Personal Log 12.4.21

This is my annual year-end blog & it may be my last blog ever, who knows, sometimes you just get tired of things but perhaps I just need to shake things up…

The year started of w/ agitation, aggravation, irritation & apprehension. The fallout of the US Election was still very much fresh & even though many were on edge, I had peace that God was in control & that everything would work out, hopefully sooner than later. It's now later & I still haven't lost hope that God is going to make things right. In the end, it's the Kingdom that matters, nothing else. Nations rise & fall but the Kingdom lasts forever.

After Election Night/Week/Month, I took a 6+ month break from the news & focused more on the audio Bible & some teachings from my pastor on Youtube. It made a huge difference in my outlook & mindsets. I truly learned that input = output, in other words: watch what you watch.

February & March I tried to connect w/ people in my fellowship & they wanted no part of it; yeah it hurt but that's just the way it is. I still feel out of place there, 'not exactly sure why. Maybe I just think outside the box too much...

In April I got serious about Cribbage. My brother Tim played it several years ago & it's a 400 year old game so I thought it's time I learned it, now he & I play it every couple of months & it's a good time of bonding between brothers. We used to bond over cycling, bowling, tennis, golf & Michigan Rummy but those things are kinda out at the moment (except for Michigan Rummy of course). 

The Spring found me laying out the croquet course on my folk's lawn & family from in/around/out of town all came for the annual games. I played a little bocce this year but not as much as I wanted to, though I did write out the plans for a new variant of it that I invented, 'still working on the rules...

In July, my cousins Darlene & Tabetha from Cleveland came for a visit. I had not seen them for 14 years, not since their brother's funeral & we picked right up where we left off. Darlene had suggested we try a cousins video chat sometime & I've been working on it since then & that's no easy task = lots of cousins & lots of moving parts if you know what I mean.

In August I got COVID, the less said about that the better. The worst things were the constant coughing, fatigue & the vomiting; I just couldn't keep anything down but now I'm all better & my natural immunity is sky-high.

September & October found me making another serious effort to connect w/ people in my fellowship & also my scattered extended family. As for my fellowship there's still a frostiness there but I still make the effort before service to say hi but that's about it, I guess I'm just not liked & that's okay, even Jesus couldn't win a popularity contest. 

My extended family was more than happy to keep in touch though, 'been Skyping my aunts & brothers more than ever & it's been great. It's renewed my interest in video chatting so between Zoom, Skype & Google Meet, there's more than enough ways to connect w/ those who actually want to connect. 

'Been streamlining things across the board: physically getting rid of junk… also streamlining my social media accounts by finally leaving Facebook (though the day before I was going to deactivate my account a got a message from my genealogy group on there, so I posted & brought some clarity to some research which sparked more research! So I haven't “left” left 'just not posting anymore & will deactivate soon.)

I am still on Twitter, Gab & XAPiT though Twitter may be on on the chopping block soon, it all depends on censorship & how far & deep they will go to control everything. I don't have that problem on Gab or XAPiT. The founder of Gab, Andrew Torba, is a Christian & the creator of XAPiT is Steve Schultz from Elijah List so I lean in the direction of supporting fellow Christians in their businesses & platforms.

I'm still praying about a Zoom/Skype music teaching ministry thingy for area musicians & I might explore Rumble a bit in lieu of Youtube, we'll see...

I've been recording off & on all year: some instrumental stuff, some worship songs, some misc songs & lately I've written a couple of new worship songs. I would love to collaborate but everyone is sooooooooooooo busy it's a little difficult at the moment. Perhaps after the Holidays I can hit the ground running in that area.

So that's that, I started the year w/ an uneasy peace (is that even a thing?) & I end the year more Kingdom-minded than I've ever been. I hope to continue that into 2022 & beyond.

If I do continue blogging, it may be different than before. Different is good.