It’s easy to get caught up in the what-if scenario or to play the woulda, coulda, shoulda game. If you’re like me, you could spend al day beating yourself up for dumb things you’ve said or done in the past that you wish you could go back and erase . . . or do over.

You probably could very easily spend all your time in the past where you messed up, but that wouldn’t be living. The reality is that you can’t ever go back, so dwelling on what you can’t change is futile and pointless.

But God can step into the moment you messed up and redeem it. God can go back to the place you were wounded as well as healing you from it in the present. Remember that God didn’t choose the wise and the strong and the put-together, but He chose the broken and the weak and the can’t-ever-get-it-together people to shame those who think they’re self-sufficient and have their lives totally together. He chose you and me.

The fact that God chose you means that your past now serves a purpose rather than just shame. Your mistakes and your sins are the very things God was able to work for good. Those moments and those actions that you swore you’d never tell anyone about can now be the first line of your testimony of how God took you at your worst and is transforming you into something that looks a whole lot like Jesus.

That’s the good news of the gospel. The big windshield of your future is where you’re headed for sanctification and holiness and heaven. The small rear view mirror is what shaped you into who you are and what God has delivered you from and what you can use to help others who are where you once were.

What’s the old song? Count your blessings, name them one by one? How many of us actually do that? Count and name our blessings not generically as in “thank you, Lord, for all my blessings” but as in “thank you, Lord, for waking me up this morning, for giving me a sunny day, etc”?

It’s a bit of a hard truth, but there are people in the world who would love to have one of your bad days. For most of us, our bad days still have us with a roof over our heads and clothes on our backs and three meals in our bellies. Most of us don’t have to worry about our kids dying from hunger or preventable diseases.

For those of us who may not always love our jobs, there’s someone who’s been out of work long enough who would do anything for any job. For those who may not always love our families, there are orphans who would love to have people to call family.

I still go back to something I heard once long ago that still resonates with me. If all God did was to die for me and save me from my sins and never did one thing more for me for the rest of my earthly life, that would be enough for an eternity’s worth of praise and thanksgiving. But the truth is that God continues to bless us daily, even if we don’t see it.

Instead of always wanting more and never having enough, the antidote to the rat race and the disease of endless consumerism is gratitude and contentment — thanking God for what you already have and being content with where you are.

Surrender is not always about giving up the bad for the good. Sometimes, it means giving up something good in order to free our hands to receive something better. It means surrendering our idea of good for God’s idea of what is best.

It may be a career. It may be a relationship. It may be houses or lands. It may very well be that Jesus might ask us to sell all we have and give it to the poor as He did the rich young ruler. Or it could be to give up seeking fame to be a missionary in a place where no one knows your name but you can make God’s name famous.

Surrender is not God taking from us because He is a killjoy and wants us to be miserable and not happy. Surrender is where you and I find that God is ultimately all we have and all that we need. Surrender is life.

It’s one thing to say, “Don’t worry, be happy,” and quite another to live it out. It becomes a bit more difficult when work gets a little overwhelming or when you see people you love going through trials. It also doesn’t help that for just about all of us, worry is our default setting. We don’t have to work at worrying — it just happens.

But Jesus said, “Don’t be anxious.” Just because we may not be able to master overcoming worry in this life doesn’t make us exempt from Jesus’ command to cast all our cares on Him. With trusting God in the midst of worry, it’s not about perfection as much as it is the process.

Worry says that you have to figure it out because God either won’t bother or won’t get it right. But once you recognize the lie, it becomes easier to trust in the Truth. The more you read the red letters in the Bible, the more you’re able to recognize the voice of Jesus above all the other voices that sound like God or sound like you but are really just anxiety disguising its voice.

The problem with casting your cares is that you often end up reeling them back in. You have to learn to keep casting until you can eventually leave them in God’s good hands. And it’s not unspiritual or a sign of weak faith to seek counseling or other professional guidance.

The ultimate antidote to anxiety and worry is adoration. It’s not prayer in the sense of having to remind God of your problems but in reminding yourself (and your problems) who God is. The more you live out of that attitude of thanksgiving and gratitude for all the good you see in your life that comes from God, the more you see God in your life and the smaller all those things seem that sometimes keep you up at night. As my favorite writer said, you can be a panicked worrier or a prayer worrier. That choice is yours.

Yesterday, I went through the whole day thinking I needed a nap. I felt good, but I also felt a bit tired. I wondered why.

You know the old joke that goes something like “A day without coffee is like . . . . just kidding, I have no idea”? Well, I found out. I actually forgot to get any coffee.

Aside from a minor headache and a little sleepiness, I survived. But the next day, I got 2 cups of coffee. Or as the coffee purists would call it. coffee-infused sugar milk. Basically, it’s a little bit of coffee with a lot of creamer.

Getting up at 5 am every morning is no joke. That’s why God invented coffee, so I can remember to form sentences and put on pants and do all the adult stuff. I can do work stuff because I can keep my eyes open longer.

I saw an ad where the people were trying to get me to replace my regular coffee with mushrooms. To that I reply, H-E-double hockey stick no. I want my real coffee with real coffee beans. I don’t want a healthy gut. I want coffee. Lots of it.

Oh, and no decaf. That’s just the evil brew that keeps people sleepy and sad. Give me all the caffeine!

“O Lord, who else or what else can I desire but you? You are my Lord, Lord of my heart, mind, and soul. You know me through and through. In and through you everything that is finds its origin and goal. You embrace all that exists and care for it with divine love and compassion. Why, then, do I keep expecting happiness and satisfaction outside of you? Why do I keep relating to you as one of my many relationships, instead of my only relationship, in which all other ones are grounded? Why do I keep looking for popularity, respect from others, success, acclaim, and sensual pleasures? Why, Lord, is it so hard for me to make you the only one? Why do I keep hesitating to surrender myself totally to you?

Help me, O Lord, to let my old self die, to let me die to the thousand big and small ways in which I am still building up my false self and trying to cling to my false desires. Let me be reborn in you and see through you the world in the right way, so that all my actions, words, and thoughts can become a hymn of praise to you.

I need your loving grace to travel on this hard road that leads to the death of my old self to a new life in and for you. I know and trust that this is the road to freedom.

Lord, dispel my mistrust and help me become a trusting friend.

Amen.”

So it’s the eve of the 4th of July, and what am I doing? I’m hanging out with two very sleepy pups, watching episodes of The Love Boat, and eating Halo Top ice cream.

I could be out painting the town red, but I’m chillin’ with the canines instead. I’m 100% certain I made the right choice.

I almost forgot to mention earlier, but I also enjoyed a tasty frozen dinner. After I sufficiently nuked it in the microwave, of course.

I’m all about going places and trying new things — mostly new foods. I like traveling and exploring. I’m even spontaneous on occasion.

But sometimes it’s good to do nothing and hang out with your pets — or in this case, pets that you are looking after for a bit. To me, that is the good life.

So I’m back doing my favorite gig ever — taking care of two lovable pups while their owners are out of town. There were three, but one of them sadly passed away earlier. But I’m thankful to still have the opportunity to look after the two.

They’re both older now, so it’s no trouble at all. To me, there’s something about older pets that gives them an extra sweetness and calmness. The only trouble is that dogs (and cats) don’t live long enough.

So I take these moments whenever I can. I take lots of pictures that will remind me down the road of quiet nights and snoring dogs. I get to pet Kadie’s soft head and rub Tucker’s belly. That’s not a job. That’s a privilege.

Hopefully there will be more of these moments in the future. In the meantime, I’m counting my blessings and enjoying the present. Life is good.

When you’re overwhelmed with grief or stress, pause and take time to read (or sing) these words. Also, look up the back story to this timeless classic whenever you get the chance.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been six years with this furry little tortie in my life. I guess time flies when you have a fun cat, or a cat who likes flies. It seems like yesterday that she picked me to be her furrever human. I’d like to say I chose her, but we all know it was the other way around.

On June 30, 2017, I went to the Williamson County Animal Shelter with the intent of taking home a cat, not to replace Lucy, the cat I had lost nine days earlier, but to be an outlet for all the love I still had for Lucy that had nowhere to go.

I’ve never once regretted going to a shelter for my cat. I’m all for breeders and purebreed animals, but there’s something extra special about rescued pets. They just seem to love you more somehow. Plus, you don’t need to sell a kidney to be able to afford one.

I brought home a tiny tortie with one peanut butter foot all those years ago and have been blessed with six years of joy from one very grateful feline. God willing, here’s to many more years with little Peanut!