Crosland Stuart

It is hard to believe that almost a third of the year is gone and with it has gone most of our new year’s resolutions. Even if we have failed to execute, we should not give up and every day is a good time to jump start them again. One of mine for the past several years has been the pursuit of beauty.

As we come to the end of the first month of 2021, it may be a good time to reflect more intentionally and without the distraction of the holidays. Today’s article is timeless except for the fact that it is looking back at the year of 2020. Wait! Don’t stop reading. If you are like me, I am weary of rehearsing the challenges of this past year. However, Philip Yancey in the article for today’s blog, reviews 2020 in a manner that moves our hearts and minds from all the Why God this? and Why God that? to responses of compassion.

If you, along with so many of us, are having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit, it is not too late, and the following list will help restore that triad of hope, joy, and love.

When it seems like the darkness is winning, where do we begin to think about thankfulness?

Today is another installment of The Collaborative vlog. If you are reading this on November 11 (the day this was posted), then it is day 240 of Orange County, Florida being under some measure of restrictions due to COVID19. While I am weary of masks and the myriad of daily calculations (i.e. to go or not to go), these are such minor disruptions compared to those related to our work and spiritual livelihoods. Whether or not you are struggling, there is no doubt that you are only one degree removed from someone who’s world is being destabilized.

Though on Labor Day we celebrated the vocational work of Americans, we would be shortsighted to miss out on celebrating the blessings of the avocational pastimes we enjoy as well.

The Collaborative promotes the value of all work whether paid or unpaid. However, we tend to feature and discuss the paid kind more often, but not today. Elise Daniel challenges us all to revisit how we think about household activities, to reconsider traditions, and to reconsider gender role assumptions in her article, “What is the Best Division of Labor at Home?” She offers great nuggets of wisdom that are all about the promotion of healthy relationships, of grace and gratitude, and the idea of leveraging our strengths. Even if your home runs smoothly, I would encourage you to read this article and think about how things could be improved and maybe this doesn’t result in a reassignment of responsibilities, but rather results in deepening appreciation for one another.

While we do not know when COVID-19 is going to end, staying in survival mode is not healthy. If you haven’t already pivoted in your thinking, you need to make that shift. The pivot is where you quit being consumed by the inconveniences and frustrations or become more proactive in managing these things, and move into living like you know and believe that God has not taken a hiatus. Our spiritually can’t take one either.

By understanding something about where we are, we may just lighten our burden ever so slightly, but more importantly, we may discover who God knows us to be and who we are supposed to be to others.

Today we have curated several different articles that we thought would be of interest to you. Most of these articles are not long. We have hyperlinked the titles for your convenience and have included a blurb to give you some sense of the article under each title. The New York Times article uses a term called “tragic optimism” which for the Christ follower would be called the joy of our salvation. Or as Hugh Whelchel puts it, “Standing in the love of Christ is the source of all the motivation we need to do what he has called us to do.” There is a lot to consider in these articles, so happy reading.