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a post for thoughts and questions
a series of blurbs about things I’m thinking and/or questions I’m asking
3.21.2024
As I’m reading through The God of the Garden1 by Andrew Peterson, I’ve found myself pondering his distinction between solitude and isolation. On page 76 in a chapter called “The Comforter Hath Found Me Here,” Peterson writes, “At the risk of opening a can of worms, I’ll let you in on something. At odds with my great love of solitude is my great fear of isolation. Solitude is a choice. Isolation is inflicted.” To be honest, I’m not sure I’ve ever thought about the difference, but I think he’s right. I’m generally not bothered by solitude. I need some time of quiet to think, process and write, for instance. I can tell when I need a little extra. But being isolated has a different sort of edge. In my own vocabulary, I probably think of it in terms of “loneliness” more often than isolation, but maybe it’s still a similar distinction?
A couple weeks ago I read Luke’s text of the temptation of Jesus2 for our church service. I found it fascinating that by the third temptation, the devil started mimicking Jesus’ phrase, “it is written.” I just keep thinking about it. Scripture really is a treasure trove!3
Now that track season is in full swing, a question I ask myself almost daily is, “what will be the best use of the time I have with my athletes?” Because we’re a combined program, I have athletes that range from “never before seen a sand pit” to high schoolers with years of experience. I rarely do the same drills between the middle school and high school, so in a very real sense, I coach two different teams every day.
The public library where I work was recently awarded grant money to add new shelving units to our children’s section. This will allow us to rearrange and better utilize other areas of the library as well. The other day I spent three hours moving books with a cart and I think you’d be surprised how tired I was at the end of my shift! At least I was…
Some of you might have seen my social media post where I talked about not being able to get my living room shelves arranged “right” after taking down Christmas decorations. I finally just took everything off and have been slowly sourcing a few new items. For my birthday, my husband and kids surprised me with a display box for my brother4 Kenneth’s old Gameboy. This toy is special to me and I’ve been trying to figure out how to display it. Finally last weekend, I was looking for inspiration at Hobby Lobby, set on buying something. Everyone kept nixing all my ideas…even the ones I knew were good :) Turns out they already had a plan, and I love it!
…Now to finish those pesky shelves…
What have you been thinking about lately?
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Luke 4:1-12
Psalm 119, for instance, repeatedly equates scripture to a treasure. I love that!