Have things settled down for you now that the holidays are over? Or has your new year started full tilt? We’re in resting/puttering mode–getting things done here and there but taking it slow after a lovely but busy couple of weeks.

There are several good reads found this week. I hope you’ll have time for some of them.

A Happy New Year Task for Writers. Though geared to writers, it’s good for us all. Before resolutions or goals or words for the year, we need to consecrate everything to the Lord.

How Healthy Is Your Soul? Six Questions for a New Year, HT to Redeeming Productivity. “Strewn throughout Scripture, prophets and apostles, wise men and the God-man all urge us to watch ourselves, pay attention to ourselves, and stay awake “lest we drift away” (Hebrews 2:1). Unless we keep our hearts ‘with all vigilance’ (Proverbs 4:23), they will not be kept.”

More Bible, Better Bible in 2024. This was written to preachers but is good for anyone who writes or speaks from the Word of God: we need to read and study it for our own souls, not just to find something to share with others. This was written by one of our former pastors.

The Good Shepherd Is the Lover of My Soul. Some good lessons from the life of Michal, David’s first wife.

What Happens When We Share the Gospel? Six Encouragements, HT to Challies. We may not know exactly what’s going on in hearts when we share the gospel. But there are a few things we do know.

Honor Your (Elderly) Parents: How Adult Children ‘Make Some Return,’ HT to Challies. “What can we tell adult children in the church to help prepare them for this call to honor aging parents and elders? As one in the thick of learning the lessons (and the blessings) of honoring, I would suggest three main messages for the adult children among us.”

Parental Regret: How to Move Forward When You’ve Let Your Kids Down, HT to Challies. “Rather than letting regrets anxiously swirl in our minds, we can take the off-ramp of reckoning honestly with what happened. Did you notice the pattern? It’s relational. Let your regrets move you toward the Lord, toward other Christians, and toward your kids.”

God’s Power Is Made Perfect In Weakness, HT to Challies. “He’s not saying God gives me his power and I feel powerful. This isn’t a shot of divine Red Bull that makes Paul powerful in his own right. No, God’s power is at work even as Paul is weak.”

Finally, just for fun, (Southern) Pride and Prejudice–Jane Austen’s book read in an “American Southern” accent.

Maybe the circumstances you most fear will contain treasures you least expect.
Sarah P. Walton