Give Thanks

 Happy Sabbath

God is good all the time. All the time, God is good. It's been a good week.

It's been a busy week. 

Next week will be even busier.

I don't know how I am going to manage it but I will hand it over to God to help me cover everything I am responsible for.  I will admit, I have dropped the ball a bit at work. I haven't paid attention to the directions given and as a result, my last two weeks of this month are absolutely packed and hectic as I rush around to put out every fire that is beginning to burn. My direct supervisor is returning on thursday and unlike the boss and her supervisor who have looked a little at what I do, my direct supervisor will know how much I have dropped things and will speak on all.  

I will accept my failures and take responsibility for them.  Really as this month rolled around, I realized how much I relied on her as much as I didn't care much for her.  She really helped hold things together and kept me on track and I really do need her back because my brain just doesn't have the capacity these days.

For my part time job, I am doing what I can to shrug off the garment of struggle and frustration they are trying to make everyone wear.  New people come in with a new set of unrealistic rules and I see so many people balk at the orders and complain for hours off to the side.  I remind myself and them when they start to bring that talk over to me that we finish at 7am and after that, what is it?  It's not our responsibility.  Do what you are able to do and don't worry about the rest.  People can't say they don't pay them enough to do this or that because in all reality, they do. They pay more than I think they should for us to do the work we do.  I have no complaints.  So I am preparing my body to work tonight and God willing, will get through it. Get through it without smudging up my Adidas or Nikes or what ever I decide to put on.  I am thinking of a combo of black pink white and royal blue so the white and blue Adidas are on my mind at the moment.  If rain is in the forecast, I'll wear the tims. 

I am thankful that I was able to get through a longer fast period. I have not challenged myself to do something like this in such a long time.  I usually punk out and can't even get to 3 days but this time I went 3.5 days plush 45 min..what ever that is after the decimal point.  To break my 3.5 day fast, I had a delicious afghan meal I prepared components of the day before. I zested and squeezed the lemon, I dried and crunched up my mint, prepared my eggplant on my new griddle in a healthier way instead of frying in all that oil like I did  before.  It was delicious in that oil, but the person who gave me the recipe was right. Eggplant is a total sponge and soaked up all the oil. I happily ate all of the oil soaked eggplant too. I set out my ingredients in ziploc bags from minced garlic, sliced onions to be browned, tomato paste...it was a lot of preparation and I cooked that meal Friday morning and enjoyed half of it. I just finished the other half today. I am looking forward to trying more Afghan and really any middle eastern/asian recipes at home.  

I am thankful that although my son is still struggling with his egg allergy, it appears that he overcame his soy allergy completely.  It was him drinking soy milk when he was 2 or 3 years old that brought us to the hospital and trying to figure out the cause of the rashes and breathing difficulty.  He has another allergy test coming in december and I am hoping to scratch off other things from the allergy list.  I went to Trader Joes for the first time in a hot minute and picked up two tubs of my favorite soy ice cream because I don't do dairy and have not for some years.  He asked to try it and I gave him a small spoonful. He was fine in an hour. Two weeks before he had a small bite of a muffin and that lead to immediate stomach upset and a hospital visit. His throat was numb as well for hours.  Egg did that.  

He tried a small ice cream cone with the ice cream and next thing I know, he has finished one of the tubs and is working on my second one.  These ice creams were supposed to be for me, not him!  He also likes some yogurt from there and I like this watermelon jerky thing they have going on.  For my icecream, I add the pumpkin butter (they want to call it pumpkin spread and market it for meat/savory dishes and then say they are coming out with pumpkin butter on October 4th, but I am certain what ever they present will be the exact same thing, just a different label and higher price).  I layer the pumpkin butter with the ice cream and it is so delicious. I am thankful that he is not allergic because now I can give him tofu and other things I eat on a regular basis.  His diet is expanding and I'm excited for him.  He is growing and enjoying life (going to school, playing with friends, communicating better and coming into his own).  It's a joy to see and it would not be possible if it were not for God because as I was telling my son, I saw autism when he was 2.  I saw it and knew I had to take action immediately.  God had me in a course where I was learning about autism and other developmental disabilities in young children and we had to learn to diagnose all of these conditions.  I saw the signs as he developed and I studied and bought him a tablet because I knew that children with autism do best when given things with repetition.  I found many learning videos and free programs and threw everything I could at him, hoping he would pick it up. My father felt the things I gave him at one point were too advanced for him but I ignored his complaints and gave them to my son and he sponged everything up. My mother and I got the occupational and physical therapists involved. We got him in an early childhood education program at the school when he was 3 and by the time he hit kindergarten, he was not only talking up a storm and minimized stimming behavior but he was at a 2nd grade reading level, understood alphabets and some words from other languages, doing 1st-2nd grade level math and ahead with all of his other academics.  He was physically aggressive and would engage in property destruction when he didn't get his way or misunderstood his teachers/classmates so he was moved from one school to another and moved eventually into a class that had 2nd-4th graders. He was a 1st grader at the time.  He is now in 3rd grade with 3rd and 4th graders in a small autism class but anyone who didn't know him would never guess he had autism.  He no longer presents as someone who does but he still needs help and he is getting the support in this setting.  Because he is in this program we get door to door service with the bus. Bus comes and he runs down the drive way and I am able to kiss my son and see him off to school and return either tired or with a smile on his face and pictures he wants to show me.  He is doing so well.  Thank you Lord for your timing.  Thank you Lord for giving me the resources to help him.  I am confident he will be fine and I have no interest even now to see about getting him SSI because he is so intelligent and capable, he will be able to make it on his own as he grows up.  

So there is much I am thankful for.  It is 3pm.  He is sleeping on my bed and I need to take a nap myself.  I have to buy him a comforter like mine so he will get his little butt out of my room.  All the other bedding I bought for him and he prefers to come and sit on my bed because of my fluffy cloud of a comforter.  I'll see if I can find one that compliments his room. 

God is good.  Thank Him today :)

Tired

 Happy Sabbath,

I am experiencing a different Sabbath and a different week than I'm used to.  I am tired and intend to take my nap earlier than I usually do before I head to work after sunset. 

I don't want to complain. God is good.  I am thankful that I was able to get help for a client before the weekend started. I am thankful that I was able to call most (missed one) of my clients before the weekend. Something I have been missing in previous weeks. 

I am thankful that my health is improving. I am getting to a healthier weight and there are people taking notice and telling me to stop, but I have no intention until I reach a healthy goal range.  I have been overweight for most of my adult life and I was only at a normal weight (at the top constantly teetering into overweight) the few years prior to my son being born. I want to weight between 130-145lbs and I am making those changes and challenging myself to get there. 

I am thankful for a great two weeks for my son. Yes, he went to the ER on Wednesday because of the incompetence of the school, but it did not turn out badly.  I am thankful that I can keep going.

This is all I'd like to share for this week.  God is good and I hope you have had a good week and will be well in the new week to come.

Good Week

 Happy Sabbath,

I don't have much to share for this post, but God is good and I am thankful to have gone through a great week.  I went to the beach with my son on Sunday and ended up staying there half the day.  I usually set up a tent on the beach so we have a private place to change out clothes when we are ready to get into the water. It was so windy that I was not able to put the cover on but I was still able to change because of the privacy the high sides afforded me.  I went in a bathing suit for the first time and felt comfortable and confident.  My son had a wonderful time as we went shopping and to get on rides that were along the beach.  

I am thankful my son had a wonderful first week back to school in third grade.  He tried some new foods and this year is the first I am having him do school lunches.  I loaded up an account with funds to pay for school lunch only to find out that school lunch is free for the full year.  He is in his class with his best friend who is a grade above him and he has other friends around him. He is having a fantastic experience and I just hope that Covid doesn't come our way as a result.  He is wearing his mask at school but they don't have these children social distance.  

I am thankful that my job doesn't require us to go to the office every other week any more.  I am able to work from home fully for the time being.

I am thankful that at least for these first two weeks, the bus comes to pick up my son at my driveway and drops him off at school.  I changed the pick up/drop off address to my parents house because I never know when my job will require I have to go to the office or if they want us to start driving out and seeing clients in person again.  I am thankful for this service and to have my son start off on a good foot in the morning and running happily along to and from school.  

I am thankful for my home. I spent from 1:15pm or so until after 6pm outside cleaning up and doing my lawn.  I put together a fire pit for the back yard and am looking forward to use it with my son to roast our vegan marshmallows over it..and to burn my junk mail because I need to get rid of that as well.  My home is beautiful and comfortable. My son is eating new foods and in better health.  We are comfortable and happy and it would not be so if it were not for the Lord.  I have two jobs that have given raise after raise this year. I have a third gig that paid me and I didn't even know they did.  Now I need to find time to do work with that gig because that's some good extra money as well.  The fire pit I saw for sale for $42 all this time was $30 when I rang it up.  

Small things. Large things and the medium.

God is good.  Happy Sabbath :)

Uncertain

 Happy Sabbath

Ok, so this week is a marvelous week.  This week is the anniversary week of me being baptized. I was baptized back on Sept 1st 2007 and I am thankful to still be in the faith.  

With some minor and major bumps and bruises, but I am still here, praise the Lord.

I am thankful for a five day weekend that I am already in and enjoying with my son.

I am thankful that also announced on the date of my baptism anniversary that my main job gave me a $5k raise in salary.  I had even picked up a third side hustle after talking to my coworker on 8/31 and now I am making more than double what I was making back in 2015 when I first started in this field and even yesterday, I received yet another check from who knows where.  Money keeps coming in from unknown directions.

I had a store card for Sears when they were in business years ago. I opened it because I wanted to get a low price on a winter coat that my little sis put me on to.  Then when my son's father came around, he got a hold of my credit card info and used it without my knowledge. I had to struggle and pay off all the debt racked up on it and because it is a Citibank card and they have ruthless schemes of charging you and really trying to get you stuck with them, I paid that thing off as fast as I could and closed the account.  My son is nearly 9 years old and tell me why they just sent a check to me at my new home.  The paper is flimsy so I do have doubts that it could be real so I am thinking of finding a citibank branch to see if they will cash it out for real money.  There are scams out here man.

I am thankful for my income. I am thankful for my family, for time I can take off and relax, for health.

The title of my post today is called uncertain though.  I have prayed for something and God knows how quickly I forget some things I pray about.  I don't want to come on here and say what it is because it would give the enemy something to work on to deceive me and it would take away the fun and surprise of it all.  I'll just say that I prayed about something and three times, the answer was given.  What I prayed for I will not say. If I am incorrect, I ask for forgiveness.  I asked for the Lord's no to be Namibia and for His yes to Yemen.  I have seen Yemen and heard Yemen three times within the 2-3 weeks I have been waiting for His response on the matter.  Part of me wants to think that because of what is happening over in the middle east may be putting Yemen on the radar.  I have not gone searching for this stuff.  I heard it in a song that was on a comedy show I occasionally watch overnight. That I heard on September 3rd. I heard it again during a talk someone was having and as I said my memory really is trash. If I don't screen shot or put a marker in my memo pad/calendar, I am going to forget straight away.  There was a first time, but it was Yemeni (can't tell you the date or program in relation to it).  I didn't want to accept the first one so I prayed again and of course if the Lord wants you to see something, He will make sure you see it.  

I am going to be praying about this situation for a while.  As soon as I get an answer here, I have more questions.  So I'll work on that with the Lord.

I spent a wonderful time yesterday mowing my lawn.  I really enjoy mowing my lawn.  I enjoy seeing the final result after I diagonally stripe my lawn, edge up the sidewalks, remove weeds from all around the property and do some hedge work. I fixed my curtains to my gazebo, sprayed the bees nest, opened up the umbrella on my patio and relaxed in my gazebo with my feet up and a laptop watching Law n Order.  I partly want to stay home tomorrow and continue enjoying my home but I want to go to the beach.  I went last year and I am still trying to figure out what I will bring, when I will drive out, and which one I should go to.  My car needs gas and the one that has the most benefit is the furthest away.  The last big hurrah before school starts up for my son; he's going to third grade. 

If beaches are still accessible after Labor day, I may just hold off for another weekend to be honest.  I like being home. 

My tooth is still not right and I have an appointment on Tuesday.  When we are sinful, there are consequences and one consequence for me is that I may have to pay over $500 for a root canal to fix this issue.  Right now, my tooth doesn't bother me too much. Depending on how it feels for the next 2 days if it is still somewhat ok, I may ask for another month as I try to heal up.  The damage was back in July.  If things go south, I may lose my tooth.  Nobody wants that.  

I'll just have to pray and see.  

So tomorrow is up in the air. The weather God willing, looks good according to the forecast I reviewed.  I have flipflops, a new bathing suit I HOPE not to lose (I've had 2 others and cannot find them for some reason).  I would need to find/pack the following for our trip if we go: 

a tent, beach blankets/towels, ziplocs, weights to hold the tent down, at least two book bags/totes, change of clothes, need to purchase beach trunks for my son and flip flops, need a charged tablet to function as my gps, snacks for my son, sun screen, cash for boardwalk purchases, need to find my son's nintendo switch, bandaids, sparklers, baby powder, and so much more.  I'll take time to get this stuff together when I'm at work tonight.  I will be at the store so I can shop for anything that is outstanding. 

The beach sounds better than the lake....hmmm....  And then there is ice skating.  I purchased a group on that they changed the dates on for the admission so now the only time I can take my son is on Monday but I don't know if they are closed on Monday.  If I can't take him Monday, he will not be able to go.

Yeah, I have a lot of things to think about for after Sabbath.  

So I will end with God is good.  He has been awesome to me and I do not deserve the great week I have received.  I literally did figures and was thankful for my salary for what it was before to hear later that I am getting a huge boost. Never did I expect it.  God is good man.