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Note: You are receiving this email because you subscribed to my weekly newsletter.
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Here's a thought, a quote, and a resource I wanted to share with you this Thursday.
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In Lord of the Rings, Samwise Gamgee carried the ring at a key part of the story because he wanted to destroy it. But the ring was heavy, and it began to torment him. He felt the temptation to keep the ring, and felt himself becoming enlarged and corrupted.
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But then he came to his hobbit-sense.
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“He knew in the core of his heart that he was not large enough to bear such a burden, even if such visions were not a mere cheat to betray him. The one small garden of a free gardener was all his need and due, not a garden swollen to a realm; his own hands to use, not the hands of others to command.”
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“And anyway all these notions are only a trick, he said to himself."
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One small garden was all he needed and deserved. Same with us. We often desire more, but more might destroy us. Sam teaches us to be careful of what might destroy us, and to be faithful and content with what God’s given us. A helpful and necessary lesson.
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“An emotionally mature person is making peace with their limits, is coming to grips with being unremarkable to others, and is looking for beauty in the mundane.”
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My friend Paul Martin found a used book called Nearer Heaven in a used bookstore. The owner offered it to him for free, and he almost turned it down.
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In the end, he took it home and loved it. We don’t know much about John Baird, the author. But Baird managed to pack deep truths into short, pithy phrases in this short devotional book.
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