentle cat who loves her belly rubs. She’s mostly black, but she has this one peanut butter colored foot that she’s rather proud of (or at least you’d think so by the way she shows it off).

Thanks, Peanut, for three years of joy. You are the best.

“Lord, all that I long for is known to you, 
my sighing is no secret from you… 
I put my trust in you, and leave you to answer for me” (Elisabeth Elliott).

Of course, that works for any day of the week, but it seems especially appropriate after another Monday has come and gone.

I believe Mrs. Elliott also said something to the effect that God gives the very best to those who leave the choice with Him.

May this be the day that you worry less and worship more, panic less and pray more, try harder less and trust more.

May this be the day that you rediscover that God and God alone is enough, and if you have nothing more, you have enough and you are enough.

May this be the day that you remember that all the days of your life are written in God’s book, and He knows every one of them by heart.

May this be the day that you know in your deepest heart that God has already written the last page of history. You can read it in the last chapter of the last book in the Bible and rest in the fact that it will be fine in the end, and if it’s not fine, it’s not the end.

Recently, I found out that a man that I greatly admire and respect has passed away. His name was John Oden, and he was one of the most kind and faithful men of God I have ever known.

He was a steady stalwart and a friendly face at Room in the Inn for around 20 years. His was the face you could always trust and everything about him reflected Jesus to everyone he ever met.

I found this old Wordsworth poem that seems appropriate for the occasion:

“And O ye Fountains, Meadows, Hills, and Groves,  
Forebode not any severing of our loves!  
Yet in my heart of hearts I feel your might;  
I only have relinquish’d one delight  
To live beneath your more habitual sway.  
I love the brooks which down their channels fret,  
Even more than when I tripp’d lightly as they;  
The innocent brightness of a new-born Day  
Is lovely yet;  
The clouds that gather round the setting sun  
Do take a sober colouring from an eye  
That hath kept watch o’er man’s mortality;  
Another race hath been, and other palms are won.  
Thanks to the human heart by which we live,  
Thanks to its tenderness, its joys, and fears,  
To me the meanest flower that blows can give  
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears” (William Wordsworth).

“Dear Lord, you have sent me into this world to preach your word. So often the problems of the world seem so complex and intricate that your word strikes me as embarrassingly simple. Many times I feel tongue-tied in the company of people who are dealing with the world’s social and economic problems. 

But you, O Lord, said, ‘Be clever as serpents and innocent as doves.’ Let me retain innocence and simplicity in the midst of this complex world. I realize that I have to be informed, that I have to study the many aspects of the problems facing the world, and that I have to try to understand as well as possible the dynamics of our contemporary society. But what really counts is that all this information, knowledge, and insight allows me to speak more clearly and unambiguously your truthful word. Do not allow evil powers to seduce me with the complexities of the world’s problems, but give me strength to think clearly, speak freely, and act boldly in your service. Give me the courage to show the dove in a world so full of serpents” (Henri Nouwen).

In case you wondered, it is not your job to fix everybody and everything.

It’s not your job to point out everybody else’s mistakes and errors or to correct their political view.

It’s not your job to carry around the burdens of every single person plus your own.

It is your job to trust God.

It’s not your job to carry around anger all the time.

Yes, there is a time for righteous anger, but the Bible says 1) in your anger, do not sin, and 2) don’t let the sun go down on your anger. Carrying around anger constantly is like playing with fire– eventually you or someone you love will get burned. Someone you did not intend to harm will get hurt.

The answer is always deep adoration of God. After all, He’s the only one with the real power to heal and unite and restore.

“Father, our source of life,
You know our weakness.
May we reach out with joy to grasp your hand
and walk more readily in your ways.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever” (from The Liturgy of the Hours).

I confess that I am prone to judgmental thinking when I read social media posts. First of all, my name is Greg, and I am a grammar nazi (for the next meeting of Grammar Nazis Anonymous). And is is really TOO hard to understand when YOU’RE using the wrong word? Honestly.

More importantly, I get annoyed when people use Jesus and faith as a means to promote some other agenda, whether it’s politics or business or whatever else, instead of faith being the ultimate end and goal.

Often I miss the heart behind the message. I don’t give the other person the same courtesy that I would hope someone else would give me when reading one of my heartfelt posts.

This beautiful prayer acknowledges before God that 1) we are full of weaknesses and 2) He already knows them all even as we tried to hide them behind bravado and anger and finger-pointing and humor.

We call on Father God as the Source of Life, confessing that we desperately need God in all the hours of our days. I know I do best when I’m clinging to God’s hand with all that I’ve got and finding joy in His ways instead of my own.

It’s a declaration of dependence, something that is very counter-cultural (and in many ways unAmerican). It’s to agree with Jesus that we are poor in spirit, having nothing of our own to bring to God but instead being offered all the benefits of the God’s Kingdom.

Jesus, help me to always seek your hand with joy and to walk willingly in your ways, knowing that You alone can make beauty out of chaos and light from darkness. Amen.

I heard some wise words on a Podcast earlier today. Essentially, they went something like this: “Be for the people Jesus is for.”

That immediately prompted a question: “Who is Jesus for?”

If I read my Bible correctly, Jesus in the Gospels was for the lowly outcast shepherds and the ragtag poor fishermen who became His disciples. He was also for the rich young ruler even when he couldn’t bear to part with his riches to follow Jesus.

Jesus was for women during a time when they were viewed as little more than property and had little to no rights apart from those that came with being a wife and mother.

Jesus was also for the religious leaders– even the ones He was most blunt with. He was for every single person He ever met during His earthly ministry.

How do I know? Because the Bible says that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. Period. Not a certain kind of lost, but all the lost.

The Bible also says that God is not willing that ANY should perish but that ALL should come to repentance and faith.

So is God for Democrats AND Republicans? Yes. Gay and straight? Yes. Black and white? Yes. Gentile and Jew? Yes. Agnostic and church-goer? Yes.

God is for them all.

Does that mean that if God is for me that He automatically gives a blanket endorsement to everything I do and say? No.

While Jesus was for people, He still called them out for their hypocrisy and lack of compassion. He told the woman caught in adultery that He did not condemn her but also to go and sin no more.

That means that God is for us in the sense that He wants us to become our truest and best selves. He wants us conformed to the image of Jesus, the God-man who was the perfect reflection of God and the perfect representation of humanity.

God is for the people you like AND the people you hate. God is for conservatives AND liberals. God is for Donald Trump AND Joe Biden. Best of all, God is for YOU.

PS I’m not saying that you shouldn’t speak out against policies and actions that you don’t agree with. What I am saying is that you need to remember that all these people are made in the image of God and to denigrate them and call them names is to insult their Maker. God is for them as much as He is for you.

Here’s a list of things I’m ready to be over for good:
1) COVID-19

2) Racism in any form

3) Politics

4) Food turning to fat and not muscle

5) 5 am wake-up calls

6) Self-righteous social media posts

7) Cancer

8) Unsweet tea

9) Decaf coffee

10) Death

I could probably make a much longer list if I really had the time to let my mind go and really unearth all the stuff that annoys the crap out of me.

Some of these are in jest, but some I really do want to be over. Like death. I found out a man I respected to volunteered at Room in the Inn for over 20 years passed away recently. I’m ready to say goodbye to having to say goodbye.

Still I have this certain hope. One day, I will say a final goodbye to COVID-19, cancer, pain, suffering, disease, injustice, racism, heartbreak, lies, deceit, and death.

One day Jesus will make all things right and new.

One day Jesus will restore sevenfold all that the enemy has taken away and all the havoc that sin has wreaked on the world.

Then it won’t be over. It will only have just begun.

I can’t believe it’s been three years since my little Lucy crossed the rainbow bridge and took a little piece of my heart with her.

I remember how gutted I felt watching her waste away before my very eyes in the six days. On Thursday, June 15, I learned that she had a very limited amount of time left, and on Wednesday, June 21, I took her on her very last trip to the vet to say a final goodbye.

Part of me still feels stupid for crying so much over a silly little cat. Part of me is aware that there’s so much more going on in the world and people have lost so much more than I will ever begin to comprehend.

But I believe more than ever that it’s okay to mourn the loss of a pet. They’re the ones who are seemingly always there, a quieting comforting sort of presence in the chaotic world. They’re the ones who give unconditional love and understanding when you need it most and deserve it least.

Part of me still feels sad that she’s not here anymore. Part of me knows that I was blessed to have a loyal companion who was fiercely devoted to me for 17 good years. And yes, if I had the chance to do them all over again, I wouldn’t hesitate. Even the hardest parts and the saddest days.

I don’t really understand a lot about animals and angels, but I sometimes wonder if my little Lucy wasn’t a guardian angel in disguise.

Lucy, you were the best. I could never in a million years hope to replace you. I hope you don’t mind that I found a rescue nine days after you passed so that all the love in my heart had a place to go and didn’t have to run down my cheeks in the form of tears.

I miss you every day and you will forever remain my baby. If I have my way, I’ll see you again tonight in my dreams.