“Do you believe that the God of Jesus loves you beyond worthiness and unworthiness, beyond fidelity and infidelity—that he loves you in the morning sun and in the evening rain—that he loves you when your intellect denies it, your emotions refuse it, your whole being rejects it. Do you believe that God loves without condition or reservation and loves you this moment as you are and not as you should be” (Brennan Manning).

I miss this guy. How can I miss someone I never met? Easy. I miss the fact that there will be no new Brennan Manning books, no chances for me to meet him in person or to hear him speak.

But I still have his written legacy. All those books he wrote are still out there, resting on bookstore shelves, waiting for me to buy them. At least the ones I don’t already own.

But the reason I love this guy’s writing so much is that he reminded me of why I love grace so much. He better than just about anyone writes about how good the grace of God is. How much all of us are indebted to that grace. How much we still need it.

I love what I heard someone say about grace. You never graduate from grace. You never outgrow your need of it. You will always need it, in your worst moments and even in those moments when you are your best possible self.

And yeah, there is the name of my blogsite, which so happens to be named after this guy’s most famous book, The Ragamuffin Gospel. In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last 20 or so years and haven’t read it, I highly recommend that you do so. Soon.

That is all. Carry about your business.

Here I am, still house-sitting and dog-sitting. Those dogs are with me on this very comfy couch, either asleep or very sleepy. I can’t really tell.

I’ve also been racking my brains for something to write about, but so far I got nothing. That happens from time to time.

I witnessed a humorous moment. TCM was showing a short film where dogs were chasing a mountain lion and one of the dogs woke up and started barking at the screen. I’m not sure why. Maybe he was rooting for those doggies to win.

Anyway, that was the highlight of my night so far. That should tell you something about my night. Just me, three dogs, and TCM equals a not so exciting night, but I’ll take it.

I’m dog sitting for three very lovable beagle mixes.

One is a very normal, hyperactive, well-adjusted dog who likes who chew on sticks and bones and toys and whatever else he can get his little paws on. The other two came from abusive situations and were quite skittish around me. At first, one barked incessantly at me.

But over time, they’ve come to trust me more and not be afraid of me.

That’s the way human relationships work. You meet some people and instantly bond and there’s no awkwardness at all. Others are harder to get to know and don’t warm up as easily to you.

When you seek to love people and to reach people for Jesus, He sends people into your life who can’t believe God loves them until they see that love coming from you.

Those are the ones you’ll want to instantly label as jerks or arrogant or mean or stuck-up or just not friendly. Those are the ones who are hardest to love yet the ones who need God’s love the most. They need to see God’s love THROUGH YOU the most.

As usual, I’m preaching to myself. I need to be better at giving others the grace that I love so much and so often expect from others.

I’m not there yet, but God is working on me.

Sometimes late at night when I can’t sleep, I like to get out my portable CD player and listen to music. Yes, I am aware of that newfangled discovery called digital streaming and MP3s and iPods. I just like to go really old school every now and then.

Right now, I have some Ella Fitagerald, Emmylou Harris, Barenaked Ladies, Linda Ronstadt, and Air Supply nearby. Yes, the Air Supply from the 80’s with all their syrupy love songs. It’s 80’s cheese at its finest.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be quiet, soothing music. Sometimes, I like my late night rock. But tonight, I’m feeling the need for mellow.

I may end up listening to bits of songs or I may just let a CD play through. You never know. I never know.

I still think that certain types of music fit well at night versus daytime music. There’s also music for summer and for fall. At least in my mind.

When I was in high school, I went through a period where I fell asleep to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon every night. It’s not your typical calm-me-down-fall-asleep music, but it worked for me.

And that’s all that matters.

I watched the Emmys tonight. I can’t say it was the best three hours of television I’ve ever seen, but some of it was worthwhile.

I really like that the show Breaking Bad won in just about every major category for which it was nominated. And FYI, I’m late to the game but I’ve finally become an addict of the show– just as it’s ending.

I thought Bryan Cranston gave a great acceptance speech for Best Male Lead Actor in a Drama. He talked about how he had been tempted at various points in his life to settle for mediocrity instead of striving for excellence. Then he challenged his audience to seek to be their best. Only he said it way better than that.

Don’t settle for mediocrity and second-rate because it’s easy. The pain of regret will be far greater than and pain or sacrifice from chasing your God-given dreams.

That’s all I have this evening. Nothing new or original, but needed nonetheless. At least for me.

Don’t give up just yet. God will come through on His promises. Just you wait and see.