Category: Food

Sunday Scripture

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date October 27, 2019

Today at Living Waters (my church family) we honored our Lead Pastor Bob for Pastor Appreciation Month at the start of our service, and I was also honored. Post-service most of us ventured over to the local Longhorn Steakhouse for good food, fun, and fellowship.

Today Pastor Bob preached on the “Healing Power Of Grace”. Grace brings us to the cross where our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ died a brutal bloody death because of all of our sins past, present, and future. We need Grace. Our God has given Grace to everyone in the whole world. Some accept it. Many reject it. For those of us that accept it we must use it towards others because God gave it to us as His gift – unmerited favor that we did not deserve. We are now justified eternally !

For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this – not because we deserved it, but because that was His plan from before the beginning of time – to show us His grace through Christ Jesus. (2 Timothy 1:9 NLT)

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Weekends Begin On Thursdays …

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date October 17, 2019

… and they end on Mondays. Every weekend is a 4-day weekend here at #CountUp – at least when it comes to my blogging. I blog on Thursdays and Fridays. New posts are published at 3 AM EDT (U.S. East Coast Time). On Saturdays I generally go offline, and I stay off social media (for the most part). I may post a tweet or two of Scripture that leads-in to my Sunday.

On Sundays I blog post church service, so usually at or around 3 PM EDT. Finally on Mondays (back at 3 AM) I publish my brand new weekly hit music chart. It’s the continuation of a hobby of mine for the past 40+ years. (Casey Kasem was my idol as a preteen during the late-1970s. I wanted to be just like him when I grew up.)

So this is my Thursday blog that’s unlike my Friday, Sunday, and Monday blogs. My Friday and Monday blogs are music-based. My Sunday blog is Bible-based. My Thursday blog can be about anything that I can think of at the time.

So the big thing this week is something that I’ve been thinking about doing for the better part of the past 6 months. I finally did it this past Tuesday night. I began a weekly subscription with Freshly. Maybe you’ve heard of it ? Maybe you know how it works ? It’s basically a service that ships to your front door (via FedEx or a similar company) a certain number of chilled microwavable meals on the same day every week for a set price. I’ve set up my account to receive 6 meals per week every Friday. The meals are cooked by real chefs with high-quality ingredients. I’m not going to say much more about it in advance (prior to receiving and eating a single meal), but I’ve watched a few videos online, and they were mostly favorable towards the service. It’s got its pros and cons. I’ll give it a chance. I can cancel at anytime if I decide that it’s not worth it.

Basically at age 52 I need to take much better care of myself. That starts with eating better. I eat (for the most part) terribly. I don’t cook, so I either eat out (way too much food at one time), or I eat in (prepackaged frozen foods). The Freshly meal service is designed to be refrigerated, microwaved, and then eaten within 4-6 days. Hello Lunch and Dinner !

I’ll have to get used to eating smaller portions than I’m used to, and that’s another goal of mine. I’m actually overweight. My ideal weight (for my height) is right around 165. I’d love to weigh 165. I’d love to be back in the 170s. I’m about 20 pounds overweight. I’m thinking that these Freshly meals will help me lose weight. Oh yeah – that – and far more exercise.

My main form of exercise is walking. How’s that working out for me ? I’ll let you know on a future Thursday blog.

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Weekend Kickoff Mini-Thoughts

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date August 1, 2019
1 Comment on Weekend Kickoff Mini-Thoughts

Let’s try this again – a rapid-fire session of thoughts on my mind right this minute:

I went on a short weekend getaway last weekend.
I left at dawn last Friday, and I returned late this past Monday morning.
It was a 76-hour vacation away from home.
I drove about 140 miles away from home, so not too far.
Once upon a time I’d announce my vacations away from home on social media.
I’m much smarter nowadays, as I now reveal vacations after-the-fact.
So I drove to Fort Myers Florida on Friday.
I ate Breakfast at Perkins along the way in Naples.
I like Perkins. I wish we had those here at home.
I enjoyed a late Lunch / early Dinner at Outback Steakhouse.
I can’t remember the last time I ate there (maybe over 10 years ?)
We don’t have one close to home, but we have Longhorn & Texas here.
I love to eat steak !
I saw longtime comedian Brian Regan LIVE in concert that night.
He packed-in a lot of laughs in 55 minutes.
I wish he had performed for 90 minutes.
He left us wanting more, so he did his job as a comedian.
He had an opening act too – a comedian that made us laugh for 15 minutes.
The next morning I headed over to Fort Myers Beach.
I visited “The Island” (as the natives refer to it) 7 times from 2011 to 2015.
It was love at first sight at the end of April of 2011.
I thought I had found my future retirement town.
On subsequent visits I discovered the “seedier” side of town.
I decided not to retire there.
I decided to stop visiting there.
So this was my 8TH visit, but 1ST visit in a little over 4 years.
It’s still a fun place to visit.
I’ll visit for a 9TH time sooner rather than later.
I did considerable research on churches on the island beforehand.
There are a lot of churches along its narrow 7-mile length.
A friend suggested a specific church to visit.
I watched the previous Sunday sermon from the Pastor.
I didn’t care for his style. He was too Jimmy Buffett-like.
He acted too silly for me.
His use of Scripture was mighty thin too.
I like a Pastor with a sense of humor, but this dude was over-the-top.
I ended-up watching a LIVE Facebook feed of my own Pastor back home.
I like his style.
Later on Sunday night I took a fun 3-hour boat cruise that I pre-booked.
It was billed as a “Dolphin & Shelling Sunset Cruise“.
There were 38 of us including the Captain & Skipper.
Both narrated portions of the cruise.
We saw lots of birds at play on the various islands.
Dolphins jumped all around us at the rear of the boat.
Those dolphins know how to get from Point A to Point B quicker.
They simply ride the waves created by the boat.
I didn’t get any pictures of the dolphins because there were lots of kids too.
They blocked my view, but it’s all good.
The sunset was beautiful too, but again my line-of-sight was blocked.
I did manage to get one reasonably good photo of the sunset.

Sunset (Cruise)

You’re lookin’ good Fort Myers Beach !

1980s Career Food Health History Life Military Travel

Chanute AFB Illinois

I’m coming up on the 34TH Anniversary of my graduation from USAF BMT. That stands for United States Air Force Basic Military Training. I was stationed at Lackland AFB in San Antonio Texas from June 13TH 1985 (early in the morning – like right after Midnight) to July 29TH 1985 (at dawn). It was the roughest and toughest 46 days / 6½ weeks of my life at that point. (I had just turned 18.)

On July 29TH 1985 (a Monday) I boarded a plane (with others) from San Antonio Texas to Champaign County Illinois. I got food poisoning on the plane. That was when full hot meals were still served on airplanes. After landing we were transported from the airport to Chanute Air Force Base (near Rantoul Illinois). Everyone else was taken to their respective squadrons for in-processing. I was taken to the Base Hospital where I spent a couple of days and nights recuperating.

On the 3RD day I rose again – out of my hospital bed fully recovered, and I was released to my squadron. I moved-in to my dormitory room – my home for the next 3 months. School started soon for me. I would soon learn how to be an Aircraft Maintenance Systems Analyst (think “Statistician”). I was in a class of 4.

Today – 34 years later – I am an Analyst / Statistician, and I work for the United States Air Force.