Tag Archives: faith journey

Why We Need to Count: Exploring Numbers in Faith and Life

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According to the initial counts, 113.06 million people watched the Super Bowl game this week. That’s a lot of people. Our family was among them. Well… the television was on at least. It is estimated that 500 people are killed by hippos each year. It’s an estimated number because nobody wants to be picking fights with hippos. The number of chickens in the world has more than doubled since 1990. I’m not surprised. Chickens are great. Statistics. The numbers are everywhere… for every thing. A quick Google search can find you the numbers for just about anything you want to know about. I wonder who counts. We have a friend who’s job it is to present sport’s stats to the television hosts. Where do his numbers come from? Is there some kid out on the field who has a marker and a whiteboard and tally marks every play? Or who counts every malaria carrying mosquito out in the jungle? How on earth? It’s where my brain is going this week… who ? Why? Why do we need to know?

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko on Pexels.com

Markets rise and fall. Corporations have departments full of bean counters just to tell them how their businesses are doing. It seems like everyone needs to know “the numbers” these days. And if the numbers don’t add up? We change, we brainstorm for better programs, better means to an end, better “stats”. We all like to see the numbers add up to our efforts. Unfortunately… churches do the same. And I am not sure it is all good. Now, I appreciate numbers. I understand the reasoning behind gathering statistics… why put effort into something if you get poor results? My scientific brain (and my lazy work ethic and pessimistic outlook) says why work harder than you need to for little or no result? Yet, I can’t help but wonder…. is it right?

Ethically, I suppose there is nothing morally wrong with working towards a program (at church or otherwise) that only generates positive results. Why else would there be marketers who study these things? Is it for dollar signs only? Do churches have a saved soul account? I just found out my favourite farm store is going out of business. A numbers game has forced them to declare bankruptcy. Online shopping strikes again. I’m showing my age here, but what about the little guy who works behind the counter? Yeah, I still go to the check out lady. People over points. I think each person is important to God. He loves us all : uniquely.

Still, I recently read an article that said God does, in fact, care about numbers. Why else would He give the Great commission? “Go into All the world”… we are to tell anyone and everyone. I get that. There are an elect few that will choose the narrow way… but that part is not our job. Our job is to tell our story. On the other hand, the Bible talks about how the shepherd leaves behind the 99 sheep in search for the one (single) sheep who has gone astray. I guess you could say numbers count… but God sees the numbers in individual people. Does that make sense?

Perhaps that doesn’t make sense. Perhaps, the numbers don’t add up, shall we say. Does God care about quality of life? Or quantity? I don’t have an answer. I now have more questions than when I started this post. And I am more confused by my own questions. Good grief! I suppose that’s how it goes sometimes in our spiritual journeys. Sometimes there are more questions than answers. And that’s okay. I’m sure there are statistics about that, too.

I guess the point is this: the Super Bowl is going to get played. People are going to watch. Others are not going to care about anything besides the half time show. Others will care about the coin toss or the colour of Gatorade. The players on their teams are simply going to do the best job they can at playing the game hard to win points. That’s all we can ask of ourselves. Do what you can. Share your story. Help others share their story. Support the community who is trying to serve. Play the game. Let the angel with the whiteboard and tally marks take care of the numbers. I’m pretty sure we can check the score boards later.

Back to Blogging: Embracing Imperfection and New Beginnings

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Oh my dear readers! How crazy was my holiday?! Did you even notice that I took a two week hiatus and didn’t write anything? Did you even notice that I missed the last week of Advent, didn’t chat about the Love Candle or greet you for Christmas or New Year’s Eve? Not even a social media “hello”. I am a bad, bad blogger. The algorithms have all gone awry. I thought about a “word of the year” but never truly came up with one yet. I have no excuses.

And so we come back to another year flipped on the calendar. Time passes whether I write or not. Honestly, who really cares about our little life here anyway? Okay, Okay, I am hoping someone does. Or at least this little exercise is in my own best interest to “journal” and think and muse and use as my own creative outlet for some sort of ordering space in my own chaotic brain. If you’re reading this, then, congratulations! You get to come along for the ride as I purge my thoughts for my own mental health. Again, I have no excuses.

The weeks went by in a blur. Grand baby was born. Work. Holidays in the middle of an already hectic week. Travelling. Farm chores. Baby kisses and shoveling chicken poop. How exciting a life I lead. What’s the point? Why write anything here in my little corner of the internet? I’m thinking back to my very first blog posts about niches and why I started mittonmusings in the first place. To learn. To try. It didn’t matter that I didn’t fit in to the typical blogger mode. I am terrible at getting a good photo. I’m not the one snapping selfies in the bathrooms or videoing in the thrift stores. I don’t make good “art” documentaries or farm instructional videos. I’ve never written a book. I don’t even have Tiktok. I can use a filter, but I still need help editing a reel. I am very, very far from perfect.

Sigh. Maybe that’s the point. In this fast paced world of A.I. technology and rapidly changing fads, my {cough} fifty {cough} something person is on the way back down the hill. I am beginning to see the dark side of the mountain and watching the next generation climb to great heights on the other side. My babies are having babies. We are starting to look at retirement funds. I know, age is just a number, and if you’ve been here any length of time, you will know that I am a firm believer in the “never stop learning” motto. An old dog CAN learn new tricks. God never told us we get to retire from life. Jesus had a plan and left a legacy. He made a path for those coming behind to follow. Perhaps it is the same for us in 2025.

I’m a bit sad that I didn’t have the time to sit down over the holidays and reflect properly. I’m a bit disappointed that we didn’t (okay at least I didn’t) have a whole lot of time to “chill” and look introspectively on the past year and the one to come. I should have. The youngest asked if I had a resolution. I don’t. I have a few goals set in mind, but have I come up with a true, real focus for the year, as I have had in the past? No, not yet. My mind is already racing forward to the 17 things that need to get done in the next few days. My new work schedule requires some getting used to, and we are once again, balancing home and the rest of life. Oh no, my friend, time stands still for no one. Every day is a marching on to the next day.

Perhaps that’s what time is teaching me. Perhaps that’s what God wants me to learn. Patience. A life journey is a march onward. Up (and down) the hill. Things gotta get done. Bills get paid, the dishes get done, the babies grow up, and the dog still gets fed. This is where I am. And it is okay.

Come join me on this adventure! (Photo: Pexels)

Welcome to the blog, dear reader. Welcome to the chaos, the times I go AWOL for no apparent reason other than “I didn’t get to it”. Welcome to the journey. I guarantee that we will learn together. We’ll think and muse and become the master of nothing. It’ll be fun. We’ll question verses and try to apply them to life. There will be bad photos, my crazy chicken stories and lots of grand baby gushing. The hubby will likely be the focus of some #itsnottafarm project and will be there for a few laughs, I am sure. HAPPY 2025!

Would you consider following the blog? Click to get an email every week (or at least every post!) and follow along the social channels for other tidbits throughout the week. I really do value your feedback and comments…. and need the encouragement and suggestions to keep this thing going! Please post a comment! Hugs to you all who have supported us this far!

Joy. Unspeakable Joy.

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Joy. Unspeakable Joy. I don’t know why that song popped into my head for this, the third week of Advent. I’m not even going to look it up for you. If you know it, you know it. Anyway, it’s been a good week. A good week filled with good things. And so it won’t be hard to chat about Joy.

We had the privilege of lighting the Advent candle at our new church this week. True to form, the hubby ad-libbed a little bit. And me? Well, I got a little over zealous and lit four candles instead of three. Oops! Why isn’t joy the fourth week just before Christmas anyway? Love can come before Joy and after Hope and Peace. In fact, I think it should come after Love. You love something or someone and then the joy comes, right? Do you choose that feeling or is it a result of loving? Hmmn. That’s a thought for reflection.

For example, when our little grand baby was born we loved him before we met him. His extended family anticipated with Hope his impending arrival… But the Joy when he arrived… that was different. Perhaps Mary felt the same. She knew her baby was something special. She knew He was going to do great things. But to feel the joy deep down in her heart? I think that only came when she got to meet Him face to face.

In fact, I think that is still true: I don’t think anyone who ever experienced Jesus face to face was ever the same. Good or bad, coming face to face with God will forever change you. In 2024, we don’t have the chance to meet Jesus face to face, on this side of Heaven, but encounters with God are no less powerful. Experiences give us a concrete foundation for the actions that are the result of those experiences. It’s one thing to say “I know how you feel, I will pray”. It’s another thing to say “I’ve been there… I got you”.

Joy. Unspeakable joy. I’m trying to think of how to share or describe it. They say Joy is one of those emotions that is beyond happiness. A feeling that has supernatural roots. You can feel joy despite the human experience…. It is “unspeakable” in a way. You must experience it to understand it. And when you do, you think to yourself, yup, that was a God thing because I could not have done that by myself.

The kids tease me because most weeks I end up crying at church. A worship song hits just so – and tears come. I’m not even a big crier. It’s also been known to happen during a proud moment when I watch my kids perform. A race. A school play. An overwhelming emotion that spills out through my eyelids. Am I alone? I know I am not… I have seen some of you. You gushing emotional wrecks you!

Joy. Unspeakable Joy. In past years, mittonmusings has asked you what brings you joy? I’ve posted photographs. It’s a tough one to write about. Perhaps we all feel it differently. Perhaps that’s why it’s such a deep and indescribable emotion. In the popular movie Inside Out, Joy and Sadness have to work together. Like light and darkness, to experience and understand one, you need to experience and understand the opposite. And then you can truly help another – because you’ve been there.

And so, my friends, time is passing quickly. Perhaps, like me, you were a little zealous and lit one too many candles this week and are now burning them at both ends. It’s crunch time, single digits before Christmas and there is still a lot to do. I wish you peace, hope and now joy. Unspeakable Joy that you must take time to truly experience to understand. May your sadness make your joy complete. And then together, we’ll come back to celebrate Love! Blessings, my readers!