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"March 20, 2020"     Prompt: "Share a time when your mouth hung open in shock/awe/surprise/wonder etc. What was it that made you feel that way?"It takes a lot to shock or surprise me. About the only time I am really surprised is if I see a big move of Holy Spirit. It's not that anything He does surprises me for anything is possible to Him. It's just that sometimes He does things that are hard for me to wrap my head around. I look back on my life and I see how He has guided my every footstep to bring me to where I am today. For example I had my mind set on applying to Marshall University's MSW program this fall. Holy Spirit showed me that I was actually going to apply to Regent University in the M. Div. program. Then he revealed to me how everything I am doing and everything I had studied would play a role in that. It was no coincidence that five of my six years in undergraduate school were at Ohio Valley University in Parkersburg WV, one of the best Bible colleges in the country. It set the foundation for my M. Div. Prompt: "Tell us about your night time rituals before you go to bed."I think we all have night time rituals or routines we go through. Mine are the same every night. I take my medication around 2000 hours (8:00PM for civilians), and then talk to my friends a little bit by phone while I wait for my sleeping pill to work. Usually after talking for a bit, I will give myself twenty minutes to read the Bible and another ten minutes to journal. Then I put on my C-PAP mask and turn in. I am usually sound asleep by 2130 or 2200. I get up every morning at 0445 to do rounds so going to bed earlier has become a habit. I walk from room to room with the night nurse as she does bed checks in the morning. Prompt: "We're all creatures of habit with specific rituals. Tell us what your mornings are like? Do you have the same ritual on weekends as you do Monday-Friday?"What are weekends? Oh that's right! Those are the days when I used to stay in bed until 1000 hours. (10:00AM for civilians.) Then I started taking medication that required me to get up early so I became floor leader at the WV Veterans Home as well. Now I get up at 0445 and walk from room to room with the nurse as she does bed checks. Then I either lie back down until 0600 or take a shower. Either way I have a shower every day. Then I pray and eat breakfast.    |
| "March 19, 2020" Prompt: "COVID-19. It’s affecting all of us in one way or another. Never in our lifetimes have we seen something of this magnitude and severity. So today, check in with yourself and your fellow competitors - how are you? Where is your head at? What’s worrying you? Let’s gather our WDC community around us and hunker down together. I am not particularly worried about COVID-19. You see I know that Jesus has this all under control. Yes, I take the necessary precautions. In fact I voluntarily quit going into work before my facility went on lock down. I live at the West Virginia Veterans Home and we have people here that COVID-19 could very well kill. I respect and love these guys so I am going to do my best to protect them. In the end though I guarantee you that God will win this thing. His will is all that counts. Prompt: "Tell us about the spring smells, sights, and tastes you are most excited for this year."Spring has a lot of things that I am looking forward to this year. I always look forward to hearing the frogs chirping in the spring. They chirp because it is mating season and the bullfrogs try to attract mates that way. I also look forward to the first spring clovers. I noticed the other day right outside the sliding glass door to my building that the clovers are starting to bud. It won't be long until the bees are flying from clover to clover pollinating them. Of course the dogwoods are in bloom which means cherry blossoms won't be far behind. I love the smell of cherry blossoms. The thing I am looking forward to the most however is starting back to college. I am a graduate student now. I'll be working on my M. Div, starting in May. I am starting the summer semester at Regent University. I hold an academic associate degree from Mountain State College and a regents bachelor of arts degree from Marshall University. I was going to go into the Master of Social Work program at Marshall University and had actually applied to the program. Then Holy Spirit led me to apply to the M. Div. program at Regent University because most of what I do anyway is chaplaincy. I am the chaplain already at the West Virginia Veterans Home and I also serve as Community Care Ministries Secretary for the Salvation Army. As such I do Bible studies in nursing homes and rehabilitation centers and I do prison ministry. Essentially I do chaplaincy. God told me to apply for a chaplaincy degree somewhere and the chaplaincy degree is an M. Div. Regent University offers an M. Div. with a specific chaplains concentration and God made it possible for me to be granted full acceptance within two weeks of applying. The program starts May 11, 2020 so I am gearing up for that. Spring is my favorite season of the year and starting college in the spring makes it even better. Now if we can just get this COVID-19 scare out of the way. Many of my chaplaincy duties are cancelled because of it. I think I am going to be creative though and hold my classes by email! I have the email addresses for the facilities I go to so I will type out the studies and email them to them. They can make copies and distribute them to anyone interested! That way we meet but don't meet. Then we can continue meeting regularly. I'm sure the activity directors will not mind. It will allow the people to have something to do and activities can go on. It's a win-win. 'Prompt: May you live as you want and never want as long as you live.Irish Proverbs Write about this in your Blog Entry today." I agree with this proverb in spirit, but in word I have to disagree. There are some people that I don't want to see live in whatever manner they want. I'd rather the bad elements in our society not have their way. I want to be safe from them. I want my world safe from them. I have to say though that the spirit of this proverb is good. I truly do wish the best for everyone and I believe that is what it is doing as well. |
| "March 18, 2020" Prompt: "Does your communication style tend to be straightforward or subtle? Are you more likely to speak your mind or beat around the bush? Have you ever gotten into trouble because of your communication style?" I tend to fall somewhere in between. I do have some problems due to my communication but it is because I tend to stammer a little and say "ahh". I'm not the greatest speaker. Let's write a fun message to Elle - on hiatus   for her birthday in our entries.Happy birthday dear Miss Elle "Prompt: "Learning is the desire of the wise." Irish Proverb Use this quote in your Blog entry today."If learning is the desire of the wise I must be very wise. I sought and earned my Associate degree at 40, my RBA at 58 and am now working on my M. Div. |
| {entry: Prompt? "Is success a result of luck, or hard work? Neither? Both? Read this article and share your thoughts. https://jamesclear.com/luck-vs-hard-work" Success to me is a combination of hard work and blessings from God. Some people just get lucky but my successes are made possible because I work hard and God blesses my work. "Prompt: Write about an experience that made you very happy."I'm getting along in years so I've had a lot of experiences that have made me very happy. Narrowing it down to any one particular experience seems nearly impossible. I guess that if I had to choose any one experience over any other it would be meeting Jesus for the first time. I was so happy I was crying. I didn't know whether to fall on my face or do jumping jacks. I was elated! I've had many such encounters since and my heart leaps for joy every time. Prompt: "What's happening in your area with the corona virus? Are they closing businesses, restaurants, movie theaters? What are you doing personally to protect yourselves?"Personally, I think COVID-19 is simply another strain of the flu and they are making a big deal out of something perfectly normal. However I too am taking precautions like being a hermit. I sit in my room like a prisoner while the idiots I live with go on as if it's "life as usual." Why is it that some people don't give a hoot? When the flu itself was going around there were several people here who had it. They were asked to wear masks and refused. They were asked to isolate and refused. I would have isolated them if I had the authority. I'd have arrested them and forced compliance. Here I am missing work to keep them from getting sick while they go on as if it's just any other day. It makes me angry. Of course I make light of it occasionally as well. I posted a message on social media that I had toilet paper for sale. "$10.00 per sheet. Only used once!" |
| {entry: Prompt: "If you had the opportunity to compete on a television game show, which would you pick? If you won, what would you do with your winnings?" I don't know. I hadn't never really thought about it. Probably "Wheel of Fortune" because I'm fairly good with letters. I can usually guess the puzzles although a few of them stump me. I guess it would be "Wheel of Fortune." I don't know what I would do with my winnings. It would be my luck to win a car that I couldn't afford the taxes on. "Prompt: Pick out one of the 100 Surprising Technology Facts That You Didn’t Know and write about it.There are a lot of facts that I don't know. I have both an AAD and an RBA and I still do not consider myself to be knowledgeable. The one thing I know I need knowledge of is Jesus Christ. Without knowledge of Him the rest is a moot point. |
| "March 15, 2020" Prompt: "What are some ways you reduce stress and create happiness in your everyday life?" The way I reduce stress and produce happiness is by praying. I believe that Jesus Christ can eliminate the bad stress in my life. This does not mean that He takes the stress away. I still work just as hard as the next person and I still have just as many problems. When I have problems I turn them over to Him and trust that whatever the outcome is He has it fully under control and knows what is best for me. Even if He lets something kill me I feel He has a purpose for doing so. He can see the future and He knows things I do not know. If His ways don't make sense faith tells me to trust Him. What doesn't make sense to me is logical to Him. |
| {entry: Prompt: "What is your favorite childhood memory? Does anything make you feel nostalgic?" A lot of things make feel nostalgic, but especially walking up into my old home place. They went in after my family and I moved away and drilled several oil and gas wells there. I no longer recognize the place due to the fact they tore it up so badly. However I have a lot of fond memories from there. Some of my favorites are going camping from there or sleigh riding down the rights-of way. The right-of-way beside our house was 200 yards or so high and I would always go clear to the top and ride down like a maniac. It's a wonder I hadn't gotten hurt or worse but it was fun. Day 2675: March 14, 2020"Prompt: “To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.” ― Osho What do you think?" I think that I agree. I love life and that quality enhances my abilities as a writer. Recently I have been doing nothing but blogging, basically because I only write when the feeling moves me to write. Yes, I have written a little poetry on another site but not much of that. I agree however that loving life helps inspire us as writers. We want to add a little beauty to it. I believe good writing can be beautiful. I have saw my poetry and that of others move people to tears. You know you have touched a chord when that happens. Prompt: "Write a list of the things you love about yourself."I don't normally write lists like this, but I do believe it is important for us to love ourselves. To love ourselves we should know what we love so here goes: I love that I am typically honest. I love that I have grown into a much better person than I was at one time. At one time I was manipulative, violent, and moody. Now I am usually upbeat, positive, honest, and full of integrity. I like who I am today. I don't lie to get approval as I once did. Nor do I seek anybody's approval but Holy Spirit. |
| "March 13, 2020" Image #1997652 over display limit. -?- Image #1971183 over display limit. -?- Image #2066112 over display limit. -?- Prompt: "Are you responsible with your money? Is managing your finances easy for you, or challenging? Do you ever splurge and buy something you can’t afford?" Absolutely not. I am not responsible with money although I am improving. Managing my finances is very hard for me because I have trouble with math. I want to subtract when I should add and do all kinds of crazy stuff. Image #1997652 over display limit. -?- Prompt: "Write about your parents and the learnt behaviors you’ve inherited from them." I don't know what all behaviors I have learned from my parents. I do know that like my dad I became chemically dependent for a long time and then beat it with Jesus's help. I also know that I get nervous if a black cat crosses my path like my mom always did. Other than that... Image #1971183 over display limit. -?- Prompt: "Friday the 13th, holds many surprises, superstitions, and sometimes just plain old insanity.It's your blog, discuss something that has occurred on Friday the 13th or make up some outrageous story. Have fun!" Friday the 13th. So what? I've dealt with a lot of them in my lifetime and it's just another day to me. No big deal. Image #2098718 over display limit. -?- Image #2118746 over display limit. -?- Image #2187503 over display limit. -?- Image #2187984 over display limit. -?- |
| {entry: Image #1997652 over display limit. -?- Image #1971183 over display limit. -?- Image #2066112 over display limit. -?- Prompt: "Other than music, what sounds do you love?" Until I got hearing aids, I didn't know or appreciate the beauty of sound. I mean I was hearing somethings so I sort of took it for granted that I could hear. A client came into work one day. She was obviously about to have a baby. I knew she should not carry the stuff we were going to give her at work. I asked her where she lived so I could help her get her stuff home. She said "I'm parked right out there." I thought she said "I'm at the park." The park is about ten or twelve blocks from the office, so I thought she was too far away. I then sat in embarrassment and watched as she struggled to get her stuff out to a car about 40 feet away. I knew then that I needed hearing aids. I made a appointment and got my "new ears". Now I am hearing many sounds that seem like the first time. I once more hear the birds chirp. I had sort of assumed that the birds were just quiet. I hear a lot of sounds. I hear my own foot steps now and I never knew how loudly I walked! I guess my answer to the prompt is that any sound is a treat to my ears. Even the sound of somebody passing gas is a new sound to me having not heard it in a long time. There are some sounds I don't want to hear of course and passing gas is one of them, but all sounds are a treat when you can't hear them at all. Image #1997652 over display limit. -?- Prompt: "How do you feel about how the corona virus is being handled? Are you personally worried about your safety?" Somebody is finally making me take an official position on the corona virus by making me blog about it. I guess it is time we all decide how we feel about corona and the way it is being handled because it is now a pandemic. Like any pandemic I know this one will eventually fizzle out. My official position on corona is that I know God is in charge. I trust God to do what is necessary and in His will. I will of course take precautions but I have no intention of allowing corona or anything else to scare me into becoming a recluse. I will do what I must do. I will try to avoid places where there are huge crowds because I do not wish to tempt God. On the other hand, I will not seclude myself just to stay healthy. I know myself well enough to know that if I do not work or go among the public I will become depressed and stir crazy. On the other hand, if I develop a cough or something I will wear a mask and go get checked out. I won't travel out of my area unless I absolutely have to and I won't go to Italy or China. I feel officials are doing everything they can to stay on top of it. Action sooner may have been better but the government is slow. Image #1971183 over display limit. -?- "Prompt: What do you do to stay inspired?" I wish I had an answer for this. I haven't felt like writing anything but blogs and reports in a very long time. I mean I could fake it and probably come up with a short story, but I don't want to do that. I want it to be good. Image #2098718 over display limit. -?- Image #2118746 over display limit. -?- Image #2187503 over display limit. -?- Image #2187984 over display limit. -?- |
| "March 11, 2020" Image #1997652 over display limit. -?- Image #1971183 over display limit. -?- Image #2066112 over display limit. -?- Prompt: "Do you consider yourself a patient person? How easy or difficult is it for you to wait for something? Does a delayed reward feel more or less satisfying than an immediate reward?" There was a time when I was anything except a patient person. I was angry and very pushy much of the time. I wanted what I wanted when I wanted it. Then I entered a twelve step program and eventually became a Christian. One of the things the twelve step program does is help you become aware of your shortcomings and become willing to have them removed. One of my major shortcomings was impatience. I began to pray for patience, even though I knew it meant I would face all sorts of trials. After that I went through several surgeries, including open heart surgery. I had a triple bypass. I had to be patient with myself as I recovered and be patient with others. All in all it took me about three years of every kind of trial under the sun but I am much more patient as a result. One prayer God will answer is when we pray for some type of self-improvement. Image #1997652 over display limit. -?- Prompt: "Write a headline you’d love to read in tomorrow’s newspaper." Image #1971183 over display limit. -?- Ditto I don't even have to think about that. I'd love to wake up and read "Jesus has returned". My Bible tells me that when He does return there will be no doubt about it. Every eye will see Him. I have been praying for the return of Jesus and I know it is going to happen eventually. I just hope everybody is ready when that occurs, but I know many will not be. It will be there loss I guess. I would not want to be in their place. I thank God that I know I am ready for the Master's return. He will find me busy doing my best to do His will. Image #2098718 over display limit. -?- Image #2118746 over display limit. -?- Image #2187503 over display limit. -?- Image #2187984 over display limit. -?- |
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