Happy Monday Y’all! I am writing this as our world slowly begins to mold into a new normal. Yesterday, my amazing church did a Back-to-School event where they handed out school supplies and allowed the kids to dunk their youth pastors. I helped direct traffic with a hamburger hat on. It felt good to be involved in the church again. But I felt like I was still just in the boat, a disciple, but not yet stepping out onto the water, and definitely not dancing on the waves. I spoke to the student ministry leader for a good bit. That guy was dancing on the waves for sure.
I just got back from dropping our oldest off at school in the age of COVID-19. I am so glad she has the opportunity to attend physical school, mask and all. One of the key moments of discussion between the student pastor and myself was how socially damaging COVID-19 has been to kids. I made the point to say that I hoped that if there was one good thing we gained from the madness of 2020 was to realize how important physical community was, and that we would shift away from the virtual world that is the internet. He mentioned how their virtual meetings were of no help to his introverted students. I know my daughter would only be present in physical form on her “ZOOM” class meetings, barely speaking, just watching. And while this is probably how she is normally in the classroom, I felt like there was no good way for a teacher to push her to come out of her shell over virtual connections. Even though COVID-19 forced the world to dive deeper into virtual communication, I hope that everyone has a new disdain for such practices. I love that technology can connect us hundreds of miles away, but I yearn for that face-to-face interaction like never before. God designed us to be social creatures, not creatures of social media.
August 17
1As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. 2And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. 3But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. 4We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. 5May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance. (2 Thessalonians 3:1-5)
I chose these verses because they deserve to be read a second time. Another group of sentences that could easily be spoken as a prayer over the people of our current generation. With the Common Sense Reborn project, I pray that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored among all of you and from your work, may these messages spread throughout the land. Remember to always have confidence in the Lord. The Lord will always protect and deliver you from the evil one. This is my prayer to you all.
This is my last entry for August. Mrs. Z has graciously accepted the challenge of penning nearly half of this month. You will enjoy the next two weeks, of that I am sure!
Reading plan: 1 Timothy 2:8-15
Deeper reading plan: Jeremiah 33, 34
Prayer and meditation: Pray for our country. Pray for love to conquer all. Pray that Christ infects our hearts and ignites a final fire of revival to sweep this land.
Fitness challenge: Week three already! Push your reps up to 25 and stay at 3 rounds.
- Hand-release push-up
- Bicycle crunches
- Lunge step-up (25-each leg)
- Jump tuck squats
- Diamond push-ups
- Flutter-kicks (4-count)
- Superman
- Burpees
Common Sense Reborn 