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.

Yep, those are all examples of bad analogies. I’ve probably done my fair share of bad writing in the past, or at least looking back I can see where I could have improved upon it a bit.

But the most important thing in writing is that you write something every single day. Get the thoughts out of your head and on to paper or some sort of a device.

I’ve learned that the best way to get better at writing is to write a lot and to read a lot. Hopefully, you can learn from others while at the same time finding your own distinctive and unique voice.

My goal for this particular blog post is to get at least one person reading these words to go and write their own words.

If only one person does, then mission accomplished.

I was scrolling through my memories on Facebook just now when I ran across a fantastic Brennan Manning quote on sainthood.

When most people think of saints, they think of some extraordinary person who did miracles and who rarely– if ever– sinned. These “saints” are beyond what most of us can ever hope to become or achieve.

Then I read this quote and am reminded that we who belong to Jesus are ALREADY saints. We are those who have been made holy not through our own efforts or actions but through Jesus’ taking our sin and giving us His righteousness.

So without further ado, here’s the quote:

“Thomas Merton, a saintly person in his own right, said: ‘A saint is not someone who is good. It is someone who has experienced the goodness of God.’ Going with Merton’s thought, saints are those have come to know deep, abiding grace. Saints understand that their failures and shortcomings do not disqualify them from receiving God’s love. Saints have learned that their grotesque, self-inflicted wounds, rather than alienating God, bring the divine to bear in their lives in unique and powerful ways.”

“We overcome the accuser of our brothers and sisters, we overcome our consciences, we overcome our bad tempers, we overcome our defeats, we overcome our lusts, we overcome our fears, we overcome our pettiness on the basis of the blood of the Lamb” (D.A. Carson).

That’s the key. It’s the blood of the Lamb, Jesus, that enables us to overcome all that weighs us down or pulls us under from time to time. 

It’s not a matter of trying harder. It’s not about believing in yourself more. It’s not about you in your own strength willing yourself to do and be better.

It’s about surrender. It’s about dying to yourself and your plans and your way of thinking. It’s not about what you can do for Jesus but what He’s already done for you.