Howdy,

Yesterday I described the need for tapping out a new rhythm.

Today I’ll look at more what I’d like that rhythm to be, though I fully admit that this blog post is titled: “Finding …”

Speaking of the post title, even as long as it is, it didn’t include it all: … life and journey: through it and to it.

“Through it and to it.”

This is a journey and the journey is through it and to it.

I like that phrase, through it and to it. So much so that I don’t want to Google it and see how many other people may have already come to use it. It’s original with me.

In all the searching, exploring, and experiencing in “finding,” it’s also good to have a plan, a strategy for the search. Recently with a mentor, a coach—still kind of kicking off my time with him (meaning, I’m at the basics)—we discussed life rhythms. Rhythms for a more intentional, disciplined, and driven life and journey.

Thought I’d share a general structure to consider:

Daily. Weekly. Monthly. Yearly. Continue reading

Howdy,

Today—with only 14,000 left to write—I start 3,000 words behind my pace.

There’s only about three weeks left in my year of writing 200,000 words, and I’m glad I had a lead on my word count before producing about a week’s worth of posts over the past three weeks. (I drafted “over the last three weeks,” but the last three weeks will be the next three weeks, and the failing to get the writing done has to be a thing of the past to wrap this goal up.)

I lay all that out less to talk about word count (a topic we’re all ready to leave in the past), and more to talk about rhythm. (We’ve talked before about how fast time flies when you’re not stopping to do your work—or how fast it flies regardless.)

I’m not a musician. So I’m talking a rhythm of living. And finding it.

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Howdy,

Here’s another Sunday Scripture series post. I do like these. Don’t want to do them all the time, but I enjoy writing them and—more importantly—truly hope people who read them are encouraged/inspired/blessed by the Scriptures, as I believe one would be, from the nature of God’s Word.

Changed it up a little bit in how I’ve used my iPhone’s ESV Bible app to pick a passage: rather than from my “FAVORITES,” I bounced over to “HIGHLIGHTS” for my Scripture selection. After choosing Genesis 12:1-4 for this, I promptly “favorited” the highlighted section. Not that any of this deeply matters to you as the reader, but I do see that I have a plethora more highlighted than favorited, so much remains for the pickings—and I suspect I could stray even so far as outside of my favorites and previously highlighted and find Words worth sharing.

Yep. Of course.

Today: Genesis 12:1-4. Clicking that highlight, now favorited, I remembered that I had made a tremendously significant Note on this passage (so, yes, this passage is highlighted, favorited, and been annotated, so pretty much used the app to the full on this one). The Note included a quote from a Perspectives course guest speaker, a missionary, which is why it’s “tremendously significant,” not because I made it. Here’s the note, as thumbed into my phone: “Perspective statement: ‘Most significant passage in all of Scripture.’ Setup of God’s redemptive history.”

Now, I don’t know if I do, or can, completely agree with the statement “Most significant passage in all of Scripture,” yet only because all of Scripture has a lot of significant passages, but I don’t necessarily disagree, either. If it’s involved in launching redemptive history, than I’d take it to be pretty important—and I’m tremendously grateful for it. Thankful, to the point of my very life, which is what depends on it. Redemption, that is.

Okay, so that’s the note—and point taken, also understand it’s from a missionary, who understands, “Go,” and “went.”

Here’s the sacred Biblical passage:

“Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ So Abram went, as the LORD had told him” (Genesis 12:1-4a).

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Howdy,

Happy Birthday!

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Howdy,

You know who can talk about “I”?

I AM.

That’s Who.

“I AM WHO I AM.”

That’s what God told Moses when He introduced Himself. That’s what God said His name was and the name Moses should use when laying down the authority of who sent him when his countrymen enslaved back in Egypt asked Moses why they should listen to him.

Not totally related, but since writing “I of the Tiger” I did some study of Jesus’ “I Am” statements. My brother, David—Pastor Dave, as some call him, but I’m not yet used to the Dave for David; I can easily go with Dave-o or many other things we brothers call the youngest, but I’m not natural with Hawesendaz being Dave Hawes—shared a look at a list for a series of “I Am” sermons, with Scripture references, and I went through it.

Here’s that list and some of what I noted from the Biblical passages:

—I am (before Abraham). [Exodus 3; John 8:25-59.]

—I am the Bread of Life. [John 6; Exodus 16.]

—I am the Light of the World. [John 8:12-20.]

—I am the Good Shepherd/Door. [John 10:1-18; Psalm 23.]

—I am the Resurrection and the Life. [John 11; Ephesians 2.]

—I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. [John 14:1-14.]

—I am the True Vine. [John 15:1-11.]

“God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you”’” (Exodus 3:14).

—I am (before Abraham). [Exodus 3; John 8:25-59.]

• I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. 3:6
• Who?: “I AM WHO I AM.” 3:14
• Who are you?: From the Father. 8:25-27
• … Truth will set you free. 8:31-32
• “Before Abraham was, I am.” 8:58. They picked up stones to stone Jesus—they knew what He inferred.

—I am the Bread of Life. [John 6; Exodus 16.]

• 12 baskets left over. (King, people want to make Him their kind of king.)
• Seeking Him (Jesus) for more loaves, 6:26. Food for eternal life. 6:27
• Manna (their fathers) = “My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.” Bread of God. I am the bread of life. 6:35, 6:48-58
• Exodus: rain bread from heaven (Manna).

—I am the Light of the World. [John 8:12-20.]

• “Have the light of life.” 8:12
• I and the Father who sent Me. 8:16
• No one arrested Him. 8:20

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Howdy,

I won’t try to explain or defend my “familiarity” with a Katy Perry song (thought about spelling her name Katie as a disguise, but didn’t know if that’d look overly-spiritual or out-of-touch and I’m not really going for either or being disingenuous) other than saying that I like to “roll ‘em” on the radio sometimes when I’m driving alone, scanning the stations to see what I’ll hear, to listen to what’s being sung.

When I did that in June on my way to Pinecrest lake, I heard Imagine Dragons’ “Believer”: “Don’t you tell me what you think that I could be / I’m the one at the sail, I’m the master of my sea, oh ooh / The master of my sea, oh ooh.”

Oh (ooh), yeah. We’ve moved beyond the self-importance self-reliance of even William Ernest Henley’s Invictus:

“I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
… I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.”

Imagine Dragons sing not of being captain (O Captain! My Captain!) of one’s own ship. I at the helm. No, the singing cry is “I’m the master of my sea.” I’m the master of my sea. Is that crazy or what?!

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Howdy,

I ain’t crying.

I told you that yesterday.

And I ain’t crying over split milk.

But I wanted to.

Because I was tired.

Because it was the middle of the night.

Like right in the middle.

And I’m not talking midnight.

More like 3:30 a.m. or something: I was foggy.

At first I did not spill the spilt milk.

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Howdy,

The most recent book I finished was Wonder.

Reading, not writing, unfortunately, because it was a great book. (Now, there’s a writer-author’s dream—to think of the possibility of having written the good books read.)

I finally got around to reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio after having it highly recommended to us by (let’s see how this goes) my brother’s wife’s sister’s husband, Orlando. Relative or friend, he’s a cool guy and an enjoyable and insightful conversation and a year or two ago made a good reading recommendation. Before a recent move up to college, Lando used to read and teach Wonder to fifth graders, and he said that the students really loved that book, that he enjoyed bringing that one to them, that they responded to it, a good time in the classroom.

That’s probably about as high a praise as you’d look for in a story, capturing the attention of kids and a whole classroom at that.

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Howdy,

Wow, time flies!

Wow!

Wow, wow, wow: a week went by like that since I’ve written—that’s what this post was going to say, what it was gonna be, when I wrote last week. That’s the note I had for getting back into this.

But I didn’t write last week either.

Crazy, my last post was last month (though the last day of last month). Eleven days ago.

It was also the last time I wrote at all, blog post or otherwise. I’m going to spin this as a holiday, as rest and recovery, as recreation for rejuvenation for finishing strong.

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Howdy,

Maybe that’s why I don’t …

Don’t always get my writing done. Don’t do a lot of things.

But specifically thinking of not always getting my writing done, maybe it’s …

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