I'm the Rebel Spy
We finished the first Bible study for season 1 of The Chosen this week. This study has been amazing. The show itself is pretty good. But the Bible study has been great as it takes us deeper. Especially in the connection between the Old Testament and the New when it comes to Jesus. I'm looking forward to the next one! It appears to be even deeper...hehehe
As far as my walk with Jesus is concerned, this has been an amazing year overall. It kind of started last October when I made spending time with God first thing when I wake up a priority. It continued to grow into my Bible in a Year reading plan. I'm still going strong with that, by the way...hehehe Then I started a daily devotional with Cherie. And that evolved into the Bible study. I appreciate having a friend in Cherie to share some of this with. Fellowship is so important. I'm so glad to have this in my life right now. God is so Good.
The topic of how fast this year has gone came up again with my parents on my weekly call...LOL This time, mom asked me directly, hasn't this year gone by so fast? I'll admit, it feels a little strange for me to not feel that way this year. In the past, I've thought things went by fast. I simply do not feel it this year. I'm not sure if this will continue into 2025. If so, great. If not, also great. I'm not sure it really matter as much as the lessons I'm learning from it this year. The lessons are for me to accept things for what they are...this includes moments in time...and to cherish the important things. Both can be done regardless how fast moments go by. So, perhaps God gave me this year to help me realize these lessons. Did He need me to slow down to pay attention? Perhaps...LOL
I really enjoyed Dapper Day yesterday. I didn't get to do it today at Disney's Animal Kingdom. But I was able to attend some of the activities yesterday at Hollywood Studios. I did one of the photo op meetups. By accident, mind you...LOL It was fun to see everyone dressed up. That first meetup was with the Dapper Orlando Facebook group. The best thing was seeing it all over the park yesterday. Not just when we grouped up. There was another meetup I tapped into at 5pm. This second one was the official Dapper Day company one. But they decided not to do a photo. It was still fun seeing everyone and doing a little mingling. I've been following along with the Facebook groups and enjoying seeing everyone's dapper attire...hehehe
I'll continue doing the Dapper Days for sure. I think next year, I'll plan a little better and do them all, Lord willing. I believe there are 6 altogether. At least that's how it was this year. 2 at WDW in April and 1 at DLR. Then 1 at DLR in November and 2 at WDW in December. The expo is in April at DLR and lasts 2 days. If Cherie is able to go to that one of the days, I'll do it. That's one of those things I won't do solo. But the park days I'll gladly do solo if I need to. Things like expos are more of a shared experience type of thing for me...hehehe
Dressing up and going to the parks makes me so happy. I don't even have to do anything specific to enjoy it...LOL Yesterday, for example, I only rode one of the attractions all day...LOL The rest of the day was enjoying people watching...LOL The one attraction I rode, though, I was the Rebel Spy...hehehe I rode Star Tours and they always pick one person to be the rebel spy. I'm not sure if it was my dapper attire that got me picked. But it was fun to see my photo up on the screen. And people reacted to it and even turned to acknowledge me...hehehe It was so fun! The only other time I was chosen was back in 2011...LOL
My next park visit will be on Christmas. I have a really nice outfit picked out for it that will make me look like a festive Dapper Dan ❤️ I am hoping to visit all 4 parks that day. If I do, I'll get a photo taken in front of each park's icon as a way to commemorate the day. I have a special pin I'll be wearing with it as well. I'm having lunch at Nine Dragon's in the China pavilion at EPCOT. With that dining reservation, I also have a reservation to see the Candlelight Processional at 6:45pm. They offer a reserved seating section for people who pay a little extra. It isn't much money and well worth it for such a special event. I'm extra excited because it is on Christmas day and it will be my first time ever doing the Candlelight Processional.
I'm not sure if I mentioned it yet, but I finished a second story for the project I'm working on. I've also started brainstorming the third story. Seeing this project come to life is amazing. Very few people know about this one. I'm going to keep it that way until I see the fruits of this truly growing. Honestly, I'll probably keep it to myself, Cherie, and Dan for now. And anyone they tell about it. I'll not be mentioning it on social media. And I'll not directly talk about it with anyone other than Cherie and Dan. Once it grows into a state where I believe it may get published, then I can start talking about it...hehehe My motivation to keep it somewhat private is that I've previously talked openly about the Vitamin G book. That book has yet to be completed...LOL
This journal is another example of how not talking about my writing has proven to keep me motivated to write...LOL I've mentioned this journal to 5 people. Only 1 of them reads it regularly. But I write here often. My old blog was something I never maintained. Yet, I use to talk about it...LOL Back then, though, I wrote articles. Not just my thoughts.
I think part of the problem with openly talking about my writing is that I feel some sort of pressure to write. As if the people I've told expect me to write. Well, the pressure is off when no one, or very few people, are paying attention to it. It find it weird how that works with me. Do other people experience this?
I hope to get that third story started this week. I'm not going to pressure myself into, though. It is just a hope...hehehe I'm finding more enjoyment in taking my time without any expectations for it.
I'm heading up to Indiana this weekend. I haven't been up since the first weekend of June. Lord willing, I'll make more trips up next year. Only my parents have been coming down for visits. Malachi won't come anymore and my grandmother can't make the trip down. That leaves me needing to go up to see Malachi and grandma. This is the first year when I didn't make long visits. I had hoped to spent a few weeks this holiday season. But that didn't work out after all.
I think I need to be making some changes to my routine. Things have been going well and smooth. But I have a sense that I need to tweak things a little bit from what I've somewhat stumbled upon lately.