Back to the Basics
You have to preach the basics to yourself over and over again.

Care if I tell on myself?
My mind has been on overload lately. One friend is dealing with personal issues. Two friends have loved ones who are ill. And I have my own problems. But don’t we all?
I don’t know where the line is regarding how much I can process at once, but I know I crossed it the other day when I got into my car and backed into the garage door (yes, while it was still down).
If my mind is on overload, staying in the present moment is a huge battle for me. I imagine that is just part of the human condition. We allow the cares and concerns of this world to overwhelm us.
Not to sound like a corporate tech guy but what I’m really trying to describe is my mindset when I have maxed out my bandwidth and cannot process new information. As a result, I back into garage doors.
Well, not routinely, anyway. It’s the first time I’ve ever done that. But you know what I mean. I look at my mail and don’t really see it. I might get an email or a text, and not really see that either. That sort of thing.
Why don’t I take my own advice and slow down and live deeper? I can only say that all of us need to go back to the basics sometimes and preach them to ourselves over and over again. So I have been doing a lot of that lately.
In the Spotlight:
In this fifty-day devotional, readers will explore what the Bible says about the importance of persevering to the end, suffering well, standing firm, leaving a faith legacy, earning heavenly rewards, striving for unity in the faith, mutually encouraging one another, not growing weary, dying well, and much more.
Here are some tidbits you might find interesting this week:
In the past, I’ve mentioned the Great American Rail-Trail bike path that will go all that way across the United States. Here’s a short video that highlights some of the stops along the way.
“Any cross but the one I have,” cried one. Surely it would not be a cross if you had the choosing of it, for it is the essence of a cross that it should run counter to our likings. - Charles Spurgeon
I’m not usually one for excessive celebrations in sports, but this one is pretty funny.
Recently, I sent out the paid version of this newsletter (I wrote about the demise of the front porch). In it, I shared a link to one of Abby the Spoon Lady’s videos. It’s so good that I thought I’d share it here too.
“I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess.” - Martin Luther
When Lee isn’t writing essays, devotional books, or Christmas novellas, he is a freelance editor, as well as a freelance journalist who has written hundreds of articles for various newspapers and magazines. He’s also a fan of NASCAR, baseball, tennis, books, movies and coffee shops. If you haven’t read his books, give one a try.
So then we do a guilt trip and add a couple more activities to our already overburdened schedules . . .
Thanks for the reminder.