I never read Psalm 16 without thinking of my grandmother. 15-20 years ago, she was sitting in my parents’ kitchen and that psalm came up in the conversation. As she was speaking of “at thy right hand are pleasures forevermore” – from verse 11 – she also gestured with her right hand, and came up…
Winning in 2023
Welcome back to me, I guess! As some of you have (gently) reminded me, it’s been more than 9 months since I last posted, and that time has not been squandered. It’s been filled with many spreadsheets, intentional investment in relationships, 30% of a master’s degree, and a lot of books – 51 to be…
Stewardship
The theme of stewardship has arisen repeatedly over the last several months. From parables that Jesus told to podcasts and various articles that hit my inbox, it feels like I’ve encountered it everywhere. The variations on a theme include Sabbath and resting; viewing time usage as an investment of a limited resource; and intentionally evaluating…
Recent Reads, Volume XXVII
Recent Reads, Volume XXVII A brief summary of what I’m currently reading or have recently finished, why I read it, and whether I’d recommend it. Although really, it’d have to be truly terrible for me to bother writing about a book I wouldn’t recommend…… The Woman Who Smashed Codes (Jason Fagone) – Elizebeth Friedman, along…
I Will Be With You
“You’ve got this!” I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s received that phrase in response to expressed feelings of inadequacy and being overwhelmed by life’s circumstances and demands. As well-meaning as the intentions are, I’m probably not the only one that finds that it often falls short in effectiveness. Perhaps if it’s a matter…
Shout For Joy
When we speak of nature speaking, particularly speaking of the glory and existence of God, we likely most often think of Psalm 19 – “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the skies above proclaim His handiwork.” A lesser-known one that I came across recently is Psalm 65. The chapter describes much of how…
Come and See and Hear
As I took a(nother) turn through the Psalms recently and came upon Psalm 66, my attention was caught by a parallel that we see in that chapter. The specific verses were 5 – “Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.” – and verse 16…
Abide with Me
I’m in the middle of the busiest and most stressful week of the year at work: audit week. This is the week that outside accountants come in and basically tear apart the financial statements from the year just ending, to validate that our internal team – which in 2022 was mostly me, myself, and I,…
Rest and Reset
I wonder if you, like me, have ever experienced a little nagging physical pain. Perhaps rather than chronic, it’s more of a recurring pain. It’s not really terribly painful, just a little discomfort that crops up on occasion, possibly when performing the same motion repeatedly, and it’s fairly easy to ignore. Several years ago, when…
Recent Reads: Author Focus, Round 2
I’ve mentioned before that I don’t re-read books much; in fact, other than the Bible, I’ve only read one book multiple times in the last 5+ years that I’ve been maintaining a comprehensive reading log. I was a bit surprised though to see that I’ve read multiple books by over 50 authors (though just over…