I was able to grab the hiking poles today after returning from Pennsylvania and take to the hills for a few miles. The weather was perfect–sunny, cool, with a slight breeze. The weather remains very dry here. The leaves crunched underneath the soles of my hiking boots. My hiking poles often slid on the hills because the ground was so dry. The leaves were brown brittle skis upon which my hiking poles slid atop the dry gound.

I stopped several times to catch my breath. I pulled out the paperback DeLillo novel I am currently reading. I read for a bit and then replaced the novel in my left cargo pocket on my pants and started out again.

In just a few hours our Sunday school class will gather for a November “Friendsgiving” to fellowship together, to play games, to gather around the table and enjoy a meal and dessert together, and to encourage one another in the Christian pilgrimage.

I was so tired when I took a red-eye flight last night and finally got home, showered, embraced my wife and son, and slept in my own bed. There is no sleep like the sleep that can happen at home in one’s own bed, in one’s own sheets, with one’s loves close by.

I look back on a tiring string of days of flights and hotels and updates for my chain of command in the military, and I remember that ministry opportunities to soldiers, my church family, and to those who actually put skin in the game–and I remain grateful, so grateful to be able to work, to minister, to provide, to pour into others for the sake of that which endures.

As I talked with some fellow soldiers I’ve grown to truly care for, one shared with me how he and the men at his church are going through a study of the Sermon on the Mount. Another shared with me how some biblical resources I have sent him have helped him. Another encouraged me with his appreciation for some writing I have done. On and on it went. They are small things, of course, just words of thanksgiving, but they are little steady reminders that we can make a difference via seemingly small things, ostensibly tiny works of faithfulness.

It is easy sometimes to grow dispirited because there is so much abuse out there. We see folks with hands out to receive but who do not work themselves. And it is not because they cannot work but because they will not work. Scripture is clear about such issues. We are to steward our time, talents, and treasures wisely. Stewardship is inextricable from prudence and biblical wisdom.