So by now, most of you are aware that I’m all about Goodwill and thrift stores. I’m also a bit obsessed with all things Christmas, especially Hallmark Keepsake ornaments. I think you can imagine my delight at running into a treasure trove of Christmas ornament finds at my nearby Goodwill recently.

The reality is that I often come home with nothing. Lots of times, I haven’t found anything remotely interesting. It all depends on the day or what I’m looking for or what someone else donated on the day before. It can be hit or miss.

But as any thrift shopper can attest, the find makes it all worthwhile. It gets even better when it’s 50% off Saturday.

One thing I’ve learned through all of this is not to determine the value of a thing by its price tag. Much of what is costly in the world’s eye often ends up in a thrift store or a landfill in time. Much of what most think of as worthless is really priceless. What makes life worthwhile are the intangibles that won’t ever have a price tag and that no amount of money can buy or sell.

I suppose now I need to work on getting a bigger Christmas tree for next year.

“Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
    you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
    I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
    you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
    before I’d even lived one day” (Psalm 139:13-16, The Message).

“Christ says: ‘Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?’ The Pharisee answers correctly, ‘The one who showed mercy to him’ (Luke 10:36). This means that by doing your duty you easily discover who your neighbor is.… He towards whom I have a duty is my neighbor, and when I fulfill my duty, I prove that I am a neighbor. Christ does not speak about recognizing our neighbor but about being a neighbor yourself, about proving yourself to be a neighbor, something the Samaritan showed by his compassion. Choosing a lover, finding a friend, yes that is a long, hard job, but your neighbor is easy to recognize, easy to find – if you yourself will only recognize your duty and be a neighbor” (Søren Kierkegaard, Provocations).

“Neighbourliness is not a quality in other people, it is simply their claim on ourselves” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).

That’s something I learned recently. When Jesus taught about being neighbors, He didn’t mean the people who live to the left and the right of you. He didn’t mean the people of your neighborhood who look like you and talk like you and think like you. It has nothing to do with where you live and where they live.

A neighbor is anyone with a need that you have the means to help. I think we’re a lot like the Pharisee who wants to qualify who his neighbor is, so he doesn’t have to step very far outside his comfort zone. But Jesus said that your neighbor will be the one God places in your path at the time where his need and your gifts will intersect. You just have to be ready and willing to obey.

And so it begins. Tomorrow is that dreaded Monday, the start of a new week, and with all the snow and ice melting in the great state of Tennessee, things are getting back to normal.

Maybe that’s good for you. Maybe you’re in a good place financially, socially. Maybe you’re one of those rare few who actually like their jobs and find fulfillment and purpose in them.

Or maybe you’re already stressed out thinking about all that’s waiting for you. Maybe you dread the coming week because you don’t want to face having THAT conversation or dealing with THAT person. Maybe you’re in a season of grieving and the next day does nothing more than to remind you of what and who you’ve lost.

The good news is that even when you can’t find the words to pray, God still hears your prayers. Even when you’ve got nothing more than tears and groans and sighs, God knows what they mean– even more than you do. The prayers that come from the bottom of a broken heart go straight to God’s heart.

I love that Charles Spurgeon quote: “Groanings which cannot be uttered are prayers which cannot be refused.”

The Bible says that God is near to those who are broken hearted and crushed in spirit. He’s close to those who are close to giving up. He sees you when no one else does, and He cares when no one else cares.

It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long. Almost 21 years ago, I went into a place called Vet Pets and picked out a tiny kitten for my birthday. It seems like yesterday, and it seems like a lifetime ago.

I had been around cats before. My mom had a cat. My sister had a few cats of her own. But I had never entered into the rare privilege of cat ownership until that moment when I picked one scrawny little feline over all the rest. That was a watershed moment in my history.

Lucy was a loyal and faithful companion for 17 years. I still get a little sad when I think about how I couldn’t save her at the end, but had to let her go and say my final goodbyes. But I’m thankful for that little tabby and what she meant to me.

Nine days after she passed, I was able to rescue another cat. She turned out not to be a carbon copy of Lucy, but quite a loving personality of her own. Her name is Peanut, and she is going on 4 years old.

I’ve learned that you can never go back, but you can remember. For me, memory is a fickle thing. You can’t will a memory into being, but certain smells or words or sights will trigger a random memory, like watching an old home movie.

I am an unashamed full-fledged cat person. Sometimes, I think I am the male equivalent of the crazy cat lady, whatever you would call that. Sure, I like all animals– cats, dogs, gerbils, hamsters, rabbits– but I have a special affinity for cats because I know how rare and special it is to have been chosen not by one but by two felines who loved me with all their hearts.

I’m going to seriously date myself here, but who remembers the 80s series Moonlighting? Who used to anxiously await the next episode? Who was always disappointed when it ended up being a rerun? This was before streaming, so you actually had to wait a whole week before the new episode. The horror.

Well, tonight’s Ragamuffin Gospel Fan blog post is a rerun. First, I couldn’t think of anything new. Second, I ran across a G. K. Chesterton quote that always hits me in the feels. He expresses a truth about God ( and consequently about us as humans) that bears repeating.

“Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, ‘Do it again’; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, ‘Do it again’ to the sun; and every evening, ‘Do it again’ to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that he has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we. The repetition in Nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical encore.”

I like the idea that growing in Godliness means we are growing young instead of growing old. It’s like we are growing again toward the innocence and wonder of childhood as opposed to the cynicism and weariness of old age. All the best people I know are the ones who are mature and yet have a childlike (not childish) quality about them. They are, as I hope to be, growing young.

I pose a question for all of you who have seen the movie Jumanji. By the way, this is a bit of a spoiler, so if you haven’t seen it, you may want to skip this one. How old were you when you realized that the same actor portrayed both Alan Parrish’s father, Sam, and Van Pelt, Alan’s dreaded enemy from the Jumanji world?

I was today years old. Ok, I feel like I should have caught on by now, having seen this film numerous times.

But isn’t it interesting that the game turned Alan’s fear of his own father into a character that was out to get him. Alan misunderstood how his father really felt about him, and that made him afraid. And isn’t that what most fear is? Just a misinterpretation of the situation?

I heard a pastor once say that FEAR stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. So many factors lead into fear. Granted, some fear is valid. But in my case (and I suspect in most of your cases), 99% of what I fear is not valid. It’s really just in my head, me envisioning scenarios that almost never happen, or when they do, they’re not nearly as bad as my fear made them out to be.

I love how Alan finally stops running and stands up to Van Pelt at the end. He faces his fear. Sometimes, that’s what it takes. You have to stand up to your fear, do the thing that you’re afraid of, and name it for what it is. Some fear is of the enemy, the devil, and it helps to name it and rebuke it out loud.

The Bible says that God has not given us a spirit of fear– that is, a mindset of anxiety that dominates our lives — but a spirit of power and love and a sound mind. That is a resurrection power, a regenerated heart, and a renewed mind. It is the indwelling God, the Holy Spirit, that overcomes fear.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear” (Nelson Mandela).

Well, it’s the first day of Lent, and for me, that means no social media for the next seven weeks. So far, I’ve managed to “accidentally” check into Facebook a number of times before I remember that I’m fasting from it. There’s always a period of adjustment whenever I start this time of year. By the end of it, I don’t miss social media at all.

Hopefully, this won’t be just a case of giving up something for the sake of giving it up. My goal is to replace all the time I’d normally waste on Facebook and Instagram with constructive– and possibly spiritual– endeavors. I want to read more actual books, especially more of the Bible.

I was reminded that being a disciple of Jesus means being consumed with being like Jesus. Those twelve disciples spent every waking moment of three years with Jesus because it was a passionate desire and a daily commitment. They spent a lot of time misunderstanding what He was saying and didn’t really get Him or who He was until after He resurrected, but they were with Him, nonetheless.

If I really and truly want to be like Jesus, it can’t be five minutes a day. If I want to call myself a disciple, it can’t be an activity– it has to be a lifestyle and a habit.

That said, I’m praying that Lent will be a time of abstaining from things I like to whet my appetite more for the things of God. I want to remove the distractions so I can better hear the voice of God.

What are you giving up for Lent? I always like to hear from my readers and gain from their insights.

I just found out that Carman Licciardello passed away today at age 65 from complications from a surgery for a hiatal hernia. I’m feeling a bit in shock at the moment. It’s like a part of my childhood went with him.

Was his music cheesy? Yes. Was it overblown and completely over the top? Absolutely. Is is an integral part of my life as a child and a youth? Without a doubt.

Even today, after all these years, I could still recognize several of his songs. Especially ones like The Champion, America Again, Witch’s Invitation, and Addicted to Jesus.

I wonder what it’s like for Him right now. I’m sure he’s seeing for the first time with his own actual eyes what he saw for so long with eyes of faith. What he hoped for and trusted in for all those years is now reality for him. He sang faithfully about Jesus, and now He sees Jesus face to face.

I may just have to pull out the old CDs and rock a little bit of Carman at some point tonight in his memory. Rest in peace, Carman. You were a good soldier in the fight of faith. May you hear the words “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

I thought about calling it Snowmageddon, but at this point, it’s been almost all freezing rain and sleet with very little actual snow. It looks like snow, but it’s much more treacherous to walk on or drive on. Thus, I’m staying indoors.

All the Northern folks are probably pointing fingers and laughing at all us poor and pathetic Southerners who don’t know how to handle a little bit of snow and ice. They forget that while this is a daily thing in the winter up North, it’s more like a once in a decade or so event for the South (or at least Middle Tennessee). We’re more used to the scorching summers with 110% humidity for weeks and weeks on end.

I myself am more middle of the road when it comes to weather. I like me some spring and fall. I tend to like summer and winter for about two weeks until the extreme temps have me pining for the next season.

Still, there’s something peaceful about a snowy landscape. Plus, it almost seems to glow on a night when the clouds hide the moon and stars. I think it helps me to sleep better.

I’m thankful for all four seasons. Each has its place in the natural cycle. Winter is a time of rest and restoration for the upcoming spring and summer. It’s a good reminder for all of us that we all need times of rest and refreshing in the midst of hectic schedules. There’s a reason why God made six days for work and play and one day for a Sabbath rest.