Questions, Questions

Actually, it's just one question (two,if you feel generous in your commenting).  About a year ago, Dave over at Wicked Gay Blog asked "What is your favorite part of a man's body?"  I'm going to modify that question a little, though you are more than welcome to tell me what is your favorite part of man's body is (though like Dave said in his post, we need to exclude the penis, because we all obviously love penis).  What I want to know is this:

What is the first thing you notice about a guy?

For me it's one of two things.  If I see him from behind, well the first thing I notice is his, well, his behind.  If I see him from the front, I am most often drawn to his eyes.  Then my eyes will travel to various other parts.  There are so many things that can make a guy attractive (and I am only speaking superficially here, because I tend to rank personality and intelligence at the top of my list).  It could be his nose or his ears.  It could be his bulge or if he's freeballing in athletic shorts, his VPL (visible penis line, for,those who might not know).  It's also according to how he is attired.  If he's been working out and only has on shorts, then I'm going to check out his chest and stomach, and if he turns around his back and shoulders.

If I had to pick a favorite part of a man's body, I'd have to say that I love a nice bubble butt. I love having something to grab onto. That gets me every time.  However, if I see a guy without a shirt, I am drawn to his chest.  He doesn't have to have perfectly chiseled pecs either, but if there is some definition and he has nice nipples that really does drive me wild, mainly because I want to nibble on them.

You now know mine and why, so what about you?  What is the first thing you notice about a guy? And, as a bonus, what is your favorite part of a man's body?

The Fruit of the Spirit

By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.Galatians 5:22–26

It never ceases to amaze me how the Christian community has endured in spite of the differences in biblical interpretations and analyses. In some cases, the only thing Christians have in common with each other is Christ. The rituals and dogmas among Christians are extraordinarily different. There are poisonous snake handlers, horse and buggy riders, and Voodoo Christians. There are those who believe that dancing will doom you to hell and those who dance during their services. Some fill their church with music, while others like the churches of Christ forbid any musical instruments in their church. My list could go on and on and on!

Galatians 5:22-26 binds our “fractured” Christian Community into “one” through the nine manifestations (fruits) of the spirit. That includes mainstream Christians as well as the snake handling Christians. Even those Christians who have never heard of the “fruits of the spirit” have felt the spirit in their heart and soul and most certainly witnessed them in Jesus Christ.

These manifestations are available to all of our brothers and sisters in Christ, just for the taking:

LOVE: Without love, humanity would not exist. There could be no human interaction. You would have no feelings for friends, family, or those you hold close to you. Love is so much more than a romantic relationship. Love resonates throughout our life. Love is what makes us human.

JOY: Don’t mistake happiness for joy. They are not the same. There is a vast difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is based on short-term events or “things” — a new car, a kiss, an awesome gift. Joy comes from God and is born from within. Happiness is the Easter Bunny. Joy is the risen Christ.

PEACE: This is not the peace that comes at the end of a battle. It is the peace of the Lord. This is a peace that comes from within, and is always with you. It is enduring peace of mind, contentment, and serenity.

FORBEARANCE: Forbearance means to tolerate even when you get less than you think you deserve; to be patient, and deal with difficult circumstances with gentleness and calmness.

KINDNESS: Kindness is a smile rather than a frown, a word of encouragement and comfort, or a warm, sincere, much-needed hug. I know it is a billboard cliché, but kindness truly can come from asking yourself, “What would Jesus do?”

GOODNESS: Generosity is being mindful of those who have less than you — doing good things from the goodness of your heart, not for the tax break or the glory. Goodness is fed from the inner qualities of virtue, excellence of character, and attitude.

FAITHFULNESS: Faith is knowing that God always does what is best for you, not necessarily what you ask for. Don’t lose faith when doubts creep into your heart. Doubt is a powerful component of faith.

GENTLENESS: Do not confuse gentleness with weakness. Gentleness requires great strength. Gentleness enables a person to patiently endure insults and injuries received at the hand of others. It allows us to keep cool when others explode. Gentle people do not seek revenge; they leave that in God’s hands.

SELF-CONTROL: We all know what our self-control failures are: material possessions, promiscuity, anger, alcohol, drugs, etc. Our “head” knows when our human desires are not right for us — and, as a result, there is a tug of war between our head and our desires. And sometimes it is a major tug of war. We must always be vigilant to keep our self-control.

The creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry, once said, “If man is to survive, he will have learned to take a delight in the essential differences between men and between cultures. He will learn that differences in ideas and attitudes are a delight, part of life’s exciting variety, not something to fear.” 

Moment of Zen: A New Life

A new life worth living. 

A new day worth getting up for. 

A new beginning.

Sleeping In

It has been an incredibly busy week getting settle into my new place, and while I'm not completely settled yet, I don't have any appointments tomorrow. I can just sleep in and enjoy my new and very comfortable mattress that was delivered yesterday. The only thing that I do need to do is walk over to the post office and pick up my keys to my p.o. box.  When I paid for it, the keys that I was given didn't work, so they had to rekey it.  I seriously doubt I'll have any mail, but you never know.

Every time I have ever moved into a new place, I forget how much there is to do.  There is even more when you pack light and do it all yourself. I never realize how many unexpected expenses there are when moving to a new place.  It didn't help that I had a mishap on the way up and was delayed a day, which actually added the expense of two extra nights because even though I cancelled my reservation at the hotel I'd planned to stay at the first night, it was after the 24 hour deadline for cancellations.  I'll get reimbursed for most of my expenses, but I'm not sure when I will get that reimbursement.

Moving is also very stressful.  I'm in a new place far away from anything that is familiar to me.  Thank goodness for Apple Maps.  It's told me where grocery stores and mattress stores and various other stores I needed were. It's nic for anything that makes this process easier.

Furniture

First off, since neither FedEx or UPS would bring my deliveries up to my apartment, I had to carry them all up the stairs.  That really pissed me off.  Anyway, I got it all up to my apartment and then began the task of assembling everything.  With a few short breaks here and there I got all but one piece put together.  My hands are so sore though that I can barely type, in fact it hurts quite a bit.  It really was a busy day.  I can't wait for my new mattress to arrive today.  I'll probably just make up the bed, strip naked, and snuggle in for a nap.

Busy

I had a busy day yesterday and night last night.  It was the first business day since I'd arrived so there was lots to do.  Today should be busy too. I'm having cable and Internet installed.  Plus, most of my furniture is scheduled to arrive, so I'll be busy setting it up.

October

By Helen Hunt Jackson 

Bending above the spicy woods which blaze,
Arch skies so blue they flash, and hold the sun
Immeasurably far; the waters run
Too slow, so freighted are the river-ways
With gold of elms and birches from the maze
Of forests. Chestnuts, clicking one by one,
Escape from satin burs; her fringes done,
The gentian spreads them out in sunny days,
And, like late revelers at dawn, the chance
Of one sweet, mad, last hour, all things assail,
And conquering, flush and spin; while, to enhance
The spell, by sunset door, wrapped in a veil
Of red and purple mists, the summer, pale,
Steals back alone for one more song and dance.

The picture above is not of the best quality because it was taken by me with my phone through my kitchen window. (My phone is my only internet right now.) This really is the view from my kitchen. The view from my balcony is just as beautiful. I feel like I moved into a postcard.

PS Our friend JiEL was able to enhance to enhance the picture above to give it some truer color.  The window pains had muted the colors a bit.

Getting Settled

Moving would be a lot more fun if these guys had been there to help, but as it is I'm just taking it slow, bringing a few things in at a time.  It's a lot of work to move into a second floor apartment all by yourself.  Most of my furniture should be delivered on Wednesday and Thursday.  I'm not sure when the cable will be installed but hopefully soon (I might go crazy without TV and Internet).  I have to call them back today, assuming they aren't closed for Columbus Day.  I hope that by this time next week, I'll be settled in, since a week from today is my official start date at my new job.

Boasting About Tomorrow

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"-yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

James 4:13-17

There is so much depth to these five verses. In the big picture, do we include God in all of our plans? Do we include him in our career or educational plans? Do we pray about the path He wants us to take?  When we make plans and exclude God, no matter what the plans are, it is as if we are boasting in our own abilities.

Verses 13 and 14 refer to making future plans for prosperity without consulting God. Even if the plans are honorable and righteous, God may have other ideas. Our lives are but a blink of God's eye, "a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." God wants us to consult with Him for all plans.  

At the first of last week, I boasted about how far I'd get each day on my journey to Vermont.  However, God had other plans.  I had not planned on hitting something in the road, puncturing my fuel tank, and being stranded in Knoxville for a few days, but that's what happened.  It actually only delayed my arrival by one day, but I was fortunate on two fronts.  First, I was fortunate that I was not hurt in the accident and that no severe damage was done to my car.  Second, it apparently rained most of the day yesterday in Vermont and it would have been miserable trying to move things into the apartment. In most things, we can find a silver lining, if we try.

I plan ahead.  If I do not have the next step or two thought out before I get to them, I feel behind and unorganized. Of course, just because we plan doesn't mean things will actually go as planned. God decides what will and will not happen. Ever since I gave Him full rights to my life, I cannot seem to plan anything too far in advance.  He is the ultimate schedule shifter.  James notes, "you do not know what tomorrow will bring."  I have to remind myself of this.  Life throws sudden changes at you.  Yes, I still plan ahead to the best of my ability, but I now make flexible plans instead of rigid ones.  This is one way I submit my life to God, by giving Him free reign to jumble my schedule.  In the end, I trust God has a better idea of what I should do with my life than I do since He sees the entire picture.

I remind myself that God has a plan for me in my prayers.  I begin by asking God to forgive me of my sins, then I ask Him to guide me down the path He has chosen for me before asking Him to bless my family and friends.  I pray for guidance down the path God has chosen for me, because I know it is not an easy path.  In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus says, "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

I've learned to use verse 15 in all planning. "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." There is so much each of us wants to do with what time we have left in our lives, right? Personally, I would love to travel to Europe again, write a book, get in better shape, and be healthier. With each thing I want do to, I pray about it and say, "Lord, if it is Your will that I do this, then I will do it."

Psalm 37:4 states: Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. This is a Scripture of hope.  We think, "I love the Lord and so He will give me whatever my heart desires." That sounds great and all, but what about this:  if we love the Lord and become very close and intimate with Him, very soon His desires become the desire of our hearts. Ask the Lord if your desire is His will and you may find that His will truly becomes your desire.

Verses 16-17 remind us that boasting in our arrogance is evil, and goes on to say that if we know the right thing to do and fail to do it, we are sinning.  If the Lord places something upon your heart, and you do something else instead, verse 17 tells us that it is sin.  In 2 Corinthians 1:12, Paul writes, "For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you."

Boast in the Lord and proclaim to everyone: "My God has blessed me abundantly, and He directs my path."  In Matthew 5:6, Jesus said: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." There is satisfaction in doing God's will. To actually do good is filling food. The more we eat the keener our appetite becomes. Dissatisfaction is a sure sign that we are not eagerly doing the will of God. It is a symptom of spiritual immaturity. The only way to discover the point of Christ's teaching is to practice it. The only way to godly contentment is to hunger and thirst after righteousness.

Moment of Zen: Arriving

While it's the end of a long journey, it's the beginning of a new chapter in my life.