Fandango has asked WHAT OUR PLANS FOR SEPTEMBER ARE. Plans! Plans!!! I thought 2020 had blown the idea of making plans right out of the water!!!
I am just fighting to get myself some kind of routine resembling the one I had before this year. Officially I am back to my normal hours, however I am not yet because I need to help cover the holidays of my colleagues (as they are covering mine when I have had time off recently). Also our students are hoping to go back to university soon, so we will lose them from our team. So (paid) work is eating up too much of my time.
My hope is to increase the amount of unpaid work I do for charities. But at the moment we are limited in some of our activities. So in some ways it may be wise to utilise this time to build up some funds so I can be available when we are allowed to increase our activities.
But in all honesty…I am not looking all that far ahead right now. One day at a time, one week at a time. I am just trying to endure in many respects. But I try to make sure I make time to enjoy life too. Jack is wonderful at helping me to enjoy life. I want to make the most of every moment with him!
My plan for September – to survive. To endure and to enjoy. I might have to pull some warmer clothes out of storage too. We’ll see. No matter what happens…I will keep singing!
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This was my response to the FANDANGO’S DOG DAYS OF AUGUST for today:
https://fivedotoh.com/2020/08/31/fandangos-dog-days-of-august-31/
Caramel 
Now that I am retired all months blend together anyway. LOL
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lol – I can imagine ❤
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You’re right. Since March, the best laid plans for most people have gone astray. Maybe, at some point we’ll once again be able to plan ahead.
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For both mice and men…
I know a lot of my friends and colleagues are reluctant to make any big plans. They are nervous about holidays overseas, moving house, changing jobs…everything seems unstable.
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Yup, we are all in the same boat, I’m afraid.
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All plans have been tossed away this year, its hard to plan because as soon as we think things look better it starts up again
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It’s such a weird stage. It feels as if we are all huddled away in our bunkers waiting for the storm to pass!
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Surviving is pretty much the extent of my plans, as well. Your first paragraph is basically what I thought when I first saw this prompt today. Plans? What are those?
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I think the last time I made any plans was February…since then life has been on a wing and a prayer!
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Surviving is my plan too… not sure I’ll have anything left for other plans.
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Just shows how quickly things can snowball…or perhaps unravel. But I keep reminding myself of what we need to survive…not a lot.
In my late teens and twenties I had the privilege of working with numerous people who were in concentration camps in Germany. They were a tremendous inspiration. One lovely gentleman I worked with on a project told me that for a number of years there were two things he needed to stay alive – a bowl and a spoon. Inside his mind he was rich with memories and hopes, ideas and imagination. The meagre nourishment in the camps kept his body alive. But inside of him there was a flame that kept burning and sustained him.
I have always taken from that the view that it is good to keep feeding my mind with lots of wonderful. Creation makes my flame burn. Love of family and friends. Kindness. Delicious food. Beautiful music. I want to nourish my mind so that if ever I was in a situation that felt like a nightmare, I could keep that flame burning. The desire for life the way we were meant to live it…not just as hamsters on a wheel provided by a consumer driven economic system…is strong. I have so many dreams of a richer life than we are allowed now. A life were we are not so dependant on gadgets, but can learn and use skills that have been forgotten.
I don’t like the idea of anyone suffering, but I know from many people I have spoken to that a change of circumstances, thought frightening, is not always detrimental. Sometimes we find we do better when we have less.
My mind is racing away sometimes. There is just so much news on the economy it is hard to switch off. But the wisdom of taking one day at a time and thinking about what we need for today are so helpful.
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I know you’re right. I feel like I lost everything that makes life worth living when the world shut down because of the virus, and the general consensus around here seems to be that none of that is coming back any time soon. I know that what I said goes against everything I believe as a Christian. But that feels like little comfort given everything going on, particularly with the current fragmented and argumentative state of Christianity in the US.
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There is no denying that the changes we have seen have been challenging to all of us. To me our reaction to those changes is natural because we thrive on social interactions and on having purposeful activity. We thrive on love. We thrive when we feel safe. Anxiety and undue fear can eat at our joy, and they are not always easy to keep in their place.
I don’t like to get involved in any kind of bickering between the treasured beliefs that some people depend on to sustain them, but for anyone who is a Christian I would have thought they would be in some ways stabilised by knowing that Christ foretold that many people would claim to be following him but would have strayed from his teachings. So the state of Christendom is no surprise.
However, Christ also gave the best advice on dealing with anxiety and how to cope with deteriorating conditions. He also drew attention to the root cause of mankind’s woes and pointed to the solution – the government that was central to his teaching. He predicted that during the last days of man’s rulership things would become more challenging because of the increase of trouble. He even compared it to the birthpangs of a pregnant women that become more intense and frequent up to the moment of birth.
I read there are something like 47,000 different denominations within Christendom (although I imagine it is hard to keep track of). I have workmates who are Muslim and Hindu and we have fascinating discussions. When I explained the range of different “Christian” churches to them I found myself mentioning that amongst such there are different understandings of the arrangement for forgiveness – some feeling it necessary to confess to a priest and then follow through on prayers by rote….others feeling once saved always saved covers their sin….others viewing the ransom as key to our understanding of why Adam’s offspring have a future at all. Some have different concepts of who they worship, or entirely different hopes regarding this earth, our Creator’s purpose and the Kingdom. Some take Christ’s words regarding not bearing arms and remaining neutral in politics literally….others feel as if the constitution of their land trumps the scriptures, or allows for a different interpretation. Some think that as Hollywood has become more prolific in what it features, so too the Author of the scriptures has changed his standards in accord with society’s views.
In other words, I absolutely understand why it can be very confusing and discombobulating!!! However, I am sure that if someone is earnestly and eagerly seeking to be close to their heavenly Father, the Sovereign of the universe, then He is more powerful than any threat. I am sure he can find ways to sustain those who genuinely seek His will.
Just as the scriptures foretold, it will become clearer who is actually doing what is pleasing to our Father and who has been seeking their own interests. So for all of us, it’s loyalty to our Creator and focusing on what He is doing that helps us at times when it becomes apparent that some who claimed to be enlightened are in the dark as regards the future.
I was reading something the other day and it made me think about how those who used to seem wise now seem short-sighted. It also made me think of the how it feels to spend your life working as a little cog in a system that makes a few people immensely rich and tolerates poverty for billions…and how it would feel to work towards a purpose that would see all mankind and other creatures thrive on a planet that was the home that was originally intended for us.
At the end of 2019 there were some girls outside work with Bibles in their hands who said some things I thought were very strange (they basically said that the second presence will be a woman who will rule the earth – in fact I have seen articles on line claiming it could be either Ivanka Trump or Megan Markle, which is pretty scary and just so wrong it is staggering). I asked them to show me scriptures to back up their claims. They got themselves in a right muddle. I showed them a few famous verses and asked them how they fitted with what they were preaching. They told me that I had a wicked heart because I could not see the truth in their words, and so God was not allowing me to see the truth.
I came away from them thinking of the whole of God’s Word from Genesis through to Revelation and how questionable it is for someone to take a pick and mix approach to support and justify their interpretation. It just made me feel more than ever that it is a very good idea to pray and read God’s word and ask Him directly for help to understand it, even if that means showing us where some of our previous understanding may have been blurred by what a religious figure told us it meant.
One thing I am sure of is my human Dadda wants me to know him and benefit from a close relationship with him. So I am absolutely sure that my heavenly Father wants than even more. I am sure He can help us to find refreshment and not get burdened down with all the squabbling amongst political groups, religious entities and commercial organisations. I am sure there will be a lot of shouting and blaming and a lot of propaganda. But I want to keep my eyes fixed on something better than all of that, as I am sure that just as was forecast the storm will end. Much better times ahead.
At that time Jesus said in response: “I publicly praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intellectual ones and have revealed them to young children. Yes, O Father, because this is the way you approved. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one fully knows the Son except the Father; neither does anyone fully know the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son is willing to reveal him. Come to me, all you who are toiling and loaded down, and I will refresh you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am mild-tempered and lowly in heart,, and you will find refreshment for yourselves. For my yoke is kindly, and my load is light.”
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You’re right. I know I should take comfort in the promises that God has for us, and the fact that all of these troubles were foretold. I know that in my head. But it doesn’t make it easy to feel it, especially with how messed up in the head I can be sometimes.
I think God is probably also trying to teach me something through these times, something about how I’ve been focusing too much on earthly things. But maybe he’s trying to tell me I need to leave and go live somewhere less toxic and restrictive. But that’s a huge scary decision. Or he might be preparing me for just the opposite; maybe he wants me here because this is my mission field, and Christians were never meant to felt comfortable in the world. I just don’t know…
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