Change of Mind

 Happy Sabbath,

I had a good week and good Sabbath today.  I have something I need to pray about.  I don't know if the pastor did not get my message or if he saw it and decided to ignore it so that perhaps the problem I presented would go away.  I told him last month that I was stepping down from being the music coordinator.  I told someone else who was not on the board who I thought would be a good option a week or so later. Then today I told two board members and realized that both were completely unaware and that in fact the pastor had not told them.  I thought it would have been discussed at board meeting but turns out they were not able to have one despite announcing they would be meeting at least twice now.  I know people prayed for someone to come and I am repeatedly told that I am an answer to those prayers.  I felt a strong push to come help this church when it came to piano, but music coordinator was something they just tacked on and I don't know so much about that.  I have to pray and hopefully have an answer by tomorrow.  

I am thankful for new things I can try.  I have been making asian street snacks from mandarin and strawberry tanghulu to dalgona with different flavors and other fun foods.  I am spending quality time with my son.  I also have changed my about selling my car.  My dad went ahead without my permission and paid insurance on it for another 6 months.  He went to talk to someone about a transmission and went out thursday to drop a deposit on one.  I am expecting to pick up the transmission monday and have someone identified to install and make other repairs for way less than the other people quoted me.  Yesterday I turned the car on for the first time since early January.  I hope this works and I am thankful for my dad's persistence, even though it is annoying when he doesn't listen to me.  I can get some more life out of this car and I am looking forward to having my backup again.

This week I've made exceptions that in a normal week, I would not do at work.  I decided to make myself available for later meetings. I decided to spend a little more than I have for most of the month on things I wanted and didn't necessarily need.  I decided to change my mind about several seemingly small things that make a big impact on my day.  

I don't know what is in store for next week but I know I have some challenges up ahead and have to give them to the Lord.  I need to go clean up the mess I left in the kitchen and tend to my son.  I thank God that I am able to change my mind and that I have not suffered any ill consequences yet.  I thank Him for being with me and helping me to become a better person every day.  May the Lord be with you and bless you for the new week to come. 

A GOOD Week

Happy Sabbath

What am I thankful for this week? I an thankful for the Lord helping me to do well with meetings I had to facilitate. I thank the Lord for putting it in my dad's mind to tackle the headlight issue with the suv I drive. With his help were were able to change out the bulb and I saved probably $100 or more as I didn't have to go to the auto shop to get them to do it. I saw how it has to be done and if I have the right tools, I can change the other one on my own.

I thank the Lord that my dad keeps contact with good mechanics. I am reconsidering fixing my car as there is an opportunity that I may not have to fork out as much money as it would have been with these other people I've gone to. I am saving up money as fast as possible and hope to either fix the other or buy a replacement. 

I am thankful that my son opens up to me and let's me know the good and the bad that happens at school and or church. I'm thankful I can talk to my son on difficult topics and prepare him for life as he grows up. I had a hard discussion with him this morning and want to make sure he knows there is a God in heaven who loves him and that he has me in his corner as well.

I am thankful for my jobs.

I am thankful for those plantar fascitiis foot sleeves. My feet started killing me around Christmas time and I happened upon these sleeves in a store and decided to pick them up as they were severely discounted. It made foot life bearable again. I have good arches and don't know why I am having such problems, but when I wear those thangs everything feels alright again. For them I thank God.

I am thankful that my employer recognizes holidays. I had no clue Presidents day was coming up and was pleasantly surprised to find that I don't have to work that day. I get I believe 11 paid holidays and it feels like endless pto. I am thankful for it.

God is good. I've come and gone and come back again safe and sound and I can only give Him the glory for this and many more unspoken things.

A Nice Day

 Happy Sabbath,

I'm a bit late getting on here.  I am having a nice day today and spent some time talking to my son which is always nice.  The week was good.  We were looking through some photos and talking about good times in the past few years.  He was so surprised I have so many photos of him.  That boy is my world man.  I have to find a way to save or print the photos so I don't end up losing more of them.  I had started a portrait of my son which is hanging on the living room wall and I have a bad habit of stopping and not finishing my art.  I think I will take the image I wanted to paint and print that large at a Staples and save the sketch for a frame above my bed in my room.  It is an image of my son sleeping while at church.  He must have been about 3 or 4 years old and absolutely adorable.  I would love to have that photo in my living room blown up but have to check the cost on it.  Or I could just suck it up and paint a masterpiece that won't cost me anything but will be worth more than any print I can get from a box store.  

Something to think about for tomorrow.  

I had a good Sabbath at church.  I also had a good week.  I prayed for the Lord's help with some difficult meetings I had and God helped me through them.  I sensed when certain people would attempt an attack and I was ready for them.  I thank God for that.  Things are getting harder but I know I can get through anything with Jesus leading me.  I have managed to save my first $1000 towards getting a new car.  I have alot of savings goals floating around and monies moving from this or that account.  I have avoided having to purchase groceries for some weeks now and am getting by with what I have in my pantries.  I am building my son's portfolio and getting my stuff together and it feels good to be in this position.  I don't need to go out and buy new clothing. I can shop my closet and find great clothing I have not worn in years.  I do not need to buy all these food items.  I have plenty in my store house and am glad I moved like Joseph back when they were warned of famines.  I have had some delicious and nutritious meals prepared in my kitchen as a result of the things I have saved up over the years for emergencies.  My bills are reasonable and often low.  I have just what I need.  I will not live this year like 2021 where I practically threw money out the window at any and all things I wanted.  I will not live like 2022 where I frequently treated myself to expensive food purchases I didn't need all the while saving for other things.  This year is not a year of fun.  I don't know how long I will have this part time job or any other job so I have to make each month, each paycheck count and that is exactly what I'm doing for 2023. 

I'm going to get off of here and talk with my son but I hope that you are having a nice day today.  I hope that you are having a great time with your family and getting enough private time with the Lord to renew your mind, your energy, and refocus you on your path to health, success, and everlasting life.  May the Lord be with you.  Happy Sabbath :)

Disguised

Happy Sabbath

I had a good day at church and a great week. Today I came in to church planning to stay focused on being ready for the children's Sabbath school..I remember passing a gentleman looking for my son and the person reached up to me and gave me a piece of paper asking if I could help him with clothing. I work in another state and was at a loss of what to do. I told him I'll be back and went to another church member to alert her that we had someone in need. She gave me a beautiful embellished blankey and i gave it to him and told him we will work something out after service and asked him to stay later also for a meal. I then started doing searched and planned to go to my parent's house because the guy appeared to be similar in size to my dad and wanted to see if he had any clothing to spare. I remembered I had a blanket in the back of my vehicle and a large jacket that could fit him in my car back at home but that jacket would be too thin to help on a cold day such as this. I looked for contact info for someone my former church thinking I could see if they had spare items seeing as that they have a shelter on code blue days. Today was one of those days. I thought about going to the store on Sabbath but I also thought about my penny pinching plan for this year because I'm trying to save for a car, pay off student loan debt and my mortgage. I'm not proud of that thought. While I was at the piano for service, I searched for what I could and was determined to head out to get the items once the sermon was to start. I looked at the bulletin and saw the title, Who is my neighbor. I also heard the man introduce himself to the church as Mr. Neighbor. I saw a certain name was listed to speak and saw that his wife and children were present but had no clue where he was. When it was time for the speaker to start I grabbed my car keys and headed down to look for the man intending to ask for his size but then I saw him walking on the other side of the church towards the front. The speaker started to speak and I then realized the speaker was disguised as the homeless man I was looking for.

Turned out the sis who I spoke to found out before hand because she tried to help him when he approached the church but he was suspicious to her so she called the police. She wanted to make sure he got something to eat but wanted to keep the congregants safe because people are out here doing crazy things at churches. He went on about his experiences with various church members. Out of 8 people he gave a card to, 2 only responded to try to help him. One person moved away from him. We have work to do on ourselves.  I'm a social worker now but when this happened before with a real person in another land I was not. A woman had approached asking for help and I wanted so desperately to assist her. I believe I contacted the police trying to arrange for assistance through them. There was one person who identified herself as a social worker in our church and when I went to her I was disappointed that she had no suggestions and washed her hands of the situation.  People didn't want to step out of their comfort zone. I looked online for supports on the spot not knowing what we could do.

I want to be better prepared in any area I'm in. It's not enough to offer a meal and wave them off. I want to take some time to create a resource list for our community so that when the need strikes we will have an answer to give, a number to call or place to send them so they have immediate support and safety.  I do that for my clients every day and at church it should be no different.  Be ready no matter what to serve.

God gave me this verse on Thursday. I wish I had it Sabbath last week when I sent the text that I was stepping down from my departmental role. Even though I made that decision, I still have a job to do for the Lord and I thank Him for His encouragement to continue to press on, no matter my state.

1Corinthians 15:58 says: So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

I felt like decisions I was making and work I was doing was useless, that my leadership was being ignored. It may have been but no matter what, as long as I give the Lord my heart and try to do His will, even if things don't go the way I expect, I know HE is working everything out for our good.

God is good.