Good morning. With all the construction on 290, my starting point, and Post Oak, my ending point, getting to work has really turned into a daily slog.

And I had a rough weekend, work-wise. A major data warehouse system was down at work due to a mishap with a transformer and failures of protective layers down the line so we had to do a lot of work to get it right side up again.

There’s something exhilarating, though, in restoration and resurrection, isn’t there? Working hard to get something that’s upside down turned right side up has built-in rewards if you’re a sucker for redemption like I am.

It takes time, though, and effort. There’s a repeated theme running through my mind these days: Faithfulness. If you’re hungry for restoration, as I am, it’s easy to want the Big Bang, the quick win, the explosive growth. Thats what makes the morning papers. We want, I want, the three thousand new souls at Pentecost.

I don’t often, or ever, see that. I think there are reasons for this, both internal and external to me. Internal? Let’s be honest: I’m too risk averse to take the path that puts me front and center in an upper room exhorting a crowd that thinks I’m drunk or crazy. I hold back. I often bide my time until time runs out. You see, I need restoration and redemption in my darker fearful places too.

But I also believe (and if I’m wrong on this may God show me the right) that the Lord values our faithfulness even when our fruitfulness is at low ebb. He values the day to day cranking of the wheel

, anonymously if need be. Following that first day and the three thousand was a long string of days faithfully doing the work, taking care of widows, dealing with problems, working logistics. It’s not always exhilarating.

Faithfulness in the daily slog is good.