Anne Lamott, Grace & a Second Chance.

One of the many things that I am going to miss about living in the San Francisco Bay Area is running into celebrities at the local drugstore or supermarket or just walking down the street. For a kid who grew up in a small town, I have to admit I still think it is cool running into someone famous.

For instance, Sean Penn was my neighbor for four yeas. We lived just about a ¼ mile down the street from one another and one day he was walking in the middle of the street with scruffy hair, no shoes and black tees shirt. As I approached him while driving my car I said to myself. “What’s this idiot doing in the middle of the street with no shoes”, it dawned on me it was an Oscar winner and my favorite actor. (BTW, he wasn’t aware that we were neighbors.) I walked passed Carlos Santana as he got out of his car not too long ago. I have to admit that I really did want to turn back and yell, “Carlos, you are the man!” I sat beside Tracy Chapman watching Men in Black in San Francisco one evening and I used to run on the treadmill beside Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart.

One of my favorite local celebrities is Anne Lamott. I went to listen to her speak tonight at a local bookstore. She speaks like she writes. She tells wonderfully charming and funny stories infused with faith that hit home.

A friend asked her tonight, “Why Plan B?" And she basically said that Plan A didn’t work. She said the storybook fairytales that he parents told her about how to have a happy life weren’t true. And that Plan A just didn’t workout, so she went on to Plan B. Plan B includes grace.

I got to thinking; we all need a Plan B. For the reality is that not all of us who dream of becoming an Oscar winning actor, Grammy winning musician, or award winning author will see our dreams come true. Not all of us who start out with the hopes of a happy marriage or successful business will succeed like we had hoped. Some of us will have children who grow-up and have problems, life won't always turn out just like we plan. Some of us will blow it and just because we are human screw-up the Plan A of our lives. Some will do everything right and still face a Plan A that didn't work.

That's we need a Plan B. Plan B is a second chance. I think that God is a Plan B kind of God. God resurrects new life and allows us to begin again. We don't have to stay stuck in a Plan A that isn't working, we can trust God's love for a Plan B.

For some reason God believes in Plan B's.

So if your Plan A isn’t working or didn’t work always remember that Plan B includes grace, and with grace comes hope. And God knows we all need a little grace in our lives. Sometimes we need a lot of grace.