"Yes, risk taking is inherently failure-prone. Otherwise it would be called sure-thing-taking." - Tim McMahon

The people are the best part. Sometimes they're also the hardest part. I don't mean "hardest" as in difficult to deal with. I mean that when they suffer, grieve, struggle, or feel overwhelmed, the heart of a pastor grieves. In the same way it's harder for a parent than for the sick child, the pastor wants desperately to fix it for their "child." We do the best we can to encourage, but it feels, and I suspect it is, mostly inadequate.
Sin is a terrible thing and has innumerable ways to afflict God's sheep.

From an ad for a pickup truck in my Facebook feed:
I am asking $4000 that is the truck with the wench and all the lights. The lights are all brand new on the truck. I'm asking 3500 with no lights or wench.
The campaign against sex trafficking has apparently not hit the used truck market yet.

I'm trying again - as I did last year after my trip - to learn some Portuguese. Yeah, I should just pony up and pay for one of the online language apps but I'm too tight for that and afraid I wouldn't be a good steward of the fee I'd pay. So I'm attending the MacDonald School of Language Learning. That begins with learning the basic pronouns using Google Translator. I'm told that Portuguese has a particularly tricky pronoun system with variations depending on all kinds of variables. But if I learn the most common form for first, second, and third person, singular and plural, I think they'll forgive me some bad grammar. I'm counting on the same thing when it comes to verb forms and congugating them with what is also a complex system. They'll know what I mean. And those people are so gracious that their appreciation for my effort will exceed any dismay when I butcher their rules of grammar.

When feeding the goats I got stung by a bee.
But it's OK, 'cause I just remembered a few of my favorite things.

Cinnamon rolls and a plate full of BACON.
Four on the floor and things free for the taking.
Doelings and fir trees,
And chickens that lay
fresh eggs with BACON.
They all make my day. 

Josh and Molly are supposed to come for birria Tuesday evening. The forecast calls for a high of 98 degrees. MoHo will be stupid hot and the patio is in full sun. We could eat on the front deck where I installed a bamboo shade but it blocks any breeze while it blocks the afternoon sun.
We may postpone.