Feelings, Home, New Device, Bible Study, and Tacos
8:55am
I have feelings today I can't explain. I'm content and happy. I'm sad and lonely. All at the same time. I'm denying myself worldly things for the sake of being available to do God's will as opposed to mine. Am I on day 6 of my March around Jericho? Is denying myself certain pleasures actually God's will? Or am I afraid I'll fall again if I go after those things? I'm retraining my brain. God is transforming my heart. What's coming to my life next? What's missing?
Lord, You know what I need to do and what I'm going to do. Please guide my steps so that I do Your Will and not mine. For Your Name's sake, AMEN!
11:40am
Overall, today is going well. I had my weekly 1:1 with Ross. All continues to be well at work. I enjoyed my breakfast earlier, as usual. I cleaned my kettle. And I continue to pray...a lot! Mom is back to work today, too. I should do some laundry today. I went to the grocery yesterday. So I'm back in the kitchen this week. We are starting book 5 of the The Chosen Bible study this week. I'll do my first session with it today and watch the episode. I started the day with feelings. They are still here. But everything is fine. I don't feel lost. I'm just balancing happy and sad today. I'm happy about a great many things. And I'm sad about other things. But I'm content.
1:50pm
The introduction for book 5 of the The Chosen Bible study got me thinking about home again. I actually can't seem to stop thinking about it. So it's more that this will have me talking about it again this week. I suppose, in a way, I haven't stopped talking about it either? I'm content. But unsettled. I'd like to say that's okay. But it isn't. One good thing is that this draws me closer to God. Although I look to Him as my stronghold, I'm still left with a level of uncertainty. I've grown to love where I live and where I came from. I just feel unsettled in both. I used to feel unplanted. But I'm unsettled now. A combination of unplanted and anxious.
3:30pm
I just finished a productive meeting with a colleague at work. I believe most meetings at my job can be an email. But there are occasions when there needs to be a discussion. This was one such meeting. I actually owned this one. I needed someone to go over and answer my questions about a third-party service my company uses for on-call support in IT. We have been live since May. But my team hasn't yet utilized this service. I'm in charge of getting my team going with it. We hope to fully integrate it in our workflow by the end of the month. I should be able to accomplish that.
Ooh! I just got an email from the CEO saying they are in a meeting and need me to quickly purchase a bunch of Apple gift cards for them...LOL Of course, it was a phishing test and I reported it...LOL I got a Good Job response for reporting the test email...LOL
I'm hungry, but dinner is still a little ways off. I best be having a snack...LOL
4:45pm
Unlike last Monday, today has been a good day. And that's despite the feelings I've had. I'm glad we are back into a Bible study and watching episodes of The Chosen this week. I've missed it. The devotionals are still good. And I like that both are different. I'm not sure I have a preference. But I'm happy to be back to the Bible study.
I ordered another e-ink device today. This one is the form factor of a mobile phone. I plan to use it for most of my apps to replace some of my iPhone usage. When I switched to e-ink for reading and writing this year, I've discovered there is a huge impact on me. Not just with eye strain. I like the idea of e-ink for apps. I'll still use my iPhone for things. Especially for communications. This new device will be good for social media, music, and web browsing. It'll be good for on-the-go reading too. But I'll still use my Kindle as my primary reader for books. We'll see how well it works out for me...LOL If only they could make e-ink computer monitors cheaper...
Now it's time to make tacos...LOL I plan to have tacos a lot this week...LOL
7:45pm
I had a lovely walk this evening. Most evenings lately, when weather permits, I've been able to take a walk. I mostly pray on these walks. Occasionally I see a neighbor and say hello. Tonight I got to see my little buddy again. He invited me to another exploding fist bump. That made my heart happy. The final time I crossed paths with his family, he pointed up to an airplane for me to see.
Lord, Bless them and keep them. Your eyes be always on them. For Your Name's sake, AMEN!
I captured the sunset through 3 different trees. One of them will become today's photo. I still need to choose a song. I think I know what I'm going to say on the post. But you never really know until I post...LOL I've loved featuring a photo each day. I'm glad I started writing something with each mid-year. Hopefully I can keep up with that until the end of the year...both the photos and having something to say.
Back to my new device I ordered. I've embraced the idea of multiple devices where it makes sense for me. I used to try to have one device that did it all. That just caused stress. This year, I've been separating things out. It has been liberating. I've felt a positive impact so far. This new one is a BOOX Palma 2. It runs Android. So most of the apps I use should work on it. I think it'll arrive tomorrow. I got a USB C-to-headphone adapter so I can use my wired headphones with it. I'll be able to listen to Apple Music on it. YouTube should work for those ambience playlists I listen to. But I typically use my TV for those. I'm looking forward to reading email on it. I'll try social media and see how that goes. It isn't color. So I lose a little bit for the art stuff I follow. But most of the content I consume will be fine in monochrome.
Well, I better get reading more for this weeks Bible study... LOL
10:25pm
This week's Bible study struck a chord. I've written some preliminary notes and will work through it all this week. I go through the whole thing the first night. Then I break it up into sections to complete throughout the week. It works well that way.
I'm glad I have God ❤️