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Created by the talented [Link To User poulynoe]")     "Prompt: What is one thing you’re super thankful for and don’t acknowledge enough?"It goes without saying that I am super thankful for the cross. I try to express my gratitude every day through my actions and by showing love to everybody I encounter. However, there are many things I could never be thankful enough for. One example is my credit rating. I had a credit rating that was in the basement. It was horrible at 512 for the longest time. Then I started graduate school and used part of my loans to pay off old debts and to pay my bills up to a year ahead of time. Those creditors reported faithful, on time payments to the credit bureau. My creit rating has jumped nearly 200 points and I credit God with that for He provided me with the finances to put it there. I also credit God with my job. I am the chaplain of the West Virginia Veterans Home. I am also a floor leader, newsletter editor, and peer recovery support specialist at the home. Before I came here there was no full time chaplain nor a chaplains department. Both have been created since I've been here. There was no peer recovery support specialist and that position has also been created. I run a group on Thursday afternoon during which we explore topics to help us grow as human beings. Topics include such things as interpersonal relationships, active listening, anger management, and time management. Residents come if they want and the group size varies. To me it is very rewarding. I give God credit for developing the chaplaincy and the peer support position for me. I also give God credit for developing a newsletter for the home and making me the editor. The newsletter has only had a few issues published but it is already becoming a very important tool for communication here in the home. We usually print about fifty copies and distribute them. Since the Home is ran by the State of West Virginia a copy of the "Bugler" as I named it goes to the state house where it is read by the cabinet secretary and even our governor. God again has blessed me richly. I am thankful for my publishing company. I was taking a nap one afternoon when my phone rang. COVID was running rampant then. I answered the phone and a gentleman spoke to me by name and said he wanted to republish a book I had written. The book was available on Amazon where it had been self-published. The publishing had left a lot to be desired. The font was so small you could barely see it. The formatting was a shambles and editing was unheard of. Red Sanchez, the agent who contacted me, wanted to republish it and do it right. He thought the book had potential. During the COVID lockdown it could entertain and that was important. He told me Reader's Magnet was a self-publishing firm and immediately I was sceptical. However, I had published traditionally before so I knew my work was marketable. I bought a package from him and began one of the mosy dynamic relationships of my writing career. My book "Teatime will be out in September. It was scheduled to come out this month but I requested a few additions such as lower sales prices for the book. Those meant changing things which took awhile. Reader's Magnet has treated me like gold. They had an online event called the Festival of Storytellers, where they set up virtual booths for my book and others. During that event I went live from my booth numerous times and addressed thousands of viewers about Teatime. I was also a panelist during a one hour event which featured another author's book. Due to the Festival of Storytellers and my interaction with it I was nominated for two Festival of Story Tellers/Reader's Magnet Quill Awards. The award winners will be announced on August 20, 2021 live on the Festival of Story Teller's Awards event. Again this is Reader's Magnet's way of getting exposure for me as an author. So I cannot and do not thank them enough. If you would like to be a Reader's Magnet author and be treated with respect like I am contact them at https://www.readersmagnet.com or contact my agent Mario Gonzaga at his email mariogonzaga@readersmagnet.com. They will get you set up! I am so thankful for Reader's Magnet! What I am the most thankful for however, is my relationship with Jesus Christ. Without it I would be a miserable sot. I would be nothing. God blesses me in so many ways that I cannot even count them. Some people comment that I am very "lucky". I always seem to be in the right place at the right time. I tell them that it has nothing to do with luck. I do not believe in "luck". I am blessed by my Savior. For example, I have walked to the post office five times in the past week. The walk there is easy because it's mostly downhill with a stretch of level ground. The walk back means walking up hill most of the way and is very difficult in the heat. I have not walked back any of the three trips I was there. One trip a stranger offered me a ride. The other times somebody from the home happened to either be at the post office or driving by and offered me a ride. I do not believe any of those were coincidental. God knew I needed to get to the post office and He also knew the heat would get me sick on the way back. He allowed me to walk down because I need to walk some. However, He arranged a ride back to keep me from getting too hot. Thank you Lord! These and many other things are the blessings in my life. God protects me and even if He were to let trials come my way He knows I would trust Him explicitly. You see troubles and trials to me are just as much gifts from Him as are blessings. I have known many trials in my Christian walk and God has shown me how He used those trials to shape me and build my faith and my character. Nothing, abasolutely nothing, in God's world is ever coincidental or accidental. Nothing is ever wasted. He uses the good, the bad, the evil, and the right to make me into what He wants me to be. For that I am extremely grateful! I would be remiss not to say again that what I am most thankful for is the cross of Calvary that made my abundant life possible. You see, humans fell from God's grace in the garden of Eden. Adam ate the forbidden fruit and his curse is passed on to all humans through our fathers. We are all products of sexual reproduction and it is through that act that Adam's guilt is passed on to all mankind. Man does not have it within himself to save himself or restore the relationship with his Creator. Therefore mankind is eternally separated from God and automatically going to the Lake of Fire prepared for Satan and his followers. God did not want us to be condemned. Instead of letting us die in hell, He took on human flesh by supernaturally impregnating a virgin without the sexual act or a father's involvement. Jesus Christ, born without the stain of original sin and guided and strengthened by the Holy Spirit His entire life, lived a sinless life and was sacrificed in our place. God Himself took on our punishment and hallelujah we are set free by faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of the Son of God. For that I am most grateful and can NEVER EXPRESS ENOUGH GRATITUDE!  Prompt: I was traveling the galaxy with Buck Rogers and found this planet: where {user:aged) writes
Write about this in your Blog entry today. Autumn is just around the corner. Around here it begins cooling down in October, though it ususally does not get really cold until the end of November and early December. I am not a big fan of winter so that makes fall my third favorite season. I do have to say that I enjoy the cooler weather of the fall more than I do the heat of summer. However, I love to look out my window and see the green leaves on the trees. During the winter when the trees have no leaves I look at them and long for the beauty of summer. I will also admit that I love the tastes of the season in the fall and look forward to helping the Salvation Army gear up for Christmas. Speaking of that the Salvation Army will be doing Angel Tree applications soon. Check with your local Salvation Army to find out when they will be doing them. It is usually in September. The Angel Tree program provides socially disadvantaged families with a means to have Christmas for eligible children and some adults. So check with your local corps to find out when applications are being taken. You have to apply to be eligible. You must also receive some type of assistance such as medicaide, disability, section-8 housing, or other government assistance. |
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