Stopping to Smell the Magnolia

6:15 am

My wake up devotion (daily refresh and verse of the day in the Bible app) really spoke to me today. I may end up writing about this throughout the day…hehehe

Galatians 6:8-9 AMP

For the one who sows to his flesh [his sinful capacity, his worldliness, his disgraceful impulses] will reap from the flesh ruin and destruction, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not grow weary or become discouraged in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give in.

Prayer:

Father God, help me to never become tired of doing good things. As I grow closer to You, give me the endurance to serve and love others no matter how I'm feeling. I want to bring those around me closer to You. So please help me to act more like You. I am so grateful that right now I am talking to You. Thank You for making it possible for me to have conversations with You. And thank You for inviting me to come just as I am before You. Today, please keep my thoughts focused on You. In the middle of my circumstances I can rejoice, because You are with me. You are working even when I can not see it. I trust and rejoice in You! Fill me with Your joy and strength. Please use me today to be Your hands and feet, to be a true Blessing in someone's life. You have Blessed me beyond measure! In turn, I want to be a Blessing and shine Your Light on someone else. Show me who I can help and love today. In Jesus' name, Amen.

7:45 am

I’m on my morning walk. I just wanted to drop in and say just how amazing God is! I am truly Blessed. I rejoice and am glad for another day I get to learn more about Him.

9:30 am

I’ve been thinking about what good means in the passage from earlier. What does it mean to do or be good? It’s good to open a door for someone. It’s good to offer someone help if it appears they may need it. It’s good to smile and ask them how their day is going. It’s good to give gifts to others. But is this the good God is talking about? Although those are good things to do, I wonder if the good referenced there is more about the condition of the heart? What is the motivation behind the act. The act itself may not be the good when I consider why the act is being performed. The passage talks about reaping what is sown. When the motivation is from the flesh, it can lead to ruin. The good act is corruptible. However, if the motivation is of the Spirit, the good leads to Life. So, is the good more about what is in my heart more so than the act itself? That question led me to the following passage:

Matthew 7:7-12 AMP

“Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. [Luke 11:9-13] For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will [instead] give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will [instead] give him a snake? If you then, evil (sinful by nature) as you are, know how to give good and advantageous gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven [perfect as He is] give what is good and advantageous to those who keep on asking Him. So then, in everything treat others the same way you want them to treat you, for this is [the essence of] the Law and the [writings of the] Prophets.”

What Jesus is saying here is that although I am a sinner, I still know what is good by nature. However, to be truly good I must pray seeking God’s goodness to help me be and do the good to and for others. And in doing so, I should not grow weary or discouraged in doing good as Paul states in Galatians. All of my acts need to come from the Spirit and not from my fleshy desires. This is something God is currently testing me for. I sure hope I pass this test…hehehe

12:45 pm

Today is going quite well once again. Work hasn’t been all that productive. But that happens somedays. Work is getting done. Just slowly…hehehe

And I was surprised to find out that the package I sent Chérie is arriving a day early! Yay!!! It was suppose to arrive tomorrow. But late last night I noticed it was updated to arrive today. When I checked this morning, it was out for delivery. I can write about it now because she’ll have received it by the time I publish this entry…LOL

I’ve completed all of my devotions for today. So my evening is cleared up for whatever else may come my way.

Kerry and I are suppose to meet up. He has a meeting at 6 pm that he hopes will end by 6:30 pm. Here’s to hoping the timing works out for use to get together!..hehehe

I’m hoping to talk to my boss this afternoon. There is another project I’m hopefully getting shifted back to this week. The one I’ve been working on is coming to an end. So I’m ready to get back to an old project that was put on hold. I just don’t know if it is a priority or if there is something else in the works now. With all of the changes going on at work, priorities keep getting shifted…LOL

For lunch today, I made tacos. I went with a tempeh protein source and pan fried red cabbage, bean sprouts, carrots, and shiitake mushrooms in garlic infused olive oil. I used white corn tortillas and topped everything with Hoisin sauce. They were fantastic!

1:00 pm

I gave more thought to something I wrote in my handwritten reflection for today’s entry from The Chosen devotion, Day 12: Rejected. I somewhat inferred I had practiced a certain discipline for a while and often. Here is the statement:

When I’m receiving counsel, I’m most likely to accept it if the person is showing me the counsel from the Bible. Whether they are a close friend or not isn’t a concern of mine. If they begin their advice with, "Well I think…” I almost always reject what comes next. True godly wisdom comes from the Word and with prayer. I don't need to consider the source (person) as much as their source (Bible vs. opinion). If they are pointing at themselves and not the Bible, is it truly godly? I don't believe so. But if they come at me with "Well here is a passage that might help you…" then I lean in.

I did not intend to infer I have been doing that for long or that it was something I’m well skilled at doing…hehehe This is a more recent practice and something I’m working on. I don’t recall when this came to my heart, but it was within the last 7ish months.

I decided to address this here in my online journal instead of in my handwritten journal. I wanted this point to come off the page and into a searchable reference. I can also easily link back to this entry in future writings. I’m a work in progress, making progress. More on that later. But something I’m making progress in is discernment. The topic of considering the source of wisdom is closely related to discernment. The process God is taking me through has been difficult, but worth it. More on that later also.

Furthermore, I want to be someone who points to the Bible instead of drawing directly from my own experiences. Pointing at the Bible instead of myself. My journey is mine. Sharing pieces of it is fine. But the focus must be on the Source of my Life. This is definitely something else God is working on in my life through His processes. I may present more on that later too. If not today, perhaps a future entry.

2:00 pm

I spoke with my boss; who won’t be my boss after today xD Sounds like I can dust off the previous project and start thinking about moving it forward next. But he reminded me I won’t be reporting to him tomorrow…hehehe So I need to figure out who my new boss is…LOL I’ve reached out to the VP I’m under to see who might be the lucky so-and-so who has the privilege to be responsible for me xD I’ll still be working with my now old boss. But my priorities are no longer his responsibility. He’s moving to the new company tomorrow =D Hopefully I’ll hear about my new boss yet today. There is a meeting this afternoon where this might get answered. It’s odd it hasn’t been addressed yet…hmmm

Side note: I’m enjoying using the text based emojis of yore. I’ve missed them. Hopefully the software that processes my website doesn’t automatically convert them to graphical emojis…hehehe

2:30 pm

Okay…so…I know who my interim manager is now. I reached out to him to get my name and face on his screen…hehehe He appreciated my reaching out and plans to meet with me once he is all caught up on this new team dynamic. Some of the team moves over tomorrow while some of us remain under the current company for now. It’ll be weird for a few months. I’m okay with that =D

Ooh, I realized I haven’t been consistent with afternoon tea. This is the third week in a row. Seems like a lingering effect of my last adventure at Disney xD I’ve only partook in afternoon tea a handful of times since then. I miss it. But obviously not enough to get back into the habit…hehehe It dawned on me because my time for that just passed and my 3 pm meeting is coming up. Maybe I’ll remember tomorrow?..LOL

3:45 pm

I’m taking an afternoon walk and there is a fire alarm going off at one of the buildings…ooh, it stopped as I was typing…ooh, it’s going off again…ooh, it stopped again xD Maybe if I write about a million dollars that will show up…nope…LOL

I stopped and smelled this southern magnolia. It was beautiful and smelled equally so ❤️

Well, it’s difficult to type and walk. So…LOL

4:15 pm

I’m not sure why that fire alarm was going off. There wasn’t any smoke and no fire trucks came. I also don’t believe any tests were planned today. Oh well…hehehe

I stopped and talked to Jan (neighbor) to see how her and Sam (her husband) were doing. It had been about a month or so since we’d spoken. My routine has been unbalanced. As such, I haven’t been consistent with my walks. As a result, I haven’t seen them. I saw them briefly on my morning walk the last few days and decided to make an effort to get out again this afternoon so I could stop for a chat.

6:15 pm

Chérie’s package arrived! Yay!!! I just heard from her that she received it =D

Earlier I mentioned making progress and the process God has been taking me through. On Sunday, the pastor at CCGS said something that resonated with me. He said, “process is always greater than the progress.” In my notes, I added (God’s) and (our) to make it say God’s process is always greater than our progress. I absolutely love that! I often say, as I did earlier, that I’m a work in progress making progress. God is definitely not finished with me yet. And part of that is my need to focus more on Him and not so much on myself. Meaning, I need to lean into His process and be less concerned about the progress I’m making. In fact, I think that will help me be less discouraged when I take two steps back from the one step forward that happens sometimes. Also, by focusing on God’s process, it’ll be over before I know it xD The scripture passage the pastor read from illustrated this quite well, as in the end, they reach the other shore…

John 6:15-21 AMP

Then Jesus, knowing that they were going to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountainside by Himself. When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, and they got into a boat and started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It was already dark, and Jesus had still not come [back] to them. The sea was getting rough and rising high because a strong wind was blowing. Then, when they had rowed three or four miles [and were near the center of the sea], they saw Jesus walking on the sea and approaching the boat; and they were [terribly] frightened. But Jesus said to them, “It is I (I AM); do not be afraid.” [Matt 14:27; John 8:58] Then they were willing to take Him on board the boat, and immediately the boat reached the [shore of the] land to which they were going.

Kerry just called and he’s able to get together tonight! Yay!!!

8:45 pm

I had a lovely time with Kerry. We went to Oasis Coffee Spot again. I enjoy that place. It is a Christian business with decent drinks and they’ve had live music when I go. We sit outside; which I always prefer to do. We are able to carry on a conversation while also enjoying the ambience. I went with a Chia Latte this time. I’ll probably make that my drink when I go there…hehehe The live music was pretty good again. That’s one of the things I love most about living where I do. A lot of places have live music throughout the week.

To continue what I was saying before, I have a long way to go. But my progress isn’t as important as the process God is taking me through. I’ll get there in His timing. And He will be the One who’ll get me there. I need to remain consistent and constant with my prayers and remain in The Word throughout the process. From a human perspective, these things are tough and don’t really make much sense. With a Spirit led perspective, it all comes together. This Greg suit of flesh I’m wearing tends to get in the way of the spirit sometimes…hehehe So I must keep watching and praying!

Matthew 26:41 AMP

“Keep actively watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”

And on that note, I’m going to call this entry complete. I’ll probably watch a little TV before my shower and bedtime. Thank you for joining me in another day in the life of me…hehehe