IT'S NEVER TOO LATE!

June 30, 2010

It’s Never Too Late!

Filed under: Uncategorized — ccassello @ 4:25 am

This morning, I did my journal writing and got a few more good writing ideas to develop. Then I worked some more on a short story I am in the process of rewriting. When I had spent a couple of hours at that, I took a break for lunch and to play some scrabble games on Pogo.

Then, I went to start cleaning out the hallway. I should feel good about getting rid of any clutter, but it seems like I take one pile apart to sort it and wind up with about four piles I don’t know what to do with and eventually have to stack them on each other to get them out of my way. Meanwhile, it looks like I made a bigger mess.

I got some papers bagged up and put into a Styrofoam box I was also planning to get rid of and took another break. Then, I decided I needed to get that stuff out of the apartment, so I wouldn’t keep looking at it and I took it down to the dumpster. I couldn’t bring myself to clean up the rest of the mess, however.

One of the best parts about trying to clean out all of the unnecessary stuff I have accumulated is that in doing so, I always find things I had hidden away and forgotten about. I found perfumes and makeups and other items that were given to me for Christmas years ago, which I have never used. I also found a card that still had money in it, and that is always a blessing when I need it. So, rather than concentrating on what still needs to be done, I need to tell myself that what I did was worthwhile. I hope I can keep the motivation going. 
 

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June 29, 2010

It’s Never Too Late!

Filed under: Uncategorized — ccassello @ 3:49 am
I am doing this entry early tonight so I have time to write my journal entries which I did not do yesterday or this morning. Today, I went downtown to return a book and DVD, pay $5.00 in fines I owed and renew some that were due tomorrow.

On my way home, the bus I got on developed a steering problem just outside the Loop, so we had to get off and get on the next bus, which was fortunately very close. When it got to one block from the end of the route it was rear ended by a mini van or pick up truck, I couldn’t quite tell which it was, but the driver went around the bus and kept going with it’s front side smashed in and the bumper left in the street. Two men were in it.

I filled out the card for the driver to report the accident. There were only two passengers on the bus at the time. I walked the extra block home. I got back just as the members of the church were preparing to go on the march. I had put on my red Labor of Love tee shirt this morning because I was planning to join them. I put my stuff down and went back out.

This time, rather than staying on 79th Street, the busiest and most commercial street in the area, we went down a side street that had been having a problem with gangs, where we often hear shooting, and I found out why it is so bad. There is a large four or five story apartment building, which is boarded up, as well as some two story and single family homes that are also boarded up. It was easy to see where people had gained entrance into them for whatever activities were going on there.

We came back on another block which has a blue police light at the corner and were praying with anyone we saw who desired to have prayer with us. One was a young woman who had been caught in gang fire and was shot in the stomach. One of our members lives on that block and had brought her up to the church for prayer. Pastor Williams had visited with her before today, because he told us who she was.
 

It’s Never Too Late!

Filed under: Hobbies — ccassello @ 12:50 am
I did not write this morning or this afternoon. I went to Sunday school and church service, stayed for the meal and the afternoon service, which they hold on the third and fourth Sunday’s of the month.

This morning the pastor gave a talk on getting ready for A Ridiculous Blessing. He used the passage in Luke 5 where Jesus gets into Simon’s boat and tells them to go out. He preaches to the crowd on the shore from the boat. Then he tells them to go out into the deep water and let down their nets. Simon thinks it’s a "ridiculous" idea. They had been out fishing all night and caught nothing and the fish would not be there during the day, but he did as Jesus said. They were blessed with such a "ridiculous" catch their nets began to tear and they had to call their partners to come and help get the fish to shore. Pastor Williams said we need to be ready to obey requests God may make of us that might sound "ridiculous", but if we do, we will be blessed in a "ridiculous" manner. He gave an altar call and most of the church went up to say they wanted such a blessing from God and he laid hands on each one. We also had one man come forward to give his life to the Lord and one woman got baptized.

At the afternoon service, we had a time for testimony after the worship team opened the service with a song, prayer and Scripture reading. I was asked if I would do the reading and Psalm 23 was suggested. I had to share my testimony how just the day before that had been the passage in the meditation I was reading and I tried to recite it from memory but was forgetting verses. I had known this since I was a child and I never seemed to forget it until then. When I checked out what I was missing it was "he leadeth me in paths of righteous for his name’s sake. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." I remembered what pastor had said about how Satan and fears and hates the name of the Lord, so I knew he did not want me to use it and he wanted to keep me in fear, so he had me forget the part about I will fear no evil. I thanked God that he was trying to make me forget that because it meant I was using it more than ever before. 

Pastor Williams spoke from Mark 3:1-6 about the man with the withered hand. Jesus told him to stretch forth his hand and when he did that he was healed. We have to be willing to stretch ourselves out of our areas of comfort, or past what is blocking us to receive healing from the Lord. 
 

June 27, 2010

It’s Never Too Late!

Filed under: Uncategorized — ccassello @ 3:59 am
I almost missed doing this blog entry.  I was in bed reading and would have turned out the light and gone to sleep but I remembered that I hadn’t done this yet.  If I had tried to go sleep with it on my mind I either would have been unable to relax or I would wake up too early or frequently during the morning.  
I was reading the writing book I bought.  As I said, I have not learned anything new about myself yet, but it helped me understand how I discovered what I did about myself and if I had such a book years ago, I may have learned what I now know much earlier.
The writing exercises are interesting.  She poses questions about our writing desires, motivations, etc. and asks that we answer the questions from our dominant and non-dominant hand and compare the answers.  I cannot write legibly with my right hand at all.  I can really admire those who right equally well with either hand, or at least almost as well, (certainly legible) with both.  Some great writers had that ability.  I know it takes practice.  I wonder if I can teach myself to do it.

June 26, 2010

It’s Never Too Lat3!

Filed under: Uncategorized — ccassello @ 3:05 am
Staying home again yesterday again was a good idea.  I was much better today.  I did not get to the center in time to watch the Friday  morning movie and they showed The Young Victoria which I had missed at the shows.  I will have to wait for the library to get it now.  Anyway, rather than go down for that, (which I forgot about) I went to the local coffee shop (we have one now) and got pancakes and a coffee.   They served me three large pancakes I could only eat half of for $2.00, much better than downtown prices, and what I would call a large cup of coffee was $1.25.  They made that too strong for me though and even after I had them dilute it, I did not finish the cup.

I got downtown early for the chorus rehearsal and waited till the movie ended and the chairs were arranged for the concert and then we spent 50 minutes going over a few parts where we had trouble with songs.  That gave us a 10 minute break while they let in the audience before we began the concert.  One of our members is on the board of the Chicago Geographic Society and he had made arrangements with them to sponsor the concert.  That was why we were able to have the extra musicians, an oboist, pianist and violinist.  Tim, the director, played electronic keyboard which gave a very good trumpet effect for the march from the opera Aida.   He wrote some amusing English lyrics to go with part of it too.
One song before Misirlu, I went back stage, so to speak, to change into my costume and Tim’s assistant Carol came back to help me.  I had to go out and through the hall and rooms next to ours to come in the door.  At an interlude in the song, when only the instruments were playing except for a few words and claps from the chorus, I danced down the center aisle and over to the side.  Most of the musicians were facing the other way and Tim was facing the chorus and conducting them and the musicians, so they did not get to watch me and several of the chorus members were not able to see me either.  I danced my way out when they were ready to begin singing again and went back to change again.  The audience gave a loud round of applause at the end of the whole piece and several people came to me later to tell me I did well.
I stopped at Borders after the concert, because I felt I deserved to treat myself to something special for having recovered and being able to perform today.  I bought a book The Write Type by Karen E. Peterson, Ph.D.  She is a psychologist and writer who has studied the way the brain functions and come up with explanations of why writers have such individual habits and how to find the pattern that works best for us.  I’m sure I have already figured out some of it, but much of it will give me one of those "Aha" experiences when we discover something that answers questions we have struggled with and it suddenly makes sense.

June 25, 2010

It’s Never Too Late!

Filed under: Uncategorized — ccassello @ 5:12 am
I thought about doing a blog entry this morning (technically yesterday morning since it is after midnight now) when I realized that I had not done it the night before, but all I would have had to report was that I had not gone out or done any writing again.

I was in bed and about ready to turn off the light and go to sleep when I remembered I had not blogged yet, so I got up to do this. I still did not go out today, (yesterday) but I was feeling much better.

I was feeling so much better, in fact, that I wrote a long journal entry, got an idea for another essay and typed up a poem I finished last night.  It is TRIPLE ABC’s of MAN and GOD. Each line uses at least three words starting with it’s letter of the alphabet which is why I call it TRIPLE ABC’s.  I posted it on writing.com. 

June 23, 2010

It’s Never Too Late!

Filed under: Uncategorized — ccassello @ 2:57 am
I don’t have anything interesting to report about today.   I was feeling better this  morning so I felt I had to get out.  I had some foot pain before I left but it went away.  I did not realize how hot and humid it was outside and when I got out, my "get up and go got up and went."  
I went to the library, returned two DVD’s and took out three more.  I tried to renew a book that was due today, bit someone had requested it so I will have to return it late tomorrow and pay a fine.  Maybe then I can renew it too, because sometimes the request was filled by another library before I return my copy.  
I got some Chinese food, ate part of it and brought the rest home for tomorrow’s meal.

June 22, 2010

It’s Never Too Late!

Filed under: Uncategorized — ccassello @ 3:32 am
Today was another do nothing day.  I did not go out at all and did not march with the church tonight.   Since that is what got me sick last week, I decided not to chance it again.  I’m still coughing up stuff every once and awhile, but not as often now.  I thought I might get some writing done, but other than a little journal writing, which I did not do yesterday, and this, I did not write today.  I have been trying to decide what of my unfinished projects I need to work on and wasn’t feeling attracted to any of them more strongly than another.  I spent the day trying to work New York Times crossword puzzles and watched the movie The Visitor.

June 21, 2010

It’s Never Too Late!

Filed under: Uncategorized — ccassello @ 4:05 am
Today I did get to church even though when I woke up I did not feel very much better and I thought maybe I would skip Sunday school and just go to church, but I got there for Sunday school too.  I was to meet with other new members in a class conducted by Pastor Williams.  He told us the story of how the church had gotten the building and that it is owned by the members, so we should are responsible to  help take care of it.
He gave another very meaningful sermon that most pastors never touch.  Using an Old Testament passage, he told the story David told King Saul before he fought the giant Goliath about how a lion attacked the flock of sheep he was caring for and took one of the lambs.  David said he went after the lion and killed it and got the lamb back.
Pastor said that Satan comes after the people who come to church and draws them back out into the world.  When that happens, we should not say there is nothing we can do about it, we need to go after the enemy and bring the people back into the church.  I have never heard a sermon like that preached before.  Most churches simply write off such people as not being ready.
After church, I came home and took a long nap.  Tonight I watched the movie Seven Pounds with Will Smith.  It was a very good film and something worth thinking about.  
I’m not coughing much now and when I do, little phlegm comes up so the cold has pretty much run it’s course.  Now I can concentrate on trying to speed up the healing of the sore under my nose and I should be in a better writing mood. 

June 20, 2010

It’s Never Too Late!

Filed under: Uncategorized — ccassello @ 3:52 am
There is nothing for me to tell you about my writing today, nor did I do anything exciting or interesting.  I still have not gotten the cold out of my system, but I decided that I needed to get out in the sunshine for at least a little while today.  So, I walked five blocks and waited a good length of time for a bus to go to the next neighborhood, where I do my banking and there is a Mc Donald’s, some stores and the library branch I use most of the time. 

I used the bank’s ATM, ate Mc Donald’s and used the computer and took out some DVD’s from the library.  Oh, I also stopped at the Walgreen’s and bought hydrogen proxide because they had a sale on two bottles and it is useful for so many things I like to be sure to keep it around, cough drops and tissue.  I began using the latter on the way home and used many tonight.  I have a sore under my nose from wiping it so much.  I hope I’ll be better tomorrow. 
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