5 Quick Things #335 đ
not being a billionaire, real charity, a modern sage, & youth pastors
Hey there,
Ah, the time of year when we southerners go crazy... People up north are talking about the hint of leaves changing and the cozy enjoyment of cooler evenings; all the while weâre here willing the weather to shift just enough to justify wearing jeans and maybe sip some non-iced coffee.
I went to our local farmerâs house this week to pick up our weekly raw milk, and in shooting the breeze she mentioned the annual tradition of debating whether it was too soon to break out the front porch fall decor. On the one hand, she said, setting out the pumpkins might jinx the whole proposition and tempt the autumnal winds to blow the other direction, like a southern Punxsutawney Phil. On the other hand, perhaps the pumpkins and faux leaf garlands will let us live just a bit more in our delusional belief that the south even has a real fall to begin with.
I'm going with the latter. ...Probably sending Kyle up to the attic this weekend to retrieve the fall decor box. Even with a high of 96 predicted.

5 Quick Things âď¸
1. New episode of A Drink With a Friend! Fr. Gabe Bouck was a musician, tech employee, and a good homeschooled Baptist kid âŚand also got a DUI on his record. God used that moment to wake him up â and long story short, now heâs a priest. Fr. Gabe is my new friend (he recently joined us in Greece and Turkey), and we chat about his story, why he loves what he does, and what our time on pilgrimage this summer meant to us both. âŚYou canât not love Fr. Gabe.
2. I love reading
and âs (no relation) father-son letters to each other in their shared newsletter. This weekâs was short but a gut-punch from the wise father Andrew: ââI donât think Jesus wants the poor to be helped as much as he wants you to be the one that helps them.â That doesnât mean that Jesus didnât care about the poor, of course. ...In other words, charity is a practice that helps create, in the giver, the sort of soul that God will bless. Gratitude is the practice that shapes the soul of the receiver.â3. âPeople only use around 600 square feet of space. Extra space beyond that inevitably becomes storage, accessory, or aesthetic. Billionaires are more capable of buying those 8,000+ square foot Zillow homes, but theyâre not any more capable of using them.â Astute observations from
unpacking why he doesnât want to be a billionaire. I concur.4. Iâm still watching it (itâs three hours!), but my favorite living thinker is on Pints again this week. âŚI love this man so much.
5. And finally, youth pastors by the decade: âIn the late nineties, there was an accident at the Coke factory: someone dropped a Smashmouth CD and a Teen Study Bible into a vat of Surge, and the resulting explosion created Pastor Todd.â Always grateful for
âs insight.
Currently Reading, Watching, Listening đť
this Reading Adventure playlist (Iâve been playing it in the background during my classes)
Quotable đŹ
âThe riddles of God are more satisfying than the solutions of man.â
â G.K. Chesterton
Rhine River 2025 âď¸
Join me, my family, and some of your new kindred spirits (truly, it happens every time!) as we go on pilgrimage next summer along the Rhine River. You wonât regret it.

Weâll voyage down the Rhine River in a boat to ourselves from Amsterdam to Zurich, visiting monasteries, cathedrals, vineyards, windmills, villages, and more. Along the way, weâll talk about living liturgically: how do we adopt a rhythm of vitalizing liturgy in our ordinary lives?
These trips tend to book fairly quickly, so make your plans now to join us â all are welcome!
You're hankering for a snack. What do you grab? đ§
I chose this poll question when I was hungry, if you couldnât tell⌠My current go-to snack made it dead-last for this one, but I am all about the cheese, too. Once again, I am writing this hungry.
Chips & dip: 25%
Cheese & crackers: 25%
Chocolate: 20%
Nuts: 18%
Fruit: 9%
Jerky/Meat: 3%
Find next weekâs poll here.
Quick Links đ
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Question(s) For You to Ponder⌠đ¤
What three small things are you grateful for right this second?
Have a great weekend,
- Tsh
p.s. - Italian Minions.
I'm one of those Northerners who's starting to see a few leaves changing ... can't wait for full on autumn! Nevertheless, I'm still in shorts today. I have two sons living in Texas (one in Austin, as a matter of fact), so I'm constantly checking on the weather down there and comparing notes with our boys. Not sure I could take the intensity of Texas heat for the long haul, but I do love to visit. May you soon be blessed with blue jeans weather! ;-)
So much wisdom I'm looking forward to unpacking (the billionaire piece in particular). But for now, the Italian minions on repeat.