“So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

It was a rainy Sunday. It was a good day to stay inside and take a nap and do as little as possible on the last day before the week comes around again.

On days like these, it can be very easy to lose sight of what matters and what’s really important.

Those little details can get overwhelming, and the tyranny of the urgent can make us forget that all that really matters is what’s eternal. All the petty daily stuff will one day pass away, but the grace of God at work in you and me will not.

God will finish what He started in you. And me. Even on those rainy days when you don’t feel any better or different than the day before.

With God, the best is still yet to come.

When I started this, I had something completely different in mind. But when I got to the actual writing part, it didn’t feel right, so I went with something I found in my old Facebook memories.

It’s a good reminder that the Christian faith isn’t based on “do more” and “be better” and “try harder,” but it’s a declaration of brokenness and dependency on Jesus from the first moment of professing faith to the last dying breath, and every moment in between.

I’m hoping this will set you free from faith-based performance anxiety and the need to base your self-worth on how well you do Christian things for God.

“I think most of us begin our Christian journey with this simple truth.

I’m broken. I need Jesus. The end.

However as we launch out on this new journey it doesn’t take long before we begin to hear this growing and incessant whisper that says, “Try harder, do more.”

Sing more.
Memorize more.
Journal more.
Preach more.
Pray more.
Evangelize more.
Serve more.

This approach can look quite spiritual to those around us; however, it’s often rooted in a inner conviction that our worth as a Christian is dependent upon our ability to outperform those around us. Behind this spiritual facade is a fragile and insecure heart desperately attempting to get God to love us more. We know God loves us but we’re afraid He may still be disappointed in us.

The cross isn’t something we start with and then move on from. The cross isn’t just the starting line of our faith, it’s the centerpiece. Grace isn’t something we need just for salvation, it’s like air for the believer.

So today when you hear that whisper in your head that says “Try harder, do more,” go back to this:

I’m broken. I need Jesus. The end” (Pete Wilson).

I did my 2nd annual participation in Nashville’s own version of Oktoberfest.

I have to admit I was a little let down.

It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either.

There were lots of people and booths and German music (which was probably my favorite part).

Maybe it was just me. Maybe I was a bit more worn out from the week than I realized.

But if a so-so Oktoberfest is the worst thing that happened to me on Friday, October 12, 2018, then I think I’m doing okay.

After all, my trusty old Jeep got me to and from the festivities. I managed to get in a solid hour and a half before the rains came. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the rain part. It rained.

But I added to my treasure trove of memories that I can pull from one day. Most likely, it will be a completely random memory out of nowhere when I’m focused on something completely different. That’s how my mind works.

Count today as a win, even if it didn’t exactly live up to my wildly exaggerated and somewhat overblown expectations. I still had an enjoyable evening and got a lot of walking in.

Now on to the next day.

I embarked on a new (to me) series called Broadchurch. So far, it’s not the jolliest and happiest TV show I’ve ever seen, but it’s good. I could tell less than 5 minutes in that I was hooked.

I recognized three people already from Doctor Who/Harry Potter fame: Jodie Whittaker, David Bradley, and David Tennant. On a side note, I find that I spend a lot of my time during any given episode wondering where I know a certain actor from and trying to place just where that is, including looking him or her up on imdb.com. It’s what I do.

So far, I really, really like Broadchurch.

In my opinion, adding a British/Scottish/Irish/Welsh accent makes just about everything better.

I’d go so far as to say that if I had a British (or Scottish or Irish or Welsh) accent, I’d never ever shut up.

So I imagine it’s a blessing in disguise for everyone else that I’m stuck with an boring ol’ American accent.

“When we gather for the Eucharist we gather in the Name of Jesus, who is calling us together to remember his death and resurrection in the breaking of the bread. There he is truly among us. ‘Where two or three meet in my name,’ he says, ‘I am there among them’ (Matthew 18:20).

The presence of Jesus among us and in the gifts of bread and wine are the same presence. As we recognise Jesus in the breaking of the bread, we recognise him also in our brothers and sisters. As we give one another the bread, saying: ‘This is the Body of Christ,’ we give ourselves to each other saying: ‘We are the Body of Christ.’ It is one and the same giving, it is one and the same body, it is one and the same Christ” (Henri Nouwen).

That’s a mind boggling concept. We celebrate the body of Christ as the body of Christ.

That’s why community and fellowship are so vitally important.

That’s why the author of Hebrews tells us as that body of Christ not to neglect meeting together regularly.

Whether or not you believe that the elements actually become the blood and body of Christ or are symbolic, the point is to remember that we are a body of Christ because of shed blood and a body broken for our sins.

I find that we tend to remember best when we’re gathered together as one, united under one Lord, Jesus Christ.

The next time you take the Eucharist (or Communion or the Lord’s Supper, if that’s what you prefer to call it), remember you are not taking it alone but as part of the body of Christ.

This is what Peanut does. She hops in my lap when I’m having my morning devotional time and instantly goes into serious cat nap mode. It’s lights out for this little feline.

So far, she doesn’t stay long. She still has a lot of kitten in her and has a lot on her catly to-do list, including exploring and checking out EVERYTHING.

This is also what I feel like at 5 am when my alarm goes off and I roll out of bed. It’s also probably what my face looks like when I’m half-asleep and in near zombie mode.

Just once, I think I’d like to stay home and have a lazy cat day and let Peanut take over my morning commute to work. I’ll probably bring it up when she’s super sleepy.

This is it. It’s a really big milestone for me, having started this journey of writing these blog posts over 8 years ago. I didn’t really have any idea when I started of how long this would last, but here I am, still typing away.

It’s quite the adventure most nights. I usually do very little editing or rewriting. I just type out whatever pops into the ol’ noggin and what comes out is what you see here.

It’s been very therapeutic at times. At times, it’s been a bit of a struggle when my ADD mind wants to go wandering off into Narnia or the Shire and I have to keep reining it back in.

Hopefully, God willing, there will be 3,000 more in the months and years to come. As always, I do truly thank each and every one of you who read these posts faithfully (and even those who have read only one or two).

Your regularly scheduled nonsense will resume tomorrow evening.

Today would have been my grandmother Ruby’s 94th birthday. I still don’t think I’ve processed the fact that she’s not here to celebrate it with us.

My sister had the brilliant idea to buy mini vanilla cupcakes and purple balloons in her memory. We ate the cupcakes and released half the balloons into the heavens.

As I stared into the sky, I could see these balloons drifting further and further away until they became invisible to the naked eye. At one point, they looked like tiny dots against the horizon, and when I turned away for an instant and looked back, they were gone.

I know that Ruby would have loved every part of it.

I also know that just as those balloons didn’t cease to exist when they vanished from my sight, I also know that Ruby didn’t cease to exist the moment she drew her last breath.

I know for a fact that I will see her again one day just as surely as I know the sun will rise in the morning on October 8, 2018.

Until then, I have lots of happy memories and good stories to treasure in my heart for as long as I live.

Thanks, Ruby. You were the best.

On the calendar it’s fall. Autumn arrived on September 21 with the autumnal equinox, and for a precious few days, it actually felt like fall.

Then summer got all hurt and jealous and came back and now won’t go away. Add to that the fact that the A/C in my Jeep quit working yesterday, so I’m really ready for real fall weather to get here. REALLY ready.

I’m realistic enough to know that fall in Tennessee is different than fall in most other places. We still have flip flops, shorts, hot weather, humidity, mosquitos, and a lot of sweating. Basically, it’s summer but with pumpkins.

Even in Tennessee, we get a few picturesque autumn days where it actually feels like fall, and all is right with my world. Supposedly, a few of them are headed this way in a manner of days.

Until then, I’ll just be sweating constantly. Oh, and thanking God for working air conditioning whenever I find it.

Today’s soundtrack was provided by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. They got me from work to home to Franklin to Cool Springs to home again.

I miss ol’ Tom Petty. I’m saddened by the fact that there will be no more new music from what I consider the greatest American rock band ever. I’m glad that he left behind over 40 years of incredible songs and albums, up to the very end.

My listening selection was An American Treasure, chock full of some great music beyond the 20 or so songs that probably everyone who hasn’t been hiding under a rock for the last 40+ years has heard of.

Tom prided himself on being a songwriter even above being a rock star, and it shows up loud and clear on this collection. Every song’s a gem, even the unreleased material that didn’t make the cut on his albums.

I read tonight that there’s a lot more unreleased material in the vault. I hope I get to hear more of it. I only wish that there could be new Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers albums with new songs, but that is not to be.

I can only celebrate the legacy of one of the best.