"All My Wealth Is In My Relationships"

Roundup 010 | Birthdays, Covid-19, and Epiphany Edition

Feb 03, 2024

Hey There,

First, I apologize for the complete lack of anything on here over the past few weeks, life has been a little bit crazy. But allow me to catch you up with a few bullet points, links to recent readings, and many photos from the last three-ish weeks.

The last time I posted, Megan and I were preparing for an Epiphany Feast with friends. Sadly, our friends’ daughter caught a stomach bug just before they were supposed to come over so we ended up enjoying our short ribs and a galette de rois, all by ourselves. We read from scripture about Jesus turning water into wine and reflected on his glorious manifestation to us as the God-man.

I also turned one year older. If I’m honest, I don’t like my birthday. I know that’s a common theme for lots of folks, but when I say I don’t like my birthday, I really mean it. I’m not sure if it’s unprocessed emotions related to adoption, an early midlife crisis, or something entirely different. Still, my birthday has always been a heavy day for me emotionally speaking. A few years ago, I was talking with one of my pastors and his wife and, lamenting an upcoming birthday, and she said this. “David, you were made in the image of God. He knit you together in your mother’s womb. He saved you and he has prepared good works for you. I don’t know if this is theologically accurate, but I think it’s a sin for you to hate your birthday. You can’t hate something God made! Now cheer up and celebrate!” Her words stung a bit back then, but they ring true and ever since then, I’ve made an effort to celebrate my birthday (a task made infinitely easier since meeting my wife, who is an absolute expert at birthdays).

This year, I am particularly thankful for relationships. God has blessed us with an incredible community of friends, frankly far better than I deserve and I find myself repeating the words of my friend Alex Early, “All my wealth is in my relationships.”

Thankful to have known most of these people for a decade and to have had most of them stand next to us on our wedding day.

Since my birthday, life has been a bit of a whirlwind. I’m currently in two of my final classes to complete my degree at CalBaptist, and the reading and writing workload has been pretty hefty (averaging about 300 pages of reading a week between the two) which has kept me from reading anything outside of my assigned texts.

To top it off, Megan and I have both had Covid-19, which has been pretty lousy. I just got out of the woods, but Megan tested positive today, so we’re back in quarantine for another 5 days. If you think of us, pray that recovery is quick, symptoms are mild, and that neither of us has to miss much work.

Books

The Myth of Normal by Gabor Mate - “Trauma is not what happens to you but what happens inside you” - An excellent read for those of us in the field of mental health, but I would also highly recommend this to friends in ministry as well. If you’re not satisfied with the status quo of the mental health system in America, much of what he says will resonate with you.

(Related, Mate’s episode on Joe Rogan is quite good. Click here to listen.)

You Are What You Love by James K.A. Smith - "We look for God in the fresh and novel, as if his grace were always an "event," when he has promised that his Spirit faithfully attends the ordinary means of grace - in the Word, at the Table. We keep looking for God in the new, as if grace were always bound up with ‘the next best thing,’ but Jesus encouraged us to look for God in a simple, regular meal."

Epiphany: The Season of Glory by Fleming Rutledge - "The glory of God is not summoned by human striving or wishing. It cannot be conjured up by anything we can do. It is pure gift. It comes to us solely at the will of the Creator. It comes from another dimension, over against the world of human bondage to sin and death."

Blogs

Bible and Theology Reading Plans for 2024 - Mere Orthodoxy -Last year our church read through the Bible from cover to cover, this year I’m back on the M’Cheyne plan and using the Jonathan Gibson collection (Be Thou My Vision, O Sacred Head Now Wounded, O Come O Come Emmanuel). I’m also working on reading Bavinck’s “The Wonderful Works of God” during my devotional time.

Notes on Staying Sane in an Election Year - Mere Orthodoxy

Is ‘Gentle Parenting’ Biblical? - The Gospel Coalition - This article does a helpful job at critiquing the movement without throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Learn to Fly in the Fellowship - David Mathis, Desiring God - “Fellowship may be the often forgotten middle child of the spiritual disciplines, but she may save your life in the dark night of your soul. As you pass through the valley of the shadow of death, and the Shepherd comforts you with his staff, you will discover that he has fashioned his people to act as his rod of rescue.”

The Case for More Parties - Meredith Hinds - “We need to mark our days, lest they feel endless. Because every party is a definite end point that, in some small way, points toward the definite end point. Celebrating together serves to remind us that we’re not in an infinite loop. We are going somewhere. And the very best is yet to come.”

Watching

You might think that being sick has allowed me to watch lots of movies and television shows…sadly I’ve been doing more sleeping than watching but when I am awake I’ve been enjoying The Bear, The Mandalorian, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.