Rebuilding Revisited, SUNDAY!!!, and Thumper

Vitamin G

Today's Vitamin G has been a sort of theme for this past year. All of the progress I've made personally can pretty much be summed up in what God inspired me to say today. The scripture behind it mainly comes from John 5:2-8,

Now in Jerusalem by the sheep gate, there is a pool, which is called in Hebrew, “Bethesda”, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, or paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water; for an angel went down at certain times into the pool and stirred up the water. Whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had. A certain man was there who had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been sick for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to be made well?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Arise, take up your mat, and walk.”

With that scripture in heart, these were the words I told myself:

Do I want to be healed? I’ve made every excuse not to answer that in the affirmative. No more excuses, Greg! Get up and walk! No, get up and RUN! You are free!

I've been doing these posts on social media for just over 3 years now. It was almost 4 years ago when I started to apply this. It is good to think about such things. It provides me encouragement to keep going. When the weight of the negativity starts to creep in, I need to remind myself, ...do I want to be healed?

Rebuilding

I revisited my thoughts on how I have rebuilt my life several times. Yes, I'm tired. But the more I thought about it last night and this morning, that's all I am. Just tired. I still have the sense of excitement in starting over. After all, I'm always starting over with experience!

The reason I kept thinking about this after I journaled yesterday is that I love change. Change can bring about anxiety for me. But I really do enjoy how it makes me grow. I remember how I felt on my most recent major change. I left the region of the country I had always lived in and relocated myself to Florida.

Making such a drastic change really sent my anxieties into a tailspin. It seems like things were out of control at the time. I recall it vividly because it really wasn't that long ago. About 22 months ago. I said that in months to make it seem like it was longer...hehehe So, less than 2 years ago...LOL

I'd say I'm tired today because of how much energy that took. It was hard. I'd never made such a drastic change in my life. And it wasn't gradual. I just had to trust that God knew what He was doing by calling me down here.

Bringing my thoughts back to rebuilding. I probably should have said that I'll gladly keep rebuilding every time God needs me to. I'm not sure I should look at making my life purpose statement as the final draft of the rest of my life. Change has been a theme for my life. I'll be thankful if I never have to rebuild. And I'll be thankful if I do.

SUNDAY!!!

It was another great time in worship this week. We mostly sang modern praise and worship music. But there was also a hymn this week, Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus. I love it when we have those. I grew up singing hymns. Those I can sing with my eyes closed because they are engrained into my soul.

I sat alone this week as Ken and Kerry were both out. There were a couple of gals who sat on the other end of my row. But we didn't really interact. We waved and said hello to each other as we sat down after the worship time. One benefit to not having anyone directly next to me is that I was able to outstretch my arms without concern for wacking someone in the head or arms...LOL

YES, that is a definite fear of mine. When I worship, it is almost as if no one else is there. It's like I go into this trance and only God is present with me. From time to time, either I will accident bump into them or someone will bump into me. That knocks me out of that trance and suddenly I become self aware again...hehehe I use the word trance loosely here. My mind does not go onto another plain of existence or anything.

This week's sermon spoke directly to me. And it was a topic that has been coming up quite a bit lately. The scripture comes from Luke 5 and is the story when Jesus called Simon Peter to become his disciple. He asked Simon Peter to take Him out to the deep and had him cast out his net. Simon Peter explained that they had tried all night but hadn't caught a thing. However, he decided to trust Jesus and cast out the nets anyway. Sure enough, they immediately caught more fish than they could carry. Another boat had to come to help get all of the fish.

After this, Simon Peter was amazed and confessed that he was a sinner not worthy of Jesus. Jesus then called him into ministry and said he would be a fisher of people.

This reminded me of this one time when I was fishing. I had gone out on a boat in a lake by myself to pray. I took along a pole so I could do some fishing. I use to do that as sort of a meditation. I had been out there for hours and hadn't caught a thing. As a right handed person casting from a boat, I had been casting from right to left. So the bait was always going to the left of my boat. When I wrapped up my prayers, I felt the Spirit call me to cast out to the right side instead for one last cast. The moment my bait and hook hit the water, a fish went for it and I immediately caught it!

In his first encounter with Jesus, Simon Peter had only heard about Jesus. Now he was being instructed by Jesus, who was a carpenter, on how to fish. Despite Simon's experience that night, he was like, "Okay master...it didn't work last night. But let's try it your way!" It might have seemed like Simon would know best in that situation, but he trusted Jesus.

Just like Simon Peter, I need to work past what I think I know, past all of my experiences, and forget all of the reasoning I put into my own decisions. I just need to trust Him with it all. And just like that day on the lake so long ago, I need to cast my line to the other side...where He is calling me.

I hope to eventually be that person. I'm on that track I think. I know I'm growing.

I'm so lucky!

Another Joffrey's blend I order this time is Mickey Mouse Cup O' Gold. This one I ordered because of the upcoming Spring season. My birthday is around the St. Patrick's Day holiday and I'm part Irish. So it is always fun to celebrate with a little Irish influence! This year, it's this coffee.

I really liked it! There were subtle hints of caramel and vanilla. I didn't really sense the chocolate flavor that is listed in the description. I'm not really sure how Irish it is. But the bag is cute and I'd say it is a good blend. I'm glad I got it!

Wake Up Friend Owl

Well, I think I'm finished with this piece. It needs to dry over night. In the morning I'll see if the colors still look right or if I need to do any touch up work. If it all looks good, I'll officially name, date, and sign it.

This was a fun little project! I'm glad I made this one for me. I need to do this for myself from time to time.

Feeling Good

I've had a good weekend. And it's been nice journaling these last few days. It will be good to come back to this someday and read about how the weekend went.

Along with the painting, I also did most of my laundry, cooked a few meals, and watched all 3 of the Night at the Museum movies. For lunch I made a tofu ramen bowl. For the tofu, I pan seared them and then finished cooking with a Korean sauce. It didn't turn out great because I used way too much ghee when I was searing them. I wasn't paying much attention when I spooned out the ghee...hehehe For dinner, I went with hibachi style shrimp. I laid them on a bed of sautéed veggies and rice with a bit of vinegar. It made it taste like sushi rice. I also air fried some hush puppies. It all tasted like something I would get at a local seafood restaurant...but without the restaurant price! HAHAHA

Here's to a wonderful week ahead!