This is a beautiful story that just about everyone reading can relate to at some point. Untangling someone, whether literally or metaphorically, can be a long and dangerous process, but in the end is always worth it.

“A female humpback whale had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth.

A fisherman spotted her just east of the Faralon Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so badly off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her…. a very dangerous proposition. One slap of the tail could kill a rescuer. 

They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her. 

When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, nudged them, and pushed gently, thanking them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives.

The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth says her eye was following him the whole time, and he will never be the same. 

May you be so fortunate … To be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you. 

And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude”

“Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner” (1 Peter 4:12-13, The Message).

It may be true that Monday’s just around the corner. But so is glory.

If you’re going through it and you feel at the end of your proverbial rope, hang on. Glory’s just around the corner.

If you feel as if it’s all you can do to exist from day to day, from hour to hour, from moment to moment, hang on. Glory’s just around the corner.

Whether your day’s been great or terrible, whether you’re riding high or down in the dumps, you know that in Jesus the best is yet to come.

Even in the mist of the worst that life can bring, you know that God is in the very midst of it with you. There’s nothing that can happen to you or anything you can do to lose the love He has for you.

Hang on. Glory’s just around the corner.

“…can you just feel held for a moment? Wherever you are?
The God of invincible reliability, of infinite resources, of insistent love, says, “Give me everything you are carrying — because I want to carry you.” 
“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you” Ps. 55:22
Thank You, Lord, for being the pillowed rest —
into which we can sink real deep & find a Peace that passes all understanding.

#SharingPrayer #GodsGotYou
art credit: Kelli Murray”

I post this one because 1) I can relate on many levels, 2) it will speak to many people, and 3) I’m too tired to think of anything original.

Seriously, I’ve found many times over how faithful God is to those who keep trusting in Him. He’s faithful even when you run out of faith. He’s faithful. Period.

If you’ve ever brought home an animal after a beloved pet has passed away, you probably know that you can’t expect the second to be a carbon copy of the first. It’s not fair to expect the new dog or cat (or whatever other critter) to act just like the old one.

That said, I do like little Peanut. She’s got her own style. She’s very laid-back and chill, yet friendly and playful at the same time. I’m seeing more and more of her own unique style emerging as she gets older.

I don’t for a second regret picking a shelter animal over paying a premium at a breeder or pet store. There are lots of rescue animals that need love and will be eternally grateful if you bring them home.

Face it. Life’s better with a pet. Looking back, I’d do it all again with Lucy from day one. Even those last few days that were hard and sad. I hope I get to make as many memories with Peanut.

So today’s lesson is this: adopt, don’t shop. Now go and rescue and animal right this minute.

I started my little adventure with WordPress on this day 9 years ago. I admit that I can think of very few things I’ve done consistently for 9 years, aside from breathing and waking up and taking showers.

I’ve committed to writing something every day. It may not always be at the level of Shakespeare or Wordsworth, but for me, it’s the discipline of writing every single day. Some days, that means borrowing someone else’s words.

It’s been nice to know that other people read what I write. It can sometimes get discouraging when I see how few people read a particular post on a certain day, but then I remember that I’m doing this primarily for me. If the only person who sees these is me (and dear old Mom), then it’s worth it. The cathartic process of getting the words out of my head and onto some form of media is completely worth it.

Hopefully, God willing, I’ll keep doing this for at least another 9 years. And then some.

Even the worst days only last 24 hours. Just remember that.

“The anything-goes passiveness of the religious and political Left is matched by the preachy moralism of the religious and political Right. The person who uncritically embraces any party line is guilty of an idolatrous surrender of her core identity as Abba’s Child. Neither liberal fairy dust nor conservative hardball addresses our ragged human dignity” (Brennan Manning, Abba’s Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging).

I know that sometimes the Church has veered into cold orthodoxy where maturity in the faith equates to knowing a lot of facts about Jesus and the Bible. That’s not true saving faith.

But the answer is not to throw out any kind of absolutes where you end up with a very vague, feel-good, self-help kind of theology that basically ends up as “Be nice to each other.”

True saving faith has both spirit and truth. It’s grounded in the Apostles’ Creed and shows itself in both acts of kindness and in gospel conversations. The Apostle James would say that faith that doesn’t show itself in works and good deeds is a dead faith. It’s no faith at all.

I hope the Church can find the balance of orthodoxy and compassion. I believe that true compassion is grounded in solid doctrines and that true orthodoxy is based in genuine love for God and for man.

At the end of the day, that’s what matters. It’s not what lies behind you or before you but what lies within you that matters. It’s the God of all comfort who indwells His people who makes the difference.

Whatever you’re facing, God is bigger. Whatever else happens, it won’t catch God by surprise. Whoever else in your life walks out on you, God won’t.

It’s not original, but if you have everything in the world without God, it means nothing. If you have God and nothing else, you have everything.

God loves me as I am, but He refuses to leave me that way. He loves me just as I am into something better. No, something completely new and transformed.

All that to say I can’t explain the mystery of grace. I just know I need it every single day. I know that I couldn’t exist for one second without it.

I saw a bumper sticker that read something along the lines of “May you find the God you deserve.”

I hope I never do. I know what I deserve, and it is not grace.

That’s why I never wish for karma on anyone. If such a thing exists, it is when you get exactly what you deserve and nothing else. I can’t wish it on another and hope for grace for myself. That’s not how it works.

Grace says that you don’t get what you deserve. You get something far, far better. You get a second chance. You get a do-over. You get all God’s riches in Christ at Christ’s expense.

I’m still holding out for grace.

If you’re going through a season of heartache and trial, remember that there is nothing that God cannot redeem. There’s nothing He bad that He can’t turn into good. There’s nothing– not pain or loss or even death– that could ever separate you from His Love.

Remember.