A hopeful Christian

 ...because a setback is not a holdback. So I mentioned vaguely in my Saturday night post that I had something done in the morning only to have it undone  just minutes later. It was something I had waited so long to do and I was finally happy to see it accomplished. And I paid a pretty penny to the workers who did it on the side for me. This is a part of what I wrote on Saturday: This morning, I got caught in a one thing scenario. I had looked at all that had happened and I was happy with it and moments later, I decided to pursue this one thing I didn't need and could've let it be. My friend said:  to look on the bright side, "you'll learn a new skill".  (You can read the full post here ). I was striving for perfection and in trying to do so, I dissembled the whole thing. Well, I had reached out to someone and asked what his company would charge to have someone come help. And they were here this morning and it was done so quickly that by 0830, it was fixed. This ...

The Evil That Men do...  Sumo had an exciting ending today. I mean exciting! So much so that I am so excited – it elevated my mood by 1000% and I was just laughing and just expressing myself at what I watched.  First, I wondered who was the last Rikishi to fight Hosh and realized I had not seen Wakamotoharu . Sure enough, it was him. It’s interesting how I keep a banzuke in my head and realize who I have not seen. Yesterday or the day before, I thought to myself that I didn’t see Midorifuji and Daiesho and when I rewatched, it turned out that they fought each other when I got up for a brief moment. I tend to learn from Sumo so I'm going to share one of my Sumo Lessons today. Well, why was today’s final match exciting for me?  Let me give a little history here:  In the last tournament, Hoshoryu , the Yokozuna , side-stepped Wakatakakage , who was a Sekiwake at that time – the third highest rank. Yokozuna is the highest rank. A side-stepped is called a “ Henka ”....

 Now there is a situation where the one thing we lack is the very one thing we need above all else. Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Mark 10:21 (NIV) I wrote about The One Thing the other day. That was primarily focused on my pursuit of one trivial item that day that would've ended in a big fiasco but God was there to help me. The other side of this lies this interaction between Jesus and this man who approached him in Mark 10:17. He had done everything such as keeping the commandments and it sounds like he had some wealth also. In his case, he had earthly wealth or treasure but he wanted to know how to inherit eternal life. It sounds like he realized he didn't have the latter. No? As we can see from the verse Jesus tells him to do two things.  Go, sell everything he has and give to the poor Then, come follow him (...

I had gotten some work done today, one I was especially excited about only to have it erased just minutes after. I wasn't happy about that.  I was talking to a friend later and said shared what had happened.  My friend pointed out that prior to this, everything had been going well and something along the lines of focusing on it. And indeed, things had gone well. I had accomplished a few things in the morning and was now dealing with a minor setback. But here I was, focused on it. I thank God I made that call  because I refocused and got a lot more than today than I had planned.  In the course of the conversation, Adam and Eve came to mind. They had all these trees in the garden and the one they desired was the one tree they weren't supposed to have?  Are we any different? Do we tend to focus on the one thing ? Whether it's the one thing we don't have or the one thing that has gone awry when we have lots of things and many things have gone right, save for this on...

  I saw part of a show today:  Murder, She Wrote . A man comes down the balcony of her hotel room as she appears to be going to bed. He gestures for her to open and she lets him in.  A part of a conversation went like this: Dennis Stanton: would you care to offer me a nightcap? Jessica: No, no. And even if I did, I wouldn't.  Dennis Stanton: ...if people should knock, would you care to say I've been here for the last 30 minutes or so? Jessica: No, I would certainly not do that.  I thought: This is a person who says no again and again with such authority and confidence and without an apology. She's not ashamed to say no or refuse a request. She didn't have to let them down easy or feel bad for saying no. You have the right to say "No", period. No ifs, ands or buts.  In this case, she didn't know the man. She had only met him prior at an event and danced with him. Here he comes down her balcony asking for favors. And the thing is that he had the audacity to ...

  So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men, died in the same day. 1 Samuel 31:6 In reading this last chapter of the 1 Samuel, I was sad in a way for Saul's sons, especially Jonathan. I think, subconsciously at least, maybe it had to be this way for David to ascend the throne. And as I read about Saul begging his armor-bearer to kill him (who refused) and falling on his own sword, I felt a mix of sadness and pity for him as I thought: He could've chosen to obey God He could've chosen to not kill the priests, He could've chosen to live in a manner that pleased God.  Yet, He didn't.  The power of choice.  We have the power to choose what we do in this life but we need to remember that the LORD is; He sees and rewards/repay.  We can choose to do whatever we want to do. Although some choices may not be beneficial while others would be. Let us choose to love and obey God.  And to do what is good and right.  The LORD works out everythin...