I obviously can't hear your answer, but respond with a yes or no answer:
"Life is hard."
I've been asking that question in different venues the last couple of weeks. I asked our small group and two of the three guys I meet with. (I won't meet with the third until I'm back from AZ.)
Some say "No, life is pretty easy." Or, "It depends on the day and how the kids are behaving." This group seems to genuinely appreciate how easy Americans have it compared to much of the world's population. We have food, clothing, and shelter in abundance, arguably to excess. We never go to bed hungry and we think about what we're going to wear today. We're warm and dry at night and cool during the day. (We're headed to AZ where AC is universal.) Yeah, life is easy.
I have also heard, however, "Life is hard. Real hard."
I agree. I find it excruciatingly difficult, sometimes to the point of exhaustion.
That doesn't mean I don't live comfortably with far more than I need to maintain body warmth (Henry David Thoreau's metric for sufficiency). But I don't live primarily in the physical realm, I live in the spiritual. I live primarily in relationship with my heavenly Father and am his servant. That means I am a steward of all I (don't) possess. It means every action and every thought should be pleasing in his sight and every exchange with someone an opportunity to model his love and grace. I am to be, in the existential sense, a child of God, thinking and acting as he would so I am holy and an ambassador of my Father.
That takes SO much energy and attention. And I get it wrong SO much of the time.
The irony of the Christian life is that the closer I get to conforming to the image of his Son (Rom. 8:29) the more I'm aware of how often and by how much I miss the mark. During those stretches of my life when I haven't really cared about conforming it didn't bother me much and life was easy. So in some sense the better I'm doing the more I am aware of and bothered by my failings.
Is it supposed to be this hard? Have I fallen into a kind of legalism that robs me of the joy of the abundant life? Or does he call me to a warfare, with the obvious implication that growing battle weary is a reality of that calling?
So, how did you answer the question?
I've mentioned here that Quin introduced me to the Rocketbook. (Watch the video if you haven't already.) I find myself using it often for taking sermon notes that I later transpose for small group questions and for using as a mini white board in my meetings.
Now this. It doesn't fit my situation now that I'm not in the classroom but I sure wish I'd had it then!
Note: these two guys went on Shark Tank and were turned down. "It has no real use, no future." Now note the level at which this latest feature is funded via crowd sourcing.
I read an article yesterday about Dutch Ovens. I learned they are NOT just big kettles and may be one of the most versatile options in the world of pots & pans. One pot meals, breads, roasts....
They are also pricey.
I can see I may have to branch out from baking to cooking. Things like Dutch Ovens make me go, "Hmmmm."
I went to Jerry's Home Improvement this morning to get a couple of posts, some 2x4's, and cement. Saw this display. Maybe the color blind guy shouldn't be in charge of the center aisle.
I got the rest of the posts set and the gate made. Next: get the hinges, latch, and fencing. Any deer that can clear an 8' fence deserves whatever it can eat.
The fence encloses the six raised beds and enough extra space for about six blueberry bushes I'll order.
I made another batch of cinnamon rolls, this time using pastry flour. They're going through their second proving now, something else that is different from last time when they only proved once. In another 15 minutes I'll preheat the oven and bake them.
The consistency of the dough was very different this time so I'm curious to see how they turn out.
I'll report back tomorrow.
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