It’s easy to default to playing with your phone, checking out YouTube videos, podcasts, whenever you have a spare minute or free time. It can become a habit. More, for some it can be addictive. Our screens can suck away our time like a Shop-Vac sucks up dust and dirt.
But for the last few evenings, our family has had what we refer to as reading time. We gather in the living room, we each grab a book, and sit and read by candlelight. Usually we do it for about an hour or so. The kids snuggle on the couch with one or both of our dogs. I sit in our rocking chair and my wife enjoys “her” chair.
Now, lest I give the impression that this is always an idyllic time, sometimes one kid deliberately annoys another. There’s occasional bickering. During reading time, not everyone is always on the same page, pardon the pun.
Gravitating towards our digital devices is a common impulse in our age of distraction. But these days my habit has too often been checking out news on this or that app or website. Often a discouraging prospect, there’s nothing quite like news about politics or COVID to help me wind down for a good night’s rest. Unsurprisingly, all that does is cause my mind to whir for considerably longer.
Recently, I’ve taken to reading in the evening (and sometimes in the morning) from A.W. Tozer’s 2 volume set, The Attributes of God: Deeper into the Father’s Heart. The chapters are short, accessible, and devotional. It focuses my heart and mind on the character and being of God. It fixes my attention on what’s most important. Tozer doesn’t tell me much of anything about current events or politics, but he does help to orient my heart and mind for when I do read about those things.
I don’t know if reading will become a lifelong habit for our kids, but at least they are learning how much we value it and why. Having a reading time certainly makes an evening more relaxing than it might otherwise be. When life is busy and full of distractions, perhaps even this is enough.
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Published by Derek Melanson
Greetings!
The most important thing about me is not first and foremost about me. It’s about the person of Jesus. I receive my identity, my purpose, and my very breath and life from Jesus. Colossians 1:16 says it well. Speaking of Jesus, there the apostle Paul writes, “All things have been made through him and for him.” Who I am, I am because of who he is. And because through him I have been reconciled to God, I now live to orient my life around him. I don’t always do this very well. So I’m grateful for the good news of God’s forgiveness.
Since August 2002 I have been married to a beautiful, wonderful Christian woman. Because of her, my life has been much more of an adventure than it would otherwise have been. She’s loving, smart, funny, determined, and real. Being her husband is a privilege and a joy.
And our joy has multiplied. We have three children. One girl and twin boys. They’re fun, silly, energetic, smart, and exhausting. All unique individuals, they keep us on our toes. Thanks to them, our home is filled with a lot of laughter.
We also have two dogs: a 10-year old mixed poodle-terrier named Sneaker and a 1-year old yorkie named Izzy.
On top of all this, God has also called me to be a pastor. Our church is a small, rural church filled with loving, faithful people. Working with them to live out the good news of God is a great gift.
What else? Well, I happen to like the following things (in no particular order of favourites): playing guitar, writing (obviously!), reading (theology, classic fiction), a variety of movies and TV shows but especially those in the sci-fi/adventure/fantasy/super-hero genres, Dairy Queen Chocolate Extreme Blizzards, buffalo wings, salsa, Doc Martens, Grip6 belts, and Birkenstock sandals. I love my children’s laughter and my wife’s smile. And I love that God — in his abundant grace — allows me to enjoy any of these things.
There. Now you really know me.
I hope you enjoy and get something out of reading my blog. I’d love it if you made some comments on a post or two. Normally, I usually post several times a week. Though occasionally I can go as long as a week or more without doing so. Fear not! I will post again!
Peace,
Pastor Derek
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grace notes 