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…
Category: Life
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…
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…
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…
Coasting
One of the topics that frequently arises in conversation at work is that of “coasting”. When my supervisor and I use the word, we’re generally talking about what happens when individuals get comfortable in their positions and development and growth tends to slow. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; no one can push all the…
Five Things That Worked for Me in 2022
As 2022 draws to a close and we approach a new year, I’ve been reflecting a bit on how my life was impacted throughout the year, and by what or whom. With that in mind, here are five things that worked for me and made my life better during 2022: -cross-country skiing: Winter, with the…
The Holy Innocents (Refugee)
Anyone else feel like there’s a tendency to whitewash Christmas and the Advent season? The typical sentiments – merry and bright, the happiest time of the year, etc – often come across as marshmallow fluff, sickly saccharine and lacking any kind of nourishment or depth. Even the churchy nativity scenes are sanitized; of course there’s…