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Blogging Career Home Life Military

My New Space

28 years ago in 1992 after Hurricane Andrew destroyed my town and workplace I temporarily moved back to my original home-of-record 1,100 miles away. I stored a few of my personal belongings at my parents’ house (my old bedroom) in McLean Virginia. I stored much of them in my dorm room at Andrews AFB Maryland. What didn’t fit in either place went in to a rented self-storage space near the military base. I kept that space long after (several years after) I left the Washington D.C. area and moved back to Florida (and eventually Homestead).

Last weekend I rented a self-storage space here in Homestead for the first time ever. Aside from those 19 months after Hurricane Andrew I’ve lived here in Homestead for almost 33 years, and that includes the past 25 years here in the same small home. I’ve accumulated a lot of stuff (some would call it junk) here in this home. I think I may even be a borderline hoarder. I don’t like throwing things away. I like keeping things indefinitely. I never know when I may need it. (That’s my home motto.)

Today is the day that I will take my first trunkload of stuff / junk over to my new 5 by 10 by 8 space. That’s 50 square feet / 8 feet from the ground up / 400 cubic feet. I’m looking forward to future trunkloads on future deliveries / visits to my new space. I’m looking forward to uncluttering my home of the past 25 years. Eventually I’ll be moving out of this home and moving to a new town about 180 miles away (after I retire in about 3 years).

As I continue to clear space in my home and prepare it for my retirement years perhaps I’ll do the right thing and also start filling-up some dumpsters near me. There’s a lot to throw away. Whether I do it or store it remains to be seen.

All rights reserved (c) 2020 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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Blogging Christian Football God Holidays Home Music Sports Television Travel Weather

Calendar Of Events

Greetings my friends. It’s Thursday August 20TH 2020, and it’s the start of another fresh new weekend of blogging. On this day I observe my 14TH anniversary on this fantastic journey. My salvation in Christ began on this date in 2006. This blog was created about 9 months later on Myspace. I wish I still had access to those old blog posts on Myspace. I wrote some good stuff about God’s Good News during those 6 months before WordPress.

This weekend is the 28TH anniversary of the short (2-day) lead-up and instant destruction of my city and surrounding area caused by Hurricane Andrew. It changed my life and career forever, but it also brought me back here to Homestead 19 months later. I don’t like talking or writing about Hurricane Andrew. It was the scariest night of my life. I’d rather not relive it again.

Labor Day is our next holiday here in the U.S. It’s 2½ weeks away. It’s the unofficial end of summer. I’m looking forward to seeing what Autumn has in store. I know that Football season begins soon after Labor Day. It’ll be weird watching football games on TV without anyone in the stands. It’ll also be weird cheering-on my Washington Football Team.

September is traditionally my 2ND-favorite month of the year – because of the start of the NFL season – and also because I get to visit my family in North Texas !

Last weekend I received notice that my upcoming Casting Crowns / Matthew West concert – originally scheduled for April 09TH 2020 – and then rescheduled for October 29TH 2020 – has been rescheduled yet again for March 25TH 2021. It’s on my calendar of events !

Hopefully we return to a more normal world in 2021.

All rights reserved (c) 2020 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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Bible Blogging Christian Church Driving God Home Ministry Scripture Travel

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends ! I am back at home where I belong in Homestead Florida. I returned late this past Friday morning from a 9-day / 2-state / 1,690-mile road-trip. The two states were Florida (my home state of the past 32½ years) and Alabama (my birth state from 53 years ago). I met my family – my brother, sister-in-law, and two nieces – in Orange Beach Alabama. They drove from east of Dallas Texas (less mileage than myself). We spent 4 full days and 5 nights at a condo directly on Romar Beach. We were on the 10TH floor of an 11-story building. The views of the Gulf Of Mexico were spectacular !

It was fun to be with my family for the first time in 7 months. I’ll see them again in less than 3 months in Texas !

I took a couple of fun side-trips on my own during this road-trip. I’ll write about some of them on my next few Thursday blog posts. But let me share where I went last Sunday. I drove 75 miles over to Semmes Alabama (northwestern suburb of Mobile) to visit Pathway Church – home of some longtime friends / brothers and sisters of my church family here in Homestead from 2007 to 2015. Most of them were actually on vacation themselves, so I didn’t get to hang out with them, but a few good friends were there.

The first person I ever met upon arriving for a church service for the first time as an adult (at age 39 in 2007) was there – Anne J. She greeted me, we talked for about an hour, and then we sat together in the front row for the 2ND service (at 10:30 AM). The Administrative Pastor – Andric – preached a great sermon from Colossians 2:6-15:

And now – just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord – you must continue to follow Him. Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:6-7 NLT)

WHAT I BELIEVE + WHAT I KNOW = HOW I LIVE

Following the service I got a grande tour of the entire church campus – almost every building. Their campus is quite sprawling. It’s much bigger than it looks from the main road (U.S. 98). They are doing great things for God in Semmes !

Following a nice Thai Lunch with Anne J. and a tour of her farm behind her house I returned back surfside to join my family.

This is the Summer Season Premiere of #CountUp. It’s the first of perhaps 47 blog posts in a row every Thursday, Friday, Sunday, and Monday through the middle of September. It’s going to be a fun 2½-month run. Thank You for joining me here !

All rights reserved (c) 2020 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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Blogging Driving Health Home Life Travel

Spring Season Finale

Greetings my friends. Thanks for checking-in and tracking with me. Happy Thursday June 18TH 2020. It’s the start of another weekend of blogging here at #CountUp – because weekends begin on Thursday mornings. This weekend is special though, as it’s my “Spring Season Finale” (hence the title). What does that mean ? That means it’s time to take a break from social media after 15½ weekends of non-stop blogging and 63 posts in a row.

This Spring season of blogging began on Sunday March 08TH 2020 – just as the global pandemic was gaining steam and forcing us into seclusion in our own homes. I had just returned from a Pastors’ conference of 5,000+ strong in Orlando as well as a MercyMe / Jeremy Camp concert in a packed sports arena near Fort Myers.

This past Monday and Tuesday I drove 21 and 22 miles respectively (to and from my workplace). That 22 miles was (incredibly) the most miles driven in a single day in over 3 months. I actually filled-up my car with gas that day for the first time in 50 days. I had previously gone 48 days between fill-ups.

This past Tuesday was also a rare 3-mile walking day for me (as per my Fitbit). It was the first one in over a month, and only the 9TH one since the global pandemic began. (3 miles is a little over 6,500 steps for me.)

So once this weekend is over I’ll be walking more, I’ll be driving more, and I’ll be getting more natural Vitamin D – outdoors. I’ll be driving about 1,700 miles (round-trip) after this weekend. That’s about the number of miles I’ve driven since February 01ST 2020 ! I’ll share the details with you when I return after the 04TH of July. #RoadTrip

But this weekend is just getting started. I’ll be back tomorrow (Friday) for an all-new RETRO from 2000. On Sunday I’ll share God’s Word with you. And then on Monday it’s my brand new Top 10 music chart. After that I’ll be on hiatus for almost 2 weeks.

I’ll catch you tomorrow. Have a great Thursday !

All rights reserved (c) 2020 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries