A Random List + A Gospel Reminder
Journal-style ruminations on life lately.
•Three in-progress writing projects seem to stick their thumbs into ears and waggle their fingers at me: Dare you to finish. My words feel very dull these days and I’m casting about looking for someone or something to blame. Advice is welcome.
•I’ve wrapped up Anna Karenina and have since moved on to Dostoyevsky’s Crime & Punishment. (Don’t be impressed. This is shocking to me as well.)1Come to think of it, perhaps that’s why I feel blasé about my current writing. In the presence of greatness, my mediocre attempts at wordcraft sound utterly inane.
•Last week I girded up my loins and papered an accent wall in my daughter's bedroom. It went surprisingly well. I used a level and felt like a ‘90s housewife.
•Whilst galloping up and down staircases during the aforementioned project, I managed to pull something in my right leg. Let’s just say my present gait is not exactly elegant; Princess Shcherbatskaya would certainly disapprove.
•Spring is on the way. Allegedly. Along the south porch the tulips have grown gutsy—punching through the cold earthen ceiling only to look somewhat appalled at the inhospitable atmosphere of April.
•Last Sunday, I stirred together a white chili that looked suspicious but tasted delicious, along with homemade tortillas that were a splendid flop—for no apparent reason other than the fact that guests were present. The accompanying heartfelt conversation, though, was top-notch.
•QTNA2: Could someone please explain why soggy bandaids and used hair elastics multiply like furry little cockroaches in the kiddos’ shower when a trash can is handily within their reach?
How’s that for an anti-climactic list?
But the past week or two has been precisely that: a basketful of regular days. The terrain we’re passing through right now is mostly flat—not a petal-strewn path, of course (Springtime in the upper Midwest runs more to frost than flowers)—but a trail edged with the sweet nothings of ordinary life, marked only by a smattering of minor nuisances.
Sometimes abundance can feel scary. How long will the good times last before a new emergency pulls up to the curb?3
Some say they feel God’s nearness most acutely when everything else falls apart. For others, witnessing the miracle of birth or the splendor of the Rocky Mountains leads them to deepest awe and closer connection with their Creator.
And though I have experienced both, I cheerfully refuse to believe that real intimacy with God is only available on the mountaintops or valleys—or that closeness with Christ becomes an inevitable casualty when life hums along in the slow lane. Yes, complacency can happen—but it needn’t be a foregone conclusion.
His constancy does not fluctuate according to my perception of it. As he first informed a skeptical Moses, so now he reminds me: “I AM who I AM.”4
There is no landscape where Jesus’ call to abide is diminished, no season when the Father abandons his loving work as vinedresser5, and no morning where His mercy is anything but new.
Put simply, there is not a single circumstance—good, bad, or monotonous—where I will need the miracle of the gospel any less.
The gospel is good news for me, for you, right now.
I’ve most likely written a version of those words here before. But sometimes my soul gets amnesia.
Today, I needed to ink them again on my doorposts.
I have not always been enthusiastic about the weightier classics. But I am now officially hooked. This week I plucked a slim, vintage volume from my shelves titled The Last Czar—a non-fiction book I’ve owned for years but never read—because apparently now I must know all about the toppling of Russia’s royal family. Did I learn this stuff in history class? Most likely. But now I feel invested—which just goes to show the power of compelling fiction.
QTNA: A handy dandy acronym for Questions That Need Answers.
This is a thought I have long internalized and one which I have been actively working to overcome. The past year a watchword for me has been this one little line: “May His abundance never scare you.”
Exodus 3:13-17
John 15. Or if you have the time, go ahead and read the upper room discourse in its beautiful, convicting entirety. (Chapters 13-17)
Thoroughly enjoyed the list and the reminder. As far as advice on finishing projects because your words feel dull, I have none. But. I love reading what you write and I think that goes for most of your readers (why else are we here). So please keep sharing, mediocre and all; I am encouraged and inspired by you.
I’ve been quietly reading your writings for some time now, and today was moved to finally thank you. You have made me stop and ponder Truths and other lovely thoughts. I love to see an email from you in the mornings! To say nothing of the fact that I greatly enjoy your way with words… :) Thanks again!