I do so love me some biscuits.

I also love that God truly works all things together for good, and in the end, we get something better than anything we could ever have dreamed of.

Today was my church’s Serving Saturday. A number of us met up at the church building and either went to two locations to serve or stayed around the campus to do some upkeep and maintenance.

It may not sound like much, but those little touches make a big difference when someone comes to Ave South for the first time. Plus it frees up the ministry staff to spend time on actual ministry instead of building upkeep.

My day consisted of spreading out mulch in front of the building and wading through a mini-jungle in back to clear out litter and debris.

My reward was lunch at Holler and Dash with some ice cream from Jeni’s thrown in.

You may not be in a position currently to make a major impact on your world, but you can always do little things that add up to something great. Jesus said that as you are faithful in small ways, you will be rewarded with greater responsibilities and bigger avenues to serve. But you start small.

I’m a good kind of tired and my feet are a good kind of sore. It was a good Saturday.

I’m pooped. Officially and technically and in every other sense of the word, I’m super pooped.

But it’s a good kind of tired.

It’s not like that period when I didn’t have a job and felt exhausted from stressing out about not having a job.

It’s the kind where I put in a week’s worth of work and accomplished everything I wanted to get done.

It’s a good feeling when what used to seem overwhelming and scary now seems quite manageable. All it takes to accomplish a big task is to break it down into bite-site portions. Kind of like that book about eating a 747. You eat it one part a time (if you’re into that sort of thing, which I’m not).

Being unemployed will make you much more appreciative of having a job. Well, at least for me it does. I’m more and more convinced that you can worship at a desk in front of a computer from 9 to 5 as well as you can in a church building. Your praise can be as much doing your job well as it can singing songs about God to God.

In fact, people don’t care what your singing ability is if you don’t live the words you sing. They don’t care how fervent your church worship is if you don’t live out that same faith the other 167 hours of the week.

So at 10:33 pm on a Friday, I’m calling it a night. I know I’ll sleep good tonight.

In case you’ve lost track by now, today’s Thursday. You may be slightly disappointed to learn that it is not in fact Friday, or a tad elated to realize that it’s not Wednesday.

In case you’re one of those who have had a week of four straight Mondays, here’s a little something to pick up your day.

Think of it as a guide to networking (but not really):

Let me add my own preface. If you don’t know anything about Amy Carmichael, I suggest you look her up. A good place to start would be Elisabeth Elliot’s biography called A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael.

She was a missionary in India for 53 years, rescuing girls from temple prostitution. In essence, she fought against sex trafficking before such a term even existed.

Let her words sink in deep:

“Let us end on a very simple note: Let us listen to simple words; our Lord speak simply: ‘Trust Me, My child,’ He says. ‘Trust Me with a humbler heart and a fuller abandon to My will than ever thou didst before. Trust Me to pour My love through thee, as minute succeeds minute. And if thou shouldst be conscious of anything hindering that flow, do not hurt My love by going away from Me in discouragement, for nothing can hurt so much as that. Draw all the closer to Me; come, flee unto Me to hide thee, even from thyself. Tell Me about the trouble. Trust Me to turn My hand upon thee and thoroughly to remove the boulder that has choked they river-bed, and take away all the sand that has silted up the channel. I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. I will perfect that which concerneth thee. Fear thou not, O child of My love; fear not.’

And now…to gather all in one page:

Beloved, let us love.

Lord, what is love?

Love is that which inspired My life, and led Me to My Cross, and held Me on My Cross. Love is that which will make it thy joy to lay down thy life for thy brethren.

Lord, evermore give me this love.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after love, for they shall be filled” (Amy Carmichael).

It’s gonna be a cold one tomorrow. I don’t mean cold as in cold for Tennessee but not necessarily Minnesota or Michigan. I’m talking cold, period. Plus there’s that whole humidity/wet cold that makes the chilliness seem even chillier, if that were even possible.

I’m disappointed that there’s not even a hint of the possibility of snow. In my mind, if it gets below 20 degrees outside, it needs to snow or what’s the freakin’ point? Then it’s just super cold and everyone is sad.

So when does this hibernation thing start? I am super into that. This spell of wintry weather has me feeling like I could nap for days. Either that or Netflix and chill for days.

I love having a job, but I’m definitely not a fan of waking up in the dark. That’s one of the very few drawbacks about winter and fall. It seems unnatural to wake up before the sun is up.

So once again, when does that hibernation thing start and where do I sign up?

“It is no good giving me a play like Hamlet or King Lear, and telling me to write a play like that. Shakespeare could do it — I can’t. And it is no good showing me a life like the life of Jesus and telling me to live a life like that. Jesus could do it — I can’t. But if the genius of Shakespeare could come and live in me, then I could write plays like this. And if the Spirit of Jesus could come into me, then I could live a life like that. This is the secret of Christian sanctity. It is not that we should strive to live like Jesus, but that he by his Spirit should come and live in us. To have him as our example is not enough; we need him as our Saviour” (John R. W. Stott).

I’m fairly certain that I won’t ever write any play or sonnet that comes close to anything Shakespeare ever wrote. But by that power of the Spirit of the living Christ, I can live the life that Jesus lived.

The question is “Why don’t I?”

Why do I rely so much on my own meager and feeble strength when I can tap into God’s unlimited power, the very same that raised Jesus from the dead.

I honestly don’t have a good answer to that. But I believe that today I am becoming a little more like Jesus than I was yesterday. And I’m not quite who I will be tomorrow.

And that’s a good start.

I think that at the end of our lives, what will really and truly matter will be the number of people who will know Jesus because of us. I’m not saying that me or anyone else can save anyone. I’m not even saying that we ourselves will be the ones to single-handedly win someone over to heaven.

I am saying that if we are faithful to this gospel that saved us, if we proclaim it with both our lives and our lips, it will not return void. God will honor a faithful witness.

That’s something I want to do better. I want to be able to have gospel conversations with people— not the kind where I beat people over the head with a Bible or scream hellfire and damnation at them, but where I speak of what Jesus has done for me and invite them to know this God who can save anybody at any time anywhere no matter what.

As I heard in today’s sermon, no one is guaranteed tomorrow. No one is promised the next breath. If you’re reading these words and don’t have the assurance that you belong to Jesus, don’t go to bed without reading these words:

https://www.lifeway.com/en/articles/salvation-through-christ-a-matter-of-faith

I finally made it to the sad, sad episode where Amy and Rory go bye-bye. Even though I knew it was coming (thanks to spoilers and me being about 7 years behind on the whole Doctor Who thing), it still tugged at the ol’ heartstrings.

So goodbye to the Ponds/Williams and hello to Clara Oswald. Hello to creepy snowmen made out of some weird alien snow that makes Frosty want to eat people. Definitely not a happy jolly soul this time.

Throughout all the Classic and New episodes, I’ve really loved how they handle the departures and entrances of companions. Well, for the most part (I’m looking at you, Dodo and Peri Brown).

One day, sooner than later, I plan to be all caught up. Then whatever will I do with my life? Start the Sarah Jane Adventures?

I sat at my laptop for the longest and couldn’t think of a single thing to post. Until I saw this.

I’d add that in addition to calling them, go and see them. Talk to them face to face. Tell them that you love them with actual words.

Even if they weren’t the best parents ever, they still deserve to hear it. After all, they gave you life.

You never know when it will be too late. After they’re gone, all the regret in the world won’t make up for lost opportunities.

So start now.