In high school, mainly, I started to regularly read a portion of the Bible before I went to bed at night. This has been a habit that I've adjusted, but kept doing through the years. Last night saw the completion of another time through and tonight will have another start beginning with Genesis 1:1.
When I first started my reading, I only did one chapter a night. This is what I felt was a good pace and it stayed for a number of years. Sometime after high school, I went up to reading three chapters a night, and that has primarily been what I stay with. At that rate, it comes close to reading the entire Bible in a year. I do skip some nights though, especially when falling asleep, so it does take me more than a year to complete a cycle.
I haven't kept track, but this time through was likely my tenth or so complete reading. After all these years of study, you would think I would be an expert, but I'm not. I can recite much of the information and recognize several passages, but there are very few places I can give you the exact passage where something is found. For that, I often need to refer to a service like BibleGateway.com where I can search for a certain phrase. Unfortunately, one of my biggest problems is distractions, I can easily let my mind wonder away from what I'm doing.
This results in several verses being glossed over, but I can't remember what it was. Therefore, I may reread part of it again and possibly end up with the same problem. It's an area I continue to work on, but one that needs a lot of attention.
After my first few times reading from cover to cover, I started adding in a few requirements. A few times was reading every foot note that was referenced. Some of these did not agree with God's word, so they weren't always helpful. For this time through, I don't know that I'll add any requirements, but I will see how it goes and new things I learn!
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
Politics
Let me start off by saying that I am NOT into politics. I've heard many times than Iowa's first in the nation status for primaries is a great honor, but not if you ask me. To me, it just means we're the first state in the nation to get annoying commercials and phone calls. If a candidate had me do their web site, it may be a different story, but that has yet to happen. This election though, seems to be extra annoying, the worst since I have been of voting age at least.
The phone calls and TV commercials have been constant for nearly a month now and will likely continue to get worse until November. I understand that the candidates want to get their positions in the public's eye, but the negative ads are probably the worst. If you pay attention to the news, which I do, it's easy to tell the false information from the true. Unfortunately, they both continue to be told no matter how many news reports go out.
My biggest problem with this current election is that I don't care for either of the presidential candidates. One is very against what I believe in social issues, and the other is a long way off in economic and health issues. If the two were combined, I may have a candidate I'd like, but with politics, I wouldn't guarantee it.
With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, I have more relief from health insurance problems than I ever have had in my life before. That's not saying I agree with all of its points, but it has made a large improvement over what previously existed. Those that want to overturn it unfortunately won't say what would replace it. If we go back to insurance plans with lifetime caps and high rates, I'll be back to watching the time tick down until I'm without coverage. In Iowa, that means a mandatory sentence of life in a nursing home.
I understand the idea of having a democratic election and congress, and think it's one of the better ways of having government. Unfortunately, as one of our early presidents warned, forming democratic parties could mess everything up. He was unfortunately correct, but did not offer a solution if they did form. The next several weeks could be interesting, but I can't wait until November 7 when elections are done.
The phone calls and TV commercials have been constant for nearly a month now and will likely continue to get worse until November. I understand that the candidates want to get their positions in the public's eye, but the negative ads are probably the worst. If you pay attention to the news, which I do, it's easy to tell the false information from the true. Unfortunately, they both continue to be told no matter how many news reports go out.
My biggest problem with this current election is that I don't care for either of the presidential candidates. One is very against what I believe in social issues, and the other is a long way off in economic and health issues. If the two were combined, I may have a candidate I'd like, but with politics, I wouldn't guarantee it.
With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, I have more relief from health insurance problems than I ever have had in my life before. That's not saying I agree with all of its points, but it has made a large improvement over what previously existed. Those that want to overturn it unfortunately won't say what would replace it. If we go back to insurance plans with lifetime caps and high rates, I'll be back to watching the time tick down until I'm without coverage. In Iowa, that means a mandatory sentence of life in a nursing home.
I understand the idea of having a democratic election and congress, and think it's one of the better ways of having government. Unfortunately, as one of our early presidents warned, forming democratic parties could mess everything up. He was unfortunately correct, but did not offer a solution if they did form. The next several weeks could be interesting, but I can't wait until November 7 when elections are done.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Vacation 2012
Two days ago, I dropped my parents off for a train trip out west. They arrived today in Sacramento and plan to spend about a week in the area before returning. My parents try to manage one extended trip every year and this one has been planned for quite some time.
Even though I don't go anywhere, it seems like a vacation for me as well. I get to try my own recipes, food experiments as I call them, and do what I want since I have more nursing hours. I don't much different that normal, but it is a nice break from each other.
In a few weeks, I'm planning to visit a friend of mine, Ken, in northern Iowa. He is a fellow quadriplegic, but does not have private insurance and was forced into a nursing home in 2000. To say the least, Ken's living conditions are not pleasant and he has a very poor quality of life. It's possible that I will one day end up with him, so I try to be a friend and visit and/or call a few times a year, but it's rare I remember. It's something I hope to work on in the coming months.
That is about all I have to report for now. I will see if I find any noteworthy recipes by the time my parents return.
Even though I don't go anywhere, it seems like a vacation for me as well. I get to try my own recipes, food experiments as I call them, and do what I want since I have more nursing hours. I don't much different that normal, but it is a nice break from each other.
In a few weeks, I'm planning to visit a friend of mine, Ken, in northern Iowa. He is a fellow quadriplegic, but does not have private insurance and was forced into a nursing home in 2000. To say the least, Ken's living conditions are not pleasant and he has a very poor quality of life. It's possible that I will one day end up with him, so I try to be a friend and visit and/or call a few times a year, but it's rare I remember. It's something I hope to work on in the coming months.
That is about all I have to report for now. I will see if I find any noteworthy recipes by the time my parents return.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)