1. I have this picture in my head of being part of a village, once an enemy of the King. But the King conquered us and we knew he now controlled our fate. Fear overwhelmed us. But then a messenger brought news of the King. And the message was good news. He not only forgave us but promised us he would fight for us now and give us all we needed. We knew we deserved punishment but instead we receive grace and mercy. I keep that picture in my head all the time.
2. Coffee and country blues records early in the morning while everyone sleeps.
3. It dawned on me this week that the common denominator of the music I enjoy is the lack of irony. Even when Dylan isn’t taking himself too seriously, the music is taken seriously.
4. I had pizza last night and I didn’t enjoy it like I thought I would. I wish I’d eaten something else. Yeah, I know. Weird.
5. I’m getting close to finishing Wonder. Last night I read the part where August’s family invites Miranda to go to dinner with them. Sometimes kindness is so beautiful you have to close your eyes after you see it.
6. It’s going to be hard sitting on the 8th row for the Jason Isbell show on September 28th after sitting on the 6th row for the show on the 23rd.
7. I would love to see my mom roll her eyes and smile when she asks what Bethany and I are going to do while she watches the kids and I respond, “oh we’ll probably go parking.”
8. The modern world is a hard place to not have answers to a problem. It is a hard world in which to trust the unseen God.
9. I can understand people wrestling with the absolute sovereignty of God over everything. I can be patient with that. But not mocking it. That’s a whole ‘nother ballgame.
10. So I’ve watched the Jason Isbell Boston concert on YouTube a few times now and I wonder what all those Yankees think of him when he talks. Enjoy.
Echoes and Stars 
1. I have been trying to write this as a song and just can’t seem to get the rhymes to work. It’s a song that needs to be sung, if it can ever get itself written.