We had the privilege of having Willow in our lives for almost 11 years, and we lost her in November 2021. She made a paw print shaped impression on our hearts that will last a lifetime. We will be forever grateful for the love and laughter she gave us and the lessons she taught us.

Through Willow, God taught us some great life lessons. God created the animals, after all, and He created Willow. Over the years, Willow taught us about unconditional love, to be tough, not to worry, and to be still.

Willow taught me how to love unconditionally. She lived out loud the love of God into our lives. She was patient, kind, not prideful, arrogant or rude. Willow was never resentful and didn't rejoice in wrongdoing. Because of this, her love never ends. She taught us to live love out loud. To be kinder to one another. She taught us that love never fails.

Willow taught me to be tough. She suffered with epilepsy her entire life and never let it get her down. She still played and was silly. Toward the end, she came down with lymphoma. She handled the meds with grace. She showed true grit to the very end, even jumping up on the bed to awaken us in the mornings when she thought we should be up (4:00 a.m.). She never complained. She took what she was dealt and determined to do what she wanted each day despite it all.

She taught me not to worry. She trusted us with her life. Willow knew we would feed her and provide fresh water. She never worried we would not. She trusted that no matter what we did to her, even toward the end with numerous trips to the vet and administering medications, we would never harm her. Isn’t that how we should be toward our Heavenly Father? No matter what circumstances come our way, we can trust that He will provide for us and never harm us. We only need to trust Him.

Finally, Willow taught me to be still. Willow loved to sit in the sunshine and soak it in. Whether it was in the front door in the morning sun or in the dining bow window in the afternoon sun, she loved it. She taught me to sit still in the Son-light and soak it in. It can be a precious time if we’d only make the time. It can warm us and comfort us just like the sunshine did for our sweet Willow.

Willow, my heart is still broken from losing you. However, to quote Winnie the Pooh, “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” Goodbye sweet Willow.

What We Need Is Grace

There is a lot going on right now in this world.  Most of it is surrounding being easily offended and being “intolerant”.  What is going on?  You can’t voice your opinion without making people mad, friends unfriending each other on Facebook, or relationships being damaged.  What has happened?  We have disregarded grace along with the One that provides it.

First, we have to receive grace to fully be able to give it.  How do we do this?  Ephesians 2:4-5 and 8-10 reads:

⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, ⁵Even when we were dead in sins, hath made us alive together with Christ, (by whose grace you are saved;)
⁸For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹Not of works, that any man should boast.  ¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath prepared that we should walk in them.

Here we can see that we receive grace from God when we put our faith in Jesus Christ.  What is faith?  Faith is to have confidence in the testimony of another.  Therefore, to have faith in Jesus Christ, you must have confidence that He is who He said He is – God in the flesh, Redeemer, Son of God, propitiation for our sins, and too many more to list.  If you have faith in Christ then you receive God’s grace.

What is grace?  Grace is unmerited favor.  Let’s take a look at that equation then:

Confidence in the testimony of Jesus Christ = Unmerited favor with God

Pretty simple.

Let’s take this a step further then.  This is the amazing part!  God doesn’t just grant us His grace so we can have eternal life.  He gives us this grace (and love) so we can give it to others.  He expects us to do this and provides us with an unending supply.  Take a look at 2 Corinthians 9:8:

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.

Also look at Ephesians 4:29

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

We can see in both of these passages that God grants us grace so we can abound in it and minister it to those around us.

When we lack in grace, it is because we’re not plugged into The Source, and then we become focused on tolerance.  The definition of tolerance is to accept or endure (someone or something unpleasant or disliked) with forbearance.  Wait!  What?  Tolerance doesn’t change my opinion or view of you or your actions.  I simply keep my mouth shut.  I don’t want that from people, and I don’t want to behave that way toward others.  I want to give and receive grace.

To really see the difference, let’s dig into the definition of grace – unmerited favor.  Unmerited means we don’t deserve it.  I know I have those days that I’m not on my best behavior or I may have views we can’t agree on or I may have some sin in my life that bothers you.  That all makes it unmerited.  What is favor?  Favor is overgenerous, preferential treatment.  Now read the definition of tolerance again.  Which do you prefer?

Now don’t get me wrong that offering grace does not mean that people get a free pass to live with sin in their lives.  A piece, if you will, of that grace is loving someone enough to hold them accountable for their actions.  To see what God sees in them, and challenge them in love to be that person.  That may include calling sin out in their life.  That does not mean you are not offering grace, but rather you want God’s very best for their life. 

Over the past couple years, I’ve had the privilege of having a boss and a friend that has filled this role in my life.  While some conversations are hard to process, I am so thankful for them.  They have seen something in me that I had never saw and challenged me to reach higher, have more faith, trust more, and be bolder.  I am so thankful they didn’t just tolerate me where I was.  I am so much better for it.

Next time someone calls something out in your life, don’t cry for tolerance.  Prayerfully search your heart with God’s guidance to see if they’re not actually offering grace and love through accountability.  It could change your life...and your eternity.