Image from Days with Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel – used without permission, arrrr!
My girls love stories at bedtime, so this week, I borrowed a digital collection of Frog and Toad stories from the library to read to them. One of these stories in particular felt personally applicable. I felt seen, as they say.
In a story called “Tomorrow,” Toad (shown in pajamas) has decided that today is going to be for Taking Life Easy, and all of his necessary tasks will be done Tomorrow. When his friend Frog asks about the dirty dishes, clothes on the floor, and general disarray of his house, Toad insists that it will all be done Tomorrow.
Suddenly, Toad is distressed (as pictured). Why? Because he’s worried, thinking about all his many tasks that await tomorrow. Frog replies that, yes, “tomorrow will be a very hard day for you.”
What if, Toad asks, I go ahead and wash my dishes now? And perhaps pick up my clothes? And so on, and so on, until all the tasks are done. Finally, he collapses back into bed, weary but now unworried, and decides that Tomorrow he will take life easy.
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For the record: I’m writing this post from a very messy home office, on the last day of a week of vacation spent at home doing many, MANY projects, with many still yet undone. But I do so while still at ease.
I have too often been Toad, wanting to take life easy, postponing necessary tasks to Tomorrow. My never-ending work queue or home project list has stood stacked against me for weeks on end, things being added as quickly as things are taken off, so that any break of longer than a day or two is tinged with low-grade worry about what is yet undone. This all rings very true. That picture of Toad above? That has too often been me (except I don’t have such snazzy jammies).
What’s important to realize is that during the course of this story, nothing materially changes. Whether it’s today or tomorrow, Toad completes his necessary tasks and he still gets time to rest. But there is one change that makes all the difference; leave it to a simple children’s story to hit you with such an obvious truth! The difference Toad experiences between the moment pictured above and the end of the story is now that his tasks are completed, his rest is untroubled by the worry of what’s undone.
Before taking this past week off of work, I spent a week or so working extra hours at night and on the weekends with one clear goal: empty the inboxes. If I could log off at the end of it all with all emails responded and all tasks moved out of my hands, I could shut down my computer and enjoy a week of not just no work, but noworry.
I gotta tell you, friends: it was worth it. No matter how many dozens of emails and tasks are waiting for me when I log on in about 17 hours, at this moment, I’m not anxious. I have barely thought about my emails for days. Feels good, bro.
Hopefully this feeling persists for the rest of the day. And hopefully, as I jump back onto the task-list treadmill in the morning, I will work harder and smarter to stay on top of things, so that my tomorrow’s don’t worry me quite as much.
Just stepping in to say hello. Things are busy at the moment, but I am doing okay. Keeping my head above water, with the occasional salty slosh and gasping breath. Not the best state of affairs, but not the worst.
My hope for this year was to cross-post my Sunday School notes on Mondays, but I think I’ll hold off on that. They need some refinement and I just don’t have time to do that. Someday, sure. Maybe I’ll write them, revise them, and post them next year as a weekly feature to support folks who may be doing a chronological Bible reading plan.
In the meantime, there’s just too much on my plate for me to produce any other good writing lately. (At this very moment, I have two toddlers jabbering at me, and my wife is calling me to come out for dinner.)
But I wanted to stop in and say hi. Hope your January is going well. I hope to come back in a week or so with something worth reading.
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In case you don’t get the musical reference in the title:
Missed my window to post today, and it’s now past midnight. I’m not gonna cheat and backdate a post I’m not even starting until the next day, so my posting streak ends here. Oh well.
I’m just under the gun in a lot of ways right now, gang. I have a list of posts to write in this #ChristmasSongbook series, but at the moment, my holly-jolly is being swallowed up in a sea of not-so-fun responsibilities.
At this point, I may not even be able to put together a Wednesday post, so you’ll just get a stack of music posts at some point a bit later in the week. Hope that’s okay.
In the meantime, here’s a fitting send-off for missing my (self-imposed) blog deadline.
Pausing the #ChristmasSongbook tonight, as we had a neighborhood Christmas festival to get to and I have too much to do the rest of the evening.
However, today marks my 100th* post in a row, so I didn’t want to break the chain. Don’t worry, you’ll get a double-dose of merriment tomorrow (Lord-willing) to make up for it.
This is the longest posting streak I’ve ever had. I have to say, I’m pretty proud of this. Hopefully, it’s not been too annoying for those of you subscribed by email. Once we get to the New Year, I’ll fall back to a 2-3 posts per week pace. I’m thinking something Bible-teaching-related on Mondays, a book review or something literary on Wednesdays, and maybe a fun video or more “silly” post on Fridays. We’ll see how that works out.
Thanks for being along for the ride. I appreciate it and hope it’s continuing to be entertaining and encouraging.
See you tomorrow!
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*Okay, “technically,” it wasn’t a pure 100-day streak. There was one day where I started writing the post, then was pulled away by family duties throughout the evening and couldn’t get back to writing until after midnight. I went ahead and gave myself grace by backdating the post to 11:59pm. This isn’t a competition, and I’m not going for any records here, so I let one slide. I’m still counting it as 100 days. Don’t @ me, as the kids say.
Today’s been a slog, and I don’t have a post ready. Ironically, today’s post was gonna be about work. However, I have more work to do today than time to do it.
I’ll be back tomorrow with two thankful posts.
Thankful for your understanding and your prayer support.
I’ve set up a Buy Me A Coffee account, as a way of giving you fine folks an opportunity to support my work here (and encourage more of it).
And I gotta admit up front: this feels a little weird. I mean, I’m not raising money for an altruistic cause. I’m not facing great financial need. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m blessed. God has been kind. All my needs are met.
But I like coffee, and I like writing for you. I want to keep doing it and do more of it. I’m kicking around some ideas for some exclusive perks for folks who throw some cash in the tip jar. Maybe some original short fiction, maybe some dedication/tribute/by-request posts, “super-chat” style. Maybe even exclusive audio content, if I can get my hands on a good microphone. (If you have ideas or anything you’d be interested in seeing, let me know in the comments.)
So, bottom-line: if you like what I write and want to throw some cash in the ol’ coffee can, you can click the link here. I would certainly appreciate anything you feel inclined to throw my way. And hey, if you’re not in a financial position to do so, that’s totally fine. I appreciate your taking the time to read, like, and comment on my work. Don’t think for a moment that I take any one of y’all for granted.
I find the best way to get back into blogging after a long hiatus is by choosing not to attempt a magnum opus right out of the gate. Instead, when one needs to knock the rust off, get back to what worked at first.
When I first started blogging back in 2002 (please don’t go back and read my old posts–they’re garbage), I would post 3-5 times a day in little bursts. Microblogging before it was cool. (Was it already cool? Am I fooling myself?)
The times when I’ve enjoyed blogging the most–other than the handful of really good ideas I’ve been able to flesh out over the years–was when I could just jump on, bang out a few hundred words, and be on my way.
In the past when I’ve done this, I’ve emphasized the Need for Building a Daily Habit. (Notice all the capital letters indicating seriousness and importance.) Nuts to all that. What matters is shipping. So I’m gonna ship. And if I can batch these posts out to make life easier, I’m gonna. I’m sure you don’t mind.
So, here we are, gang. Welcome to #Septemblog2022. The return of the mack. See you tomorrow.
It seems like quite a bit of life has happened in the last 2-3 months, both in the world and here at home. I don’t have time for all sorts of detailed explanation, so here are the bullet points:
Work/ministry/family life is a bit hectic lately, but humming along. I’m thankful to God that my family and I are healthy and that He has graciously supplied all of our needs, just as He always does. That said, I’m feeling the strain of many commitments and not much time.
We are in the process of buying our first home. If you’re not aware of how ridiculous things are in the real estate market, I’ll just say that this video is only barely satire. We have a contract on the new place and may be closing and moving in over the next month (more on this later, I’m sure). As such, I may not be posting too much until after we get settled in the potential new homestead. (Of course, anything would be better than the almost-zero I’ve posted since the beginning of the year, right?)
Speaking of posting, I’ve started contributing to Things Above Us, a Christian group-blog. (Don’t get jealous–I’ve only posted once so far.) I would very much appreciate if y’all could check that out and, if it interests you, sign up for the email updates and follow us on socials. The guys I’m writing with are solid dudes, and it’s a pleasure to join them and contribute in some small way to the site.
I’ll be heading to Together for the Gospel in a few weeks, thanks to the generosity of a good friend. This will probably be the last time I get to enjoy a conference like this for a while (see above re: buying a house in this crazy market). I’m really looking forward to getting a little time away to worship and recharge. It’s been a tough spring.
That’s really all I’ve got going on: work, church, household, a little writing. But that’s enough.
Before I go, a couple links you may find interesting:
Starting on a somber note: as I’ve mentioned before, I love international versions of The Voice. Here’s a video from The Voice of Ukraine–one of my favorites, actually. Here’s a band of soldiers performing just a few weeks before their country would be invaded by Russian forces. There’s no way to know if any of these brave men and women are okay, but it’s just another reminder that this month-long war that may not directly touch many of us across the West has a very human cost.
That’s it. Happy Thursday, gang. I hope to post sooner again sooner rather than later. In the meantime, join the mailing list in the sidebar so you get notified every time there’s a new post. Thanks!
Also, Encanto is an amazing animated movie, and I’ll post about it soon.
But I bring this up because something’s been bothering me that I think we need to consider:
Catching Covid-19 carries a lot of unhealthy and unnecessary social stigma, and we need to stop treating it like a point of personal or moral failure.
Even now, two years into the #ForeverPlague, I still hear people talking about getting Covid as if they were admitting to having an STD–always in hushed tones with eyes askance. It’s as if the only way a person can be infected is if they are reckless with their health and careless about everyone else, or if they’re a knuckle-dragging science denier whose backwards lifestyle begs to be punished by such an illness. After all, it’s the “pandemic of the unvaccinated” who deserve a long, dark winter of sadness and death, or somesuch.
The other day, I was about to mention during Sunday School that a friend of the group tested positive so that the folks in attendance could pray for a quick recovery. As I was about to mention “the respiratory virus that must not be named,” a couple on the front row practically jumped out of their chairs to shout me down and say that person was just feeling “under the weather.”
This isn’t the only time I’ve seen this type of reaction: no one wants to admit the reality that we’re all getting Covid.
Yes, that’s right, I said it: It’s almost a certainty that we will all get Covid eventually. Probably multiple times.
So much of the public conversation about Covid seems couched in shame and exclusion language, and that nonsense needs to end.
Here’s the reality about Covid-19, gang:
It’s a respiratory virus, so it’s never going to be eradicated. We’ll have to figure out how to live with it, just like we live with influenza.
Treatments will continue to be developed and improve. More options will become available for both prevention and treatment.
Vaccines don’t protect against ever getting infected. It stinks, but it’s true. However, vaccines *do* seem to make subsequent bouts of the illness easier to manage. We can discuss and dispute over whether or not that’s sufficient justification for getting it versus the possible risks and side effects.
We should all be free to make the decision about vaccines without external compulsion of any kind. This should be stupidly self-evident, but there you go.
Natural immunity is usually better than artificial immunity. Artificial immunity is probably better than simply living with higher vulnerability due to comorbidities.
We can do a lot of things to boost our immune systems and give ourselves the best chance to fight off the #ForeverPlague. Take good-quality supplements for Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and zinc. Get plenty of fresh air and sunshine. Drink water. Sleep sufficiently. Eat good-quality food.
If you test positive, talk to your own doctor (and not some whacko on the internet) about what treatments and medications may be appropriate for you personally based on your medical history and current health status. Again, talk to YOUR doctor and make a decision with YOUR doctor’s input.
Pay attention to your symptoms and don’t be a doofus and go out in public when you’re clearly sick. It’s not rocket surgery.
To address the end of the video above: yes, people are deciding to go back to work, go back to school, and move on with life. The virus should be taken seriously, but we still have to move on. It’s not the bubonic plague, killing a third of the population in a matter of months or years; with some basic preventative and/or supportive care, 99% of folks who get Covid will be okay in a few weeks. The rest, we can all try to watch out for and help out as we can.
And ultimately, I believe that whether or not you catch the ‘Rona is in God’s hands. Do your best, be wise about it, and trust the sovereignty of the King of the Universe. Our days are in His hands, and we’re not even promised our next breath. So just chill out and be grateful for His myriad blessings.
In conclusion, and by way of review:
People who get Covid aren’t somehow being punished for their epidemiological sins.
Covid infection is not a symptom of moral failure.
Lack of Covid infection is not a sign of personal righteousness.
Trust God’s hand and plan, and stop being ridiculous about this.
Let me know what you think about all this in the comments.
I’ve reached the life stage in which gifts I receive for birthdays and Christmas tend toward power tools, grill equipment, and leather goods. The last few years’ gifts, however, have been predominantly coffee-related. That in and of itself is funny, since I don’t consider myself a coffee connoisseur. I like my 12-cup Mr. Coffee and will occassionally enjoy a French press. (My wife has now converted to Chemex pour-overs and swears she’ll never go back.)
I’ve gotten to try a few different brands of small-batch and specialty coffee, but the company that I come back to over and over is Bones Coffee. They have a nice variety of both flavored and unflavored coffee, with lots of neat seasonal and specialty flavors throughout the year.
Note: This is not a sponsored/affiliate post–BUT if the fine folks at Bones want to toss me an affiliate link or discount code to share with you, I’ll be more than delighted to do so.
Here are some quick capsule reviews of flavors I’ve tried so far, in case you want to check out Bones Coffee for yourself:
Mint Invaders from Chocolate Space — Chocolate and mint is my go-to sweet combination. Every year, I hit up Starbucks on or around November 1st for the official start of “Peppermint Mocha” season (and don’t talk to me about how it’s available at other times in the year, because I don’t acknowledge that). I dig “peppermint bark” flavored coffee creamer and mint chocolate chip ice cream–mint and chocolate are totally my jam. I had high expectations from “Mint Invaders…” when I first tried it and was extremely pleased. While the flavor isn’t as overpowering as if you were adding a heavy creamer or syrup to your coffee, the flavor and aroma are definitely there. I’ve gotten multiple bags of this flavor and it’s become one of my regular Bones selections as a result. Definite recommend.
Holy Cannoli — I don’t know what kind of eldritch flavor alchemy the Bones folks are using, but I’m stunned and delighted to find that this coffee actually reminds me of the flavors of a good cannoli–the subtle sweetness of the filling, the nuttiness of the wafer, and just a touch of chocolate. The reason this flavor works so well is that it doesn’t hit you over the head with the combination. Some flavored coffees so overwhelm you that the taste becomes cloying. “Holy Cannoli” hits that right level of subtlety so that you don’t forget you’re drinking coffee, but you’ve got a nice sensory boost from the other flavors. Plus, and I think this is really a key factor, it helps when the added flavor actually complements the flavor of coffee itself. Having a cannoli with a cup of coffee makes sense as a flavor combination. Other flavors, not so much, as in the case of…
Electric Unicorn — This is billed as a “fruity cereal” flavor–think “bowl of Fruity Pebbles.” I won a sample of this flavor in a Bones giveaway and was curious to try it out. Turns out, this one was a big miss for me personally. During my first two sips, I was intrigued, if a bit confused. However, around Sip #3, I actually started feeling a bit nauseated. It’s not even that it was too sweet (obviously, since I controlled the level of added sugar in my cup); it’s that the flavoring was just so strong, and it seemed to clash with the natural flavor of the coffee so much, that the whole thing just wasn’t appealing after just a few swigs. I’m willing to give unusual flavors a try, but if I have no desire to finish the mug, that’s a really bad sign. I’d say pass on this one, unless you’re REALLY intrigued by the flavor concept, in which case I’d recommend maybe starting with a sample pack first.
Sinn-o-Bunn — Again, here we have a flavor where they nail the concept in a way that almost defies logic. In fact, for this cinnamon-roll-flavored blend, the magic works a little *too* well. I wanted to get a good sense of this one, so I brewed a pot with a ratio of 3:1 Bones to plain decaf, and after the first mug, I could almost go back and cut it a little more. The flavor of not just cinnamon but honest-to-goodness “cinnamon roll with cream cheese icing” is *so* strong that dialing it down by mixing it with some non-flavored coffee may just be the way to go for me. Truth be told, that’s not necessarily a bad thing if you want to see your coffee dollars stretch a bit. You could find a good quality non-flavored roast (perhaps some of Bones’ single-origin coffee) to throw in the mix so that it dials the flavor strength down a bit and extends the enjoyment of the flavored beans to additional brews. Either way, this flavor is a qualified win for me.
[Fall Seasonal Flavor] Frankenbones – One of the cool things about buying coffee from a small-batch roaster like Bones is that there are seasonal flavors that come around periodically. While these flavors aren’t available right now, they will be later in the year, so I wanted to put them on your radar now. Frankenbones is one that I’m going to give another shot. The flavor of this autumn seasonal offering is listed as “chocolate hazelnut” but when I had it, the chocolate came through much more clearly than the hazelnut did. It was still good, but I just didn’t get as much of the distinction there. That said, I’m a mocha fiend, so chocolate coffee ANYTHING is a winner for me. I happened to receive a bag of it over Christmas and will be enjoying it soon, so I’ll pop back in the comments and let you know if it won me over even more!
[Winter Seasonal Flavors]The Winter Holiday Exclusive Flavors: White Chocolate Peppermint Bark, Gingerbread, Egg Nog, Jingle Bones, Oh Fuuudge! — Two years ago, we ordered the sample pack of the “holiday” flavors, along with a few extra full bags of Oh Fuuudge! and Peppermint Bark (see above, re: my love for both chocolate and mint). Those two are obviosuly my favorites of the bunch. Jingle Bones is a nice mix of coconut, vanilla, and caramel, and I liked that quite a bit; it reminded me one of my favorite local coffee brands that mixes coconut flakes in the whole-bean bags. Not all of the flavors worked for me—I didn’t love the gingerbread and eggnog samples. Don’t get me wrong; they get the flavors right and they’re not that bad (sorry, Electric Unicorn). They’re just not what I prefer. All in all, it’s a great selection, and if you’re a fan of any of the “holiday flavors” from Starbucks, you should check out Bones’ offerings when they become available in the late fall.
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If you’re a fan of flavored coffee, I think you should give Bones a try. Like I said at the top, this isn’t a sponsored post. I legitimately like Bones Coffee and drink it often (I’m sipping on some Sinn-a-bun while I’m typing this, as a matter of fact). I’ve reached out to the company to see if they’d be willing to hook me up with a discount code for my readers, and if I get that, I’ll update the post. I also have several more sample packs to try out, so I’ll have another flavor round-up coming out later in the spring with more recommendations.
In the meantime, may your brew be strong and your mug be steaming!
(That may be the lamest way I’ve ever ended a post.)
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