Only Forward
It's day 233 of documenting 2025.
Definitely mid-week.
The vibes? Maybe not...
It's quite cold this morning.
Morning? You may think 🤔
Well, I'm typing this by 7:31am....quite earlier than usual.
I just realized that it's better to get it done early, so it doesn't feel like a chore later in the day.
Speaking of chore, I actually don't know what to reflect on...
Hold on, I do!
I want to reflect on how grateful I am for the things I have in my life.
A roof over my head, family, friends, experiences that shape me, my ability to reflect.....
There are a lot more, I tell you.
If I actually sit down to think about this, it would probably be a long post.
Here's one I think worthy of mentioning: answered prayers 😌
There was a time when a friend of mine told me to pray with him.
He lives far away, and he told me he was believing in God for something important to him.
He didn't tell me what it was...and I wasn't overly curious about it.
All I knew was that I needed to pray for my friend. And I did.
Days passed into weeks...and we kept praying for the situation to turn out in his favor.
Weeks later, he told me that God answered our prayers 😌
I was happy for him when he told me that it was something very important for him....and now it worked out.
So yes, a big thing to be grateful for is God's grace in face of our inadequacy.
And answered prayers.
You may think your life is a mess right now, but I tell you that God is not done with you yet.
He's still working on you...even if it doesn't seem like it.
Let's get into Highlights for today, and then I'll share....
You know what?
I think I can share some Bible verses here as well.
Then sat what I think about them and what they mean to me.
It's not like anyone is reading anyway....so I can write about practically anything.
What name to give to the section tho....🤔
Maybe I'll just go with Bible Verses, nothing fancy.
Yeah, that works.
365 Days With Self-discipline
📌 On Obstacles as Filters
The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want
something.
Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.
Quote by Randy Pausch
If obstacles piss you off, ask yourself how would you enjoy reaching your goals if there were no difficulties and everyone would have been able to achieve their goals without breaking a sweat.
How valuable would that success be? How sweet would it feel if you knew that you’d accomplished something that everyone else easily could?
Think of setbacks as filters: each problem reduces the number of people eligible to attain the ultimate prize.
Are you going to be one of the also-rans or are you going to prove how badly you want your goal and stick to your resolutions for however long it takes?
Today's highlight is pretty short, and that's the whole note.
And I think you understand what it's trying to say.
For the last question asked, you can think about your answer....but mine is this:
I'm going to prove how badly I want my goal and I'll stick to my resolutions for however long it takes 💪🏼
I've lost some things very important to me for the sake of this goal...so there's no going back now. Only forward.
Now, for the Bible verses I mentioned earlier, these are some that I know.
So, I started memorizing scripture over a month ago, and so far it's been a wonderful experience.
Thinking on what I've memorized has become easy and sometimes, I feel like the verses are whispered in my mind whenever I'm in a state of discomfort.
Here are five of them, and I'm typing from memory.
I might also share what they mean to me.
Alright, alright....enough talk.
Jeremiah 29:11
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end"
This was actually the very first verse I memorized. For me, it's a reminder that God thinks good about me, even when I think bad about myself.
Proverbs 3:5
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thy own understanding"
This one got repeated in my head several times. There were dark times in my life...and I had to accept the fact that I couldn't understand what was going on.
But I believe God knows what he's doing, so this reminds me to just trust him.
Matthew 10:38-39
"And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me.
He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it"
This one hit me especially hard.
When I decided to start memorizing scripture, there were some things I had already given up for the sake of my growth.
Tomorrow, I'll talk more on that.
For the record, losing one's life doesn't necessarily mean death.
Isaiah 55:6
"Seek the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near."
This showed me that God isn't far from me, and all I have to do is seek and call upon Him.
Sometimes, I forget this particular verse.
Lamentations 3:22
"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not"
This is something I'm thankful for.
I'm alive today...typing this very sentence because God still needs me for a purpose on this earth.
Same as you.
If you're here reading this, then God still needs you too, so you better not give up.
That's five of them, right?
And if you noticed, they're in King James Version.
I feel like that's the Bible version I vibe with the most because there's a mystic element to it.
I'll stop here for now....and share five more next time.
By the way, today will mark 36 days since I started memorizing scripture.
And I must say, it's a nice way to keep my thoughts in check and find comfort in uncomfortable situations.
You should try it sometime 🙂
This is where I'll end today's post.
Tomorrow, I'll reveal something HUGE.
Something that nobody knows or even notices in my area.
Only family knows this, and they don't even know the reason for it.
Enough suspense...
Just look out for the very next post after this one.
Thanks for reading 🎀
Don't forget to check out Lanterns For The Lost, the newest ebook on my store.
If you can, let me know what you think about it.
I'm Duon Ada.
I'm documenting 2025,
And I'll see you tomorrow.
Ciao 💕
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