There’s someone in your life who’s let you down. Maybe they disappeared when things got hard. Maybe they made choices that hurt more than they knew. And now—after all that—they want to come back.

That feeling? That mix of hesitation, resentment, and a tiny flicker of hope?

That’s exactly where this week’s Gospel meets us.

Jesus tells a story about a family who’s lived through that kind of fracture–the kind where one person walks away and the others are left picking up the pieces. And when that person finally shows up again, empty-handed, the response is... unexpected.

It’s not punishment.

It’s not even caution.

It’s joy.

Someone throws open the door. Someone else refuses to come in.

And that’s where most of us find ourselves—somewhere between those two reactions.

We’re human–we know what it feels like to long for another chance.

And we know what it feels like to watch someone else get one, while we're still waiting, still working our way back, still wondering if anyone notices.

This parable makes is sit in the discomfort that grace can bring, especially when it lands on someone who “doesn’t deserve it.” But maybe that’s the whole point.

Do any of us?

So here’s my invitation to you this week: Where have you been distant—emotionally, spiritually, relationally—and what would it look like to take one small step home?

AND who in your life might be trying to come back, in their own way? Could you meet them halfway?

Grace doesn’t wait at the door, arms crossed. It runs down the road to meet us.

God bless,
-FF