Tag Archives: My Philosophy

This Year…

03 Friday Jan 2014

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A bad habit I’m going to break: How about… procrastination? That’d be a great one to break because it would get me into a pattern of actually accomplishing things, including breaking other bad habits.
A new skill I’d like to learn: This will be the year of the driver’s license, may my mother nag me until I’m dead if I don’t accomplish this goal. Also, perhaps I will be exploring the Gemology courses that she has taken. She’s a good tutor, and she already has the books.
A person I hope to be more like: I guess I don’t know, aside from certain aspects of certain people that I’d like to try to incorporate into what makes me who I am. I’d like to have some of the discipline of Tink, who would wake up way too early to read the bible and schedule in a work out every day. I’d like to have some more patience and compassion, like my wonderful BFF. And I’d like to surprise people with what I’ve done while they weren’t paying attention, much like Beyonce.
A good deed I’m going to do: I’m hoping to put away/send in a check to a favorite non-profit of mine. First I want to figure out where the money will come from… basically I want to actually plan this one out.
A place I’d like to visit: Apparently I’m going to be going to a wedding in Florida (yay Holly!), but other than that I would love to visit Boston, and perhaps Burlington, VT.
A book I’d like to read: I want to read way too many to list here.
A letter I’m going to write: I want to write a letter to my sister. She hates me. I’m more than she can handle, so maybe she can handle just a letter.
A new food I’d like to try: I think I’m going to be exploring the world of seafood, and also the use of crock-pots. Other than that I have a zillion things pinned to my food board on Pinterest so…
I’m going to do better at: Finding where my priorities lie, which is essential for scheduling my time wisely. I also hope to become better at sticking to schedules, because if I set them for myself I tend to shrug them off. I’d like to become more accustomed to the boundaries that scheduling my time will provide, because I do believe it will make me more productive. And ultimately that is what I want to be better at, being more productive.
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SOAP: Thoughts on Soil

21 Monday Oct 2013

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DSC_0536Scripture:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22&23

Observation: When we are living life through the Spirit of God our qualities become more like His. I do not have many of these qualities. And I need them.
Breaking down the concept of fruit, how does one get fruit? Through a plant. How does one grow a plant? By planting a seed. How does one get a good, healthy, strong plant that grows amazingly delicious fruit? By planting it in good soil and tending to it.
I can see that I’m missing some of the fruit of the Spirit in my life, and I’m convicted. I have not been tending the seed of faith that God gave me, and I may even be polluting it’s soil.
On a side note, this realization has nothing to do with anyone else. I’m the kind of person that will compare things in my life to anyone else’s, and this conviction has nothing to do with anyone I have compared myself with, it’s just a straight up message from God that’s popped up on my hard drive. As Galatians says in chapter 6, each one should test his own actions so that he can take pride in himself without comparing himself to somebody else, because each one should carry their own load.

Application: I have this conviction that I need to start “tending the garden”, so to speak. And I feel, above the human tendency toward shame and guilt, blessed to have a God who wants to show me that I need to change some things. His guidance and mercy in this revelation gives me more faith in what He can do, and more determination to start “tending the garden”. So how do I do this?
I read recently that the fruit of the Spirit grows in the soil of obedience. Them’s strong words for a rebellious sinner like me. But I’ve thought of two things that will hopefully aid me in using this statement as encouragement.
For one, the H. Sizzle works in us in ways that we can’t even imagine, because it’s the Spirit of God and He can do all things. He can do things like take the small amount of patience, kindness, or joy that I have and turn it into a mountain of fruit. He can take any small investment and turn it into a huge return. So while I take small steps in faith I know that God will have a wonderful journey set out ahead of me.
Secondly, I do recall that in Isaiah even Jesus “grew up before him like a young plant”. Jesus himself had to deal with the temptations and trials of being human. Sure, Son of God, absolutely perfect and all that, but then this description… Because he was also human. It wasn’t necessarily the fact that He is the Son of God that made Him grow so well. Looking at the Gospels show that He wasn’t just preaching the gospel and sleeping and eating, He took the time to cultivate His garden. So while I am not perfect in any way, I still find encouragement in that the most perfect Son of God still “tended His garden”.

Prayer: God, thank You for being able to bring me into places where I can be repentant and hopeful. Thank You for being merciful enough to forgive me for being imperfect, and still desiring to draw me closer to You. You know how weak my will is, how difficult it is for me to change, but You are bigger and stronger than my will ever is. Thank You for sending the Holy Spirit and for the work that will be done in me. While I try to take the steps towards obedience I pray that You will guide my feet and give me endurance. Thank You for being with me every step of the way.
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Best of the Best

28 Wednesday Aug 2013

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sharingiscaringRelationships are difficult.  They require so much work, not just when they begin, but through out their entire existence if you want them to thrive.  You only seem to get back what you put into them, which can be a really hard thing for people to understand.  Sometimes people put in too much, sometimes they put in too little.  Sometimes they take all of the benefits, and sometimes they don’t want anything to do with them.  It’s incredibly difficult to figure out where the balance is for the give and take.
I am incredibly thankful for the relationships in my life where I don’t have to spend a lot of time computing what amount of effort I should be putting into a relationship.  I have 3 relationships currently that have their own sort of balance, and they make life so much easier for me.

1.  My BFF, best friend forever, my Fab Twin, the Trixy to my Vixy, the Blair to my Serena… depending on the day, we switch these rolls.  She and I are not always balanced with our efforts on the day to day, but all of the imbalances on the small scale balance out on the big one.  We both give, we both take, and we both enjoy the rewards of our efforts.
2.  I have the perfect balance with Netflix.  I give them $8 a month and they give me the inability to have a social life.  It’s a model I would love to see replicated in many more of my relationships.
3.  Christ doesn’t ask me for much more than my entire life, and in return gives me eternal life with Him.  It’s actually incredibly imbalanced, because the efforts I have to put in to it are nothing compared to what He has already done for me.

Does anyone else find balance in relationships difficult?  Are there some relationships that are just easier to balance?

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Today is my Birthday.

14 Sunday Jul 2013

Posted by in Dirty Little..., Dirty's Reports, Human Interest

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photo (3)This year I feel like I’ve only learned one thing that’s noteworthy: if you can survive a loved one’s death you can live through any heartache or break that comes along.

“He heals the brokenhearted
    and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars;
    he gives to all of them their names.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
    his understanding is beyond measure.” – Psalm 147:3-5
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I’m Thirsty.

27 Thursday Jun 2013

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champagne

You know what I don’t like?  Tea.  You know what I’m drinking right now?  Tea.

I have a very romantic ideology of tea, what with it being British and something Doctor Who drinks for it’s antioxidants, but… I can’t.

For one thing, I don’t know if I can make it correctly.  The flavor seems off, and since I’m stealing it from my super cool brother while he isn’t home I’m guessing at how much to put in with the water in the thingy that he got from Teavana.  Also, it takes possibly 15 minutes to make.  That is a lot of time I could be sitting and playing Angry Birds, or doing laundry, or contemplating the idea of exercise while watching HBO.

I’ll finish my mug, just so I’m not wasting my brother’s money.  And I’m very overtired and feeling icky so maybe it’ll do me some good, but God, at such a cost.

I try at times to find different beverages to pass my time trying because I usually drink water or vodka, whiskey, tequila, etc.  I keep thinking that the key to not coming home from work and taking 2 shots while complaining about how no one in this family understands that dinner time is at 6:30 pm and not 9 pm is to switch from shots to something else.  I have considered coffee, but what with how it makes me feel sort of ill and jittery, plus how I am a fan of teeth whitening strips that may make my teeth all the more able to stain, I don’t really go for it these days.

I’ve been thinking that perhaps a pretentious sparkling water would work, as I’m a huge fan of San Pellegrino Pompelmo.  It is the most delicious of all the sparkling lemonade drinks in the entire world, but it’s expensive.  I got bills, son, about 40 grand of ‘em.  I can’t always be spending $10 on a six pack of mineral water goodness.  So I have tried to switch over to polar seltzer water.  I only buy it in 12 packs of cans because it’s the best way to force yourself to drink a carbonated beverage before it goes flat, and the rest of the supply won’t get flat either.  I have a few issues with this beverage as well though, such as how it’s not very tasty unless you doctor it.  This can be problematic because I always seem to find vodka in the mix… also, it’s quite dehydrating.  I always feel way more thirsty after having a can, and the more I drink the thirstier I am!  Then there is the fact that my brother likes to steal them and drink 6 out of 12 cans in 36 hours of their being in the house.  This becomes a problem, because I have an issue with running out of things.  For some reason I need to have something fully restocked before I use the last of it.

My point is, this is my journey.  It’s a part of my life and in this season I am trying to figure our how to tantalize and entertain my taste buds without alcohol.  Suggestions are welcome. dirty