I'm dogsitting our friend's pomeranian/poodle mix right now and thought of something cool. This little guy was abused by his first owners, and is still nervous around new people (especially men). He's clearly been through some bad stuff. 

But his new owners are his absolute FAVORITE people in the universe. He's always on the lookout to defend them against deadly threats like squirrels and mailmen. 

I think that this life is sort of like this dog's first home. We get kicked around, have rough times, and feel like we may never get better. But just when everything seems bad, someone new and infinitely loving comes to save us. There's no way we can repay Jesus for his atonement, and really no way we can deserve it. 

But we can show our gratitude by serving and defending his church. Ina way, we're all like this abused dog. We've been hurt and down on ourselves. But we've also been saved. And now our job is to love and guard the church fiercely.

And if I may quote the profound Samwise Gamgee, "But in the end, it's only a passing thing. A new day will come and it'll shine out the brighter. And I think I do understand. The folk in those stories were holding onto something. That there's some good in this world and it's worth fighting for!"

My goal is always to get home. Because home is where our hurts will be healed, and we'll laugh at how trivial our hurts seem in the light of day. 

Enjoy our time on Earth, but don't fear death. It's just the white picket fence that guards our real home. The home of our spirits.