the kitchen is closed

i always think of my friend jen,

when i light a candle at the end of the night,

and say, the kitchen is closed.
and my other friends that do it, it's like a sisterhood,
silly, but i love it.

and although that has nothing to really do with what is on my mind,

i think there is a tie in somewhere.

sometimes i lose my faith and hope in people.

and i say this very tenderly because i know i have disappointed people in my life.

and i know that i am to love everyone, no matter what, but sometimes that is hard.

jesus loves us all, not matter what we've done, and he commands us to do the same,

and as much as i try, that seems impossible at times, and i fail.

i'm still dealing with the dog bite situation,
and it's not a good situation.
and i believe i need to leave it at that, in writing.

and, there is an elderly man in our neighborhood who has lost his little dog.

this man was wandering the streets the other day and i was worried for him,

so i stopped and asked if i could help him, and he told me everything, 

and then he let out the most heartwrenching yell, calling for his dog, and he started crying.

and at that moment my heart ripped out of my chest.

and every day since, he's been walking around, or holding up a sign on the busy road leading into our neighborhood, to find his best friend and companion.

and this sweet man is terminally ill.

life is so unfair, in big and small ways.

and i found out today that some sleaze bag called his phone number on the poster,

and said they could find his dog within the hour, 

all they needed was his credit card number and $285 from him.

and i wanted to scream.

thank goodness he didn't fall for it. 

but you know what, who are these people out there that are creating such scams?!

i do not understand.

it is so easy for us to lose faith in this world.

some days the devil seems to be working overtime.

and the really crazy thing about all of this, 

jesus may be disappointed in the liars and the sleaze bags,

but he still LOVES them, with the most crazy and hard to understand unconditional kind of love.

how is that for mind blowing. 

and he loves me and you,
no matter what labels we have attached to our names.
that is some amazing grace if i've ever seen it.

for a few hours today, i think i did lose faith in people,

in strangers that i don't even really know.
but something amazing happened, as i was writing out this post,
and jesus spoke some truth to me.

and i'm ready for the kitchen to be closed tonight.

love,

nicolle