In our home, “Lord of the Rings” is the standard by which every other film or story is measured.  Within the earliest portions of that tale is a conversation between Gandalf the wizard and Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit.  Bilbo has a secret plan:

“I’m old, Gandalf. I know I don’t look it, but I’m beginning to feel it in my heart. I feel… thin. Sort of stretched, like… butter scraped over too much bread. I need a holiday. A very long holiday. And I don’t expect I shall return. In fact I mean not to.”

Butter spread thin over bread: There’s an easy image to grasp.

Unlike Bilbo, I’m not sure I really need a vacation, and I don’t feel old, and I’m not sure if I look it, and I don’t intend to leave.

But I do feel like butter spread too thin.

Current days are wonderful ones: I work a job in which I find significance and satisfaction much of the time, I love a wife who is better than I deserve, I cherish three little ones that are true treasures to me, and I enjoy a circle of friends who add much to my life.  I am healthy, wealthy (by every reasonable standard), and wise (in the sense that my mind DOES work)!

That said, life is full and fast right now.  Every day ends with a dozen things I should have done but didn’t.  One of those is blogging.  That bugs me because I love stringing ideas together and pressing them into words.  I enjoy drafting posts; I love editing them.

And I cannot get to either lately!

Despite my desires to grow the site (I’m working on completely new design–another task that has been temporarily pushed to the margins), time is simply not available at present.

So in an effort toward some inner quiet, I am striking this item from my daily list for a couple weeks.  Perhaps stating this here publicly will allow me to be less disappointed with myself each time I fail to make it happen in a day that provides next to no flexibility.  I know this is a season: Short nights, long days, three little ones under four, a string of wedding weekends and family visits.  Eventually, my early hours will again be dedicated to blogging and not to tackling work that won’t fit into the normal office hours.

But that is not now… not quite anyway.

My activity on Twitter will continue to be steady (the time commitment isn’t nearly the same), and I will strive to keep the Saturday Six-Pack rolling over the next two weeks as an outlet to share worthwhile items I find online.  And as soon as even a sliver of light peeks through, then I will begin tackling the list of ideas I have for original posts aimed at fueling you along the journey toward deeper life and clearer perspectives.

If you wish to subscribe to my Twitter feed (for a steady stream of article links and thoughtful quotes) or this site (to be aware of when full activity resumes here), head over the right side of this screen.  I look forward to interacting with you.

Grace and peace, my friends.  Live today in the assurance that God will always give us sufficient butter for our bread!