The Good, The Bad, and The Disney
For a while now, I've been asking myself and others, what was your favorite moment today? I also ask things like what was something that made you laugh/smile/happy? I recently added a new one. What was the worst thing that happened to you today? Although I ask myself this one, I ask very few others...hehehe That one is a little more personal. And I never expect anyone to answer such a question if they aren't comfortable doing so.
I got the idea for this question after reading a story about how a parent would ask their child how their day was. The child would typically say it was good and move on about their evening. One night, the child broke down into tears. The parents was concerned and asked what was bothering them. As it turned out, the child's day was not actually good. Something had happened at school that day that upset the child.
After that happened, the parent started to ask what was the worst thing that happened to them each day. After that question was answered, the parent would then ask what was the best thing that happened. That way there is a good balance. This inspired me to find such a balance in my own life. As a generally positive person, I'm always on the lookout for my favorite moments. But I should also be paying attention to the worst ones. I cannot ignore those or their impact on my life.
As far asking that question of others, I'm picky about who I ask. I have to have a deep connection with them. They need to feel safe with me and I with them. But asking such a question sends a clear message that I care very deeply for them. I don't just want the best of who they are. I want all of who they are. Even the bad stuff. I want to know what is hurting them so I can pray for them. And by listening, perhaps it will help the healing process or help them learn from whatever the circumstance might be.
I was notified my coffee order is on its way...YAY...hehehe I mentioned yesterday that I brewed my last Sumatra beans. I still have some beans from another Joffrey's blend. So I had my coffee today still...hehehe But the new batch of beans is due to arrive tomorrow, I believe. One of the bags, the Joffrey's 40th Anniversary blend, was free. I had earned enough points to get a free bag of beans...LOL Sometime last year, they switched systems and started offering VIP points to be earned over time through purchases...hehehe
Work is going well. I've been getting things ready for the new production environment. I'm back to waiting on others to complete their work. I had this phase a few months ago when I was getting my pre-production environment stood up. I like to be ahead of tasks so no one is waiting on me. I don't mind waiting on others. But I would not like for anyone to be waiting on me...hehehe
I somewhat live by that as a principle. I tend to show up to places a little early too. I don't mind waiting for people to arrive places. I just don't like people to need to wait on me to arrive. There are times when I'm running late and people end up waiting on me. But I do my best to make sure that I'm not the reason I'm running late. There are other factors that can impact when I arrive. I can't control that. But if I have control over timing, I'd rather be early...hehehe
I was confused about something I wrote a year ago yesterday. I said God brought me to Florida. But I know later that I felt like I didn’t just come to Florida. I felt like I was escaping Indiana, and my past. I left...I didn’t go. So, I'm not sure why I felt like God had sent me here. I do recall once having a conversation about how it was like when God told Abraham to leave his people and go to a place that God would show Abraham. Eventually that became the Promised Land.
Well, in hindsight, I don't feel like that now. I used to be a little cavalier at saying things like God told me this or that. I even journaled as such a few times last year. Sometimes what I mean is that I feel the Spirit leading in a certain way. But who am I to say what God's Will actually is before it happens? So, no, I fled Indiana and came to Florida. I made that decision. No one else told me to do anything of the sort...LOL It has turned out to be a great choice for the most part. But I cannot say whether or not there were also negative consequences to my moving here.
For example, I don't truly know how this has impacted my son or parents. All three tell me they want me to be happy. But what if they aren't telling me about their unhappiness? And if I say that God told me to move, then I'm excusing my actions if those actions did have a negative impact in anyway. Nope, I'm not going to be doing that anymore...LOL Of course, I have to trust my son and parents when they tell me they are happy for me. I have no reason to believe they aren't being honest. I just hope the growth I've experienced on this journey is making a positive impact on them as well.
I've stalled a little again on creativity...hehehe I have a painting to work on and some fictional writing cooking in my mind. I just haven't felt motivated to actually do the work...LOL I have a lot of things ready to be created. I hope to get back to it all soon. I'm not going to put any pressure on it, though. I'm just acknowledging it as something on my mind today...hehehe
I'm going to be taking a vacation the first week of March. My nephews invited me to join them for their Disney vacation. Originally, I was going to just do one day with them. Then I thought about working from Disney and catching up with them at various times. I already had that Friday off to travel to Indiana for my grandmother's 90th birthday on Saturday. After giving it some thought, I decided to just take the entire week off. So, I'll be picking my nephews up at the airport Monday morning, enjoying Disney with them for 4 days, and then travel up to Indiana...LOL
I haven't decided if I'll be dressing up for those park days. I'll be dressing up this coming Friday. I do enjoy it so much. So I may come up with something for those 4 days in March.
Photo a Day
I didn't get outside today due to weather. So, it was an inside photo shoot today...LOL
This painting, Day at the Beach, is one I created 3 years ago. It was inspired by a conk shell I saw at Honeymoon Island Beach in late 2021. It had a crab in it...hehehe So, I didn't get to keep the shell. But I did keep a scallop shell I found. I glued the scallop shell to the canvas and then painted the small conk shell on the canvas and placed its shadow to be cast on the physical scallop shell. This is one of a few paintings I did where I included physical subjects with the painted ones.
Here is a photo of the conk shell that inspired the painting ❤️
You can find this photo in the photo section too.
Bible in a Year
Leviticus 19
Leviticus 19
1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the whole congregation of Israel and tell them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. 3 Each of you must respect his mother and father, and you must keep My Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God. 4 Do not turn to idols or make for yourselves molten gods. I am the LORD your God. 5 When you sacrifice a peace offering to the LORD, you shall offer it for your acceptance. 6 It shall be eaten on the day you sacrifice it, or on the next day; but what remains on the third day must be burned up. 7 If any of it is eaten on the third day, it is tainted and will not be accepted. 8 Whoever eats it will bear his iniquity, for he has profaned what is holy to the LORD. That person must be cut off from his people. 9 When you reap the harvest of your land, you are not to reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10 You must not strip your vineyard bare or gather its fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God. 11 You must not steal. You must not lie or deceive one another. 12 You must not swear falsely by My name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD. 13 You must not defraud your neighbor or rob him. You must not withhold until morning the wages due a hired hand. 14 You must not curse the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the LORD. 15 You must not pervert justice; you must not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the rich; you are to judge your neighbor fairly. 16 You must not go about spreading slander among your people. You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD. 17 You must not harbor hatred against your brother in your heart. Directly rebuke your neighbor, so that you will not incur guilt on account of him. 18 Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD. 19 You are to keep My statutes. You shall not crossbreed two different kinds of livestock; you shall not sow your fields with two kinds of seed; and you shall not wear clothing made of two kinds of material. 20 If a man lies carnally with a slave girl promised to another man but who has not been redeemed or given her freedom, there must be due punishment. But they are not to be put to death, because she had not been freed. 21 The man, however, must bring a ram to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting as his guilt offering to the LORD. 22 The priest shall make atonement on his behalf before the LORD with the ram of the guilt offering for the sin he has committed, and he will be forgiven the sin he has committed. 23 When you enter the land and plant any kind of tree for food, you shall regard the fruit as forbidden. For three years it will be forbidden to you and must not be eaten. 24 In the fourth year all its fruit must be consecrated as a praise offering to the LORD. 25 But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit; thus your harvest will be increased. I am the LORD your God. 26 You must not eat anything with blood still in it. You must not practice divination or sorcery. 27 You must not cut off the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard. 28 You must not make any cuts in your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD. 29 You must not defile your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be prostituted and filled with depravity. 30 You must keep My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the LORD. 31 You must not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out, or you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God. 32 You are to rise in the presence of the elderly, honor the aged, and fear your God. I am the LORD. 33 When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you must not oppress him. 34 You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God. 35 You must not use dishonest measures of length, weight, or volume. 36 You shall maintain honest scales and weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37 You must keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and follow them. I am the LORD.”
Leviticus 20
Leviticus 20
1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites, ‘Any Israelite or foreigner living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the land are to stone him. 3 And I will set My face against that man and cut him off from his people, because by giving his offspring to Molech, he has defiled My sanctuary and profaned My holy name. 4 And if the people of the land ever hide their eyes and fail to put to death the man who gives one of his children to Molech, 5 then I will set My face against that man and his family and cut off from among their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves with Molech. 6 Whoever turns to mediums or spiritists to prostitute himself with them, I will also set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. 7 Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. 8 And you shall keep My statutes and practice them. I am the LORD who sanctifies you. 9 If anyone curses his father or mother, he must be put to death. He has cursed his father or mother; his blood shall be upon him. 10 If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death. 11 If a man lies with his father’s wife, he has uncovered his father’s nakedness. Both must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 12 If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both must surely be put to death. They have acted perversely; their blood is upon them. 13 If a man lies with a man as with a woman, they have both committed an abomination. They must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 14 If a man marries both a woman and her mother, it is depraved. Both he and they must be burned in the fire, so that there will be no depravity among you. 15 If a man lies carnally with an animal, he must be put to death. And you are also to kill the animal. 16 If a woman approaches any animal to mate with it, you must kill both the woman and the animal. They must surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. 17 If a man marries his sister, whether the daughter of his father or of his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered the nakedness of his sister; he shall bear his iniquity. 18 If a man lies with a menstruating woman and has sexual relations with her, he has exposed the source of her flow, and she has uncovered the source of her blood. Both of them must be cut off from among their people. 19 You must not have sexual relations with the sister of your mother or your father, for it is exposing one’s own kin; both shall bear their iniquity. 20 If a man lies with his uncle’s wife, he has uncovered the nakedness of his uncle. They will bear their sin; they shall die childless. 21 If a man marries his brother’s wife, it is an act of impurity. He has uncovered the nakedness of his brother; they shall be childless. 22 You are therefore to keep all My statutes and ordinances, so that the land where I am bringing you to live will not vomit you out. 23 You must not follow the statutes of the nations I am driving out before you. Because they did all these things, I abhorred them. 24 But I have told you that you will inherit their land, since I will give it to you as an inheritance—a land flowing with milk and honey. I am the LORD your God, who has set you apart from the peoples. 25 You are therefore to distinguish between clean and unclean animals and birds. Do not become contaminated by any animal or bird, or by anything that crawls on the ground; I have set these apart as unclean for you. 26 You are to be holy to Me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be My own. 27 A man or a woman who is a medium or spiritist must surely be put to death. They shall be stoned; their blood is upon them.’”
Leviticus 21
Leviticus 21
1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Speak to Aaron’s sons, the priests, and tell them that a priest is not to defile himself for a dead person among his people, 2 except for his immediate family—his mother, father, son, daughter, or brother, 3 or his unmarried sister who is near to him, since she has no husband. 4 He is not to defile himself for those related to him by marriage, and so profane himself. 5 Priests must not make bald spots on their heads, shave off the edges of their beards, or make cuts in their bodies. 6 They must be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. Because they present to the LORD the food offerings, the food of their God, they must be holy. 7 A priest must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God. 8 You are to regard him as holy, since he presents the food of your God. He shall be holy to you, because I the LORD am holy—I who set you apart. 9 If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by prostituting herself, she profanes her father; she must be burned in the fire. 10 The priest who is highest among his brothers, who has had the anointing oil poured on his head and has been ordained to wear the priestly garments, must not let his hair hang loose or tear his garments. 11 He must not go near any dead body; he must not defile himself, even for his father or mother. 12 He must not leave or desecrate the sanctuary of his God, for the consecration of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the LORD. 13 The woman he marries must be a virgin. 14 He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people, 15 so that he does not defile his offspring among his people, for I am the LORD who sanctifies him.” 16 Then the LORD said to Moses, 17 “Say to Aaron, ‘For the generations to come, none of your descendants who has a physical defect may approach to offer the food of his God. 18 No man who has any defect may approach—no man who is blind, lame, disfigured, or deformed; 19 no man who has a broken foot or hand, 20 or who is a hunchback or dwarf, or who has an eye defect, a festering rash, scabs, or a crushed testicle. 21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall approach to present the food offerings to the LORD. Since he has a defect, he is not to come near to offer the food of his God. 22 He may eat the most holy food of his God as well as the holy food, 23 but because he has a defect, he must not go near the veil or approach the altar, so as not to desecrate My sanctuaries. For I am the LORD who sanctifies them.’” 24 Moses told this to Aaron and his sons and to all the Israelites.
The Bible Recap
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