Can you go home again?

I've been exploring deep themes, at least in my head, lately.

Themes like: Can I really not go home again?
Can I not duplicate or replicate the happiness we once had?
Can I clone a Frankie?

For first time or new readers, Frankie was my dog, my best bud, my other side. He slept a lot, liked to gnaw and what we've found out was he was the culprit whenever there was a mistake or accident in terms of puddles on the floor since they have less-than-mysteriously disappeared.

But since he died on Jan. 19, I've found myself drifting to a site called Pet-Finder on my smart phone. I look at little dogs that look something like Frankie more than I like to say. Yesterday, there was Dottie. Dottie was the very image of Frankie, and she is at a shelter not far from where we are currently living.

I am so very tempted. I really am. Can I recreate the joy, the happiness that Frankie brought me?

I think the answer is, well, no.

We are gifted, blessed if you believe, to have what we have when we have it. We go through seasons of joy and through seasons of difficulty and that's just what life is.

Love that God gives is always available, however. It is there that the strength we gain is resourced. It is there, and only there, that we can continually replicate what we have in times of joy -- even if the current physical circumstances aren't that joyous.

I'm thankful beyond knowledge that I had the time with Frankie that I had, but I don't believe even rescuing Dottie would recreate that time any more than playing and practicing baseball with my grandson Gabe can replicate the time I had playing and practicing softball with his mother Shanna.

Clones are not the future. You truly can't go home again, till you go home to heaven again.