Half Birthday, Growth, God Provides
I found yet another way not to make an omelette today. What I ended up with was a batch of really good scrambled eggs...LOL I think I'm having trouble due to my pan. I'm doing all of the things I see in videos and described in articles. But I cannot get it right. And I'm not getting consistent results. I have a single egg pan I use for sunny side eggs I put on sandwiches and in ramen or rice bowls. It works perfect every time. I think my larger pan, the one I'm using for omelettes and scrambled eggs, is what is causing my eggs to stick. I'll keep trying and I may buy a new pan someday.
This morning's prayer walk was amazing. The weather was perfect for being outside. I saw the same gal three times walking her puppy. The dog reminded me of the one Cherie is watching right now. White and fluffy...hehehe And the gal reminds me of Cherie as well. Short with glasses. I don't know her personally. So I'm speaking of appearance and not personality. She did respond well to my three greetings. I imagine she is a nice person 😃
Today's devotional was a continuation of the don't worry topic. It talks about God providing. I'm glad I didn't publish all that I wrote yesterday about this topic. Part of what I wrote was along the same lines as today's devotional but could use more thought. So, I definitely want to give it more thought and prayer before I finish writing those thoughts.
One thing that stood out from today's that I hadn't really thought about before was why God provides what we need, beyond the fact He loves us. The quote I chose today was...
The Chosen book 4, pg 115 - God provides so that we can do the work He's calling us to do.
This comes from 2 Corinthians 9:8...
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things, at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
I've only ever really thought about His provisions as what I needed to live each day. However, I can see how it would be good to look past my needs to deeper into my purpose. I'm truly trying to trust Him with my journey. Which means my journey is not really my own. So, what He provides me really isn't even about my needs. Perhaps, it is more about what He wants to do with my life?
That's as deep as I'll go with that thought for today. But I think I should explore this more. I'll certainly be praying about wisdom concerning how I use the resources He has Blessed me with. He has good work to do in my life. I want to make myself available for Him to do that good work. I don't want to get in His way...hehehe
I just discovered, today is my half birthday...LOL I've never really thought about it before...hehehe This year is a little different. Now that Cherie inspired me to experience my personal year as it starts on my birthday, I'm starting to pay more attention to when things fall in relation to my personal year instead of the calendar year. Today, I'm half way through 47, as I'm 46 now and will be 47 in March.
These past six months have gone really well overall. I've experience so much growth. I've also experienced change. I've lost some friends while at the same time growing closer to others. My relationship with God is quite a bit stronger. And my health continues to improve.
I have some major decisions to make over the course of the next six months. The biggest one is the one I've talked about recently considering where I live. I have others that I don't talk about here. These next months should continue to see personal growth. I'm looking forward to how things will turn out when I complete this personal year in March.
For my evening walk, I decided after the first mile that I'd jog the second. I ended up running the full second mile without a walk break. It felt incredible! I followed that up with another mile of walking. For the day, I walked four miles and jogged one for a total of five miles. During walking, I mostly prayed. Although I also prayed while I ran, I ended the mile reciting scripture. It was interesting being able to focus on that while my body was busy exercising. I'm really enjoying this new routine. And adding the jog mile was quite nice.
I'm watching the Dodgers game again tonight. So far, they are doing really well. I hope they keep up this momentum for the rest of the game...hehehe I enjoy watching the games far more than simply watching stats on the phone. I'm still not sure I'd be willing to buy the game package to watch most of the games next season. I'm not sure how many games I'd be able to commit to watching. But I can also multitask and do things while the games are on. So, maybe...LOL
I ran out of ghee today. I made a quick trip to the grocery tonight to pick some up. I completely forgot to get some at Sprouts on Sunday. Tonight, I just went to Publix. They have the brand I get at Sprouts. Funny note, I got an email from Publix today offering me half off a treat because of my half birthday...hehehe That's how I knew it was my half birthday...LOL I won't be getting a treat from them, though. They don't have anything I would want to put in my body...hehehe I don't mind the occasional cheat treat. But theirs are junk...LOL
I also picked up some coffee. I'm almost out and need to order new Joffrey's. I know I mentioned the other day I was considering giving up coffee. I haven't quite decided yet. So, I'll continue for now. But I know I was going to run out before I'd receive an order from Joffrey's since I'm late...hehehe
The Dodgers are still doing really well. This has been a fun game to watch! The enemy scored three runs while I was at the grocery. But the Dodgers have scored two runs since I returned home...hehehe
I ordered a new devotional book today that should arrive by Friday. I don't think this one is something I'll be doing with Cherie. I'll have a look at it when it arrives to see if would be something to do in fellowship or solo. It was something that popped up on my radar after praying about how to pray...LOL It's a devotional book on prayer...LOL
Aside from physical books, I've also been researching digital/online devotionals.
I've really enjoyed writing so much for the past week. I think I'm on day eight in a row. Some days I write a lot. Others I write just a little. But I'm glad to be writing at least something each day for so many days in a row. It keeps me thinking clearly...hehehe
I've been cooking at home a lot more this week than I have in a while too. I'm so glad to be back in the kitchen. I've also enjoyed hand washing my dishes...hehehe It is therapeutic for my soul and my hands feel really good. I'm grateful I can do such things again. It has been at least 25 or so years that I've had that tremor.
The Dodgers won ❤️ Tomorrow's game is earlier. I think I'll be able to start the game. But I may not see the whole thing. It will likely still be going on when I do my evening walk and jog session. I don't want to miss that tomorrow...hehehe
Today's Budford smash hit was I Oughta Be in Pictures based on the song You Oughta Be in Pictures...hehehe This one took me a while to get good enough to record. I had been working on it for days...LOL I almost wanted to do the full song. I settled in on just the chorus. It's actually a difficult song to get just right with a change in lyrics to fit Budford's personality. I'm sure if I had given it more time, I would have been able to accomplish the entire song.
These songs are fun to make. Since it is about fun, laughs, and smiles, they don't need to be perfect...hehehe They just need to be all about Budford...LOL I already have several others I'm working on. I've been quite inspired by the character and the multitude of songs available. His smash hit catalog is growing...LOL
I'll not share any of these songs for anyone else. These are just for Cherie as the creator of the character. It's a great way for me to communicate the wacky side of myself for her. But I wonder if I should explore doing parodies using other voices or something. Sort of like Weird Al. I'm definitely no Weird Al. But I have fun doing these. I can do them for myself. If someone wants to listen and enjoy them, that's okay too. Then again, this is just an idea...LOL For now, I'll keep doing Budford hits for Cherie...hehehe
Something else I've been thinking of doing is sketches while out and about. I prefer doing sketches on my iPad. So, I could take my iPad with me places, sit, and sketch what I see. I could try applying color too. But I can also take the sketches back home to finish if I feel so inclined. I worked on mom's Cinderella proof while at Zen on Saturday. I was able to share the results with the folks there. I also did a sketch of Cherie's face for another project I'm working on. This was the very first time I had done anything like this in public. I've always worked my art in private.
I want to grow as an artist. I want to challenge myself. Working on these things in private gives me the comfort of safety. Although I can still challenge myself at home, I wanted to try expanding myself by leaving that safety and comfort. It's kind of like this journal and my devotional journal I share with Cherie. This journal isn't read by many...I think Cherie is the only one at the moment, actually...LOL But the point I'm making is that I've grown by being more vulnerable and sharing with someone else. Doing art in public will be similar. The folks at Zen actually encouraged me to bring my paints and canvases to work on there...hehehe I've seen people do that at Panera Bread before. Should I do that?!? Hmmm...maybe...LOL
As I mentioned above, I've grown so much this year already. Six months into my latest personal year, I'm really happy with how it has been going. I'll keep this personal growth going and I hope to inspire others to do the same. Why should we be stuck in the status qou? There's no reason not to grow!