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Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday April 30TH 2023, and this is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it. Let us celebrate this great new day of believing, following, trusting, loving, and being more like our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ. Let us love our neighbor as ourself.

This morning I’ll be with my new church family here in Sebring Florida – weather-permitting. We could have some severe weather moving through the region this morning, so I’ll monitor that. (My new church is a little over 4 miles away by road.) In the event of severe weather – I can watch the livestream online as it happens. But I’d rather experience service in-person. (That’s the Pastor in me.)

So it’s been about 2½ months since I wrapped-up my last sermon here on #SundayScripture. That was the one that was based on the Matthew West song – “The God Who Stays”. I’d like to write another sermon based on another contemporary worship song. I just don’t know what that song is yet.

Starting with this edition and continuing through the month of May and into June – I’ll be presenting my March 05TH 2023 sermon on “Paul & Titus” – in its original written form. I hope that it inspires you and encourages you.

[BEGIN SERMON]

You know if I asked you to – quickly – list 10 names out of the Bible – I’m thinking maybe you would mention Adam and Eve, Moses, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, Paul, James, and Peter. I think those are the 10 most prominent names out of the Bible – 3 from the Old Testament and 7 from the New Testament.

Today – I want to share with you the story of one of the lesser-known names of the Bible – Titus. Who ?  Titus ?  Who’s Titus ?  You know there’s an entire book of the New Testament on Titus, and it was written by – not Titus – but Paul (as in The Apostle Paul). It’s 1 of 13 letters or epistles that Paul wrote that make-up about half of the New Testament.

They are known as Pauline epistles. They are formal letters sent by the Apostle Paul to a person or a group of people – to inspire them – to encourage them – to set them in the right direction. Paul sent his letters to friends who were church leaders, and he also sent letters to the church in general. You know these Pauline epistles as his letters to the Romans, and the Corinthians, and the Galatians, and the Ephesians, and the Philippians, and the Colossians, and the Thessalonians, and his friend Timothy, and his friend Titus, and his friend Philemon. I’ve preached a lot from the Pauline epistles, as they are my favorite part of the Bible.

That’s a lost art from the past – writing letters to someone to inspire them – to encourage them – to make them happy. That was popular back before smart phones, and social media, and the internet, and computers. We would grab a pen and a piece of paper, and write a letter to someone to show that person that we’re thinking of him or her. Some of us even had manual typewriters at home, and we would type a letter. And then we would place that letter in an envelope, and write (or type) the address on it, and then place a stamp on it, and then drop it in the mailbox. Yep. That’s what we did – way back in the ‘60s and ‘70s and ‘80s. Even into the early-‘90s.

When I was serving in the desert of Saudi Arabia – during Desert Storm – 32 years ago – each of us received a random handwritten letter sent to “Any Serviceman / Servicewoman” – usually written by a student in school. They were words of encouragement from one stranger to another – from stateside to warside. They were awesome to read. They made us feel happy – thousands of miles away from home.

[TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK]

If you wish to learn more about the God I know then stay tuned to #SundayScripture. The best is yet to come !

Thank you for reading my blog for this day, and may:

The LORD bless you, and keep you.
The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you.
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Church Driving Food Geography History Home News Travel Weather

Home Sweet Sebring

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. I’m waking-up in my new home in my new neighborhood in northwestern Highlands County Florida for the 6TH morning in a row. It’s the longest streak yet, and I’ll be waking-up here for 3 additional mornings before I head back down U.S. 27 and Krome Avenue to Homestead for a quick turnaround.

Now if you’ve been reading or watching the news lately then you may know about the gas crisis in nearly all of South Florida (from The Treasure Coast southward through The Florida Keys). There are long lines at gas stations that are actually open, and no activity at all at gas stations that are closed because they have no gas remaining. It’s all because of a freak 24-hour rain event in Fort Lauderdale last week where they received over 2 feet of rain – flooding much of the region – including the port where the gas comes in. Here in my new part of Florida there is no such crisis. No lines. No shortages. No closings.

I’m scheduled to return to Homestead this Sunday morning. I’ll celebrate Christ with my home church family, and then I’ll spend 4 nights in my longtime home before I return back north to Sebring. But I may reconsider that schedule if the gas crisis continues.

I can easily fill-up my car with gas here in this area, drive down there, and then return back here on that same tank of gas. I get up to 50 MPG on the open road with my Honda Civic, but why venture into chaos and rage ?

If I take that trip – my next trip back here to Sebring will be even longer than this one – 12 nights in a row. Going forth I’ll be spending about 70% of the rest of the year here in Sebring, and 30% in Homestead. (I have an Excel spreadsheet that tracks all of this.)

Yesterday morning I spent about 2½ hours with my new friends at the Sebring Historical Society (#SHS). We enjoyed coffee, pastries, conversation, and we had an informal meeting. This afternoon I’ll spend about 3½ hours with them as we enjoy our monthly spaghetti dinner (my first one). This Saturday afternoon we have our quarterly pot-luck luncheon and board meeting. I’ll be serving with the #SHS a lot going forth. I’ve been dreaming about this opportunity for a couple of years now, and I’ve been blogging about it since a couple of years ago. My retirement dreams are coming together !

It’s 4/20, and I’m not making this up. We have a big nearly mile-long manmade lake in my new neighborhood. Nearly all of the condos encircle the 10½-acre lake. Its name – Lake Mary Jane.

Next #TravelThursday we’re going to Venus. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Geography Home Travel Weather

My Carnival Celebration Vacation 2023

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about my day visiting Charlotte Amalie St. Thomas U.S.V.I. – where I spent most of the day enjoying the cruise ship docked portside. That was Day 5 of my 7-day cruise aboard the Carnival Celebration from Sunday January 08TH 2023 to Sunday January 15TH 2023.

This week it’s on to Days 6, 7, and 8. That was Friday, Saturday, and Sunday – with Sunday being debarkation morning. That’s always the saddest part of any cruise – having to leave it all behind after all of those fun days aboard. This was the newest and biggest cruise ship that I’ve ever sailed on – with the most passengers (6,000+) and crew (1,700+). As a local in Miami-Dade County Florida I always strive to get off the ship as soon as I possibly can – if only to avoid as much traffic as possible between the port and my home – about 32 miles. (That 32 miles is a long and rough 32 miles that usually takes anywhere from 60 to 90 minutes.)

But also I wish to get off the ship early to avoid prolonging the inevitable. Why hang around for a couple more hours when I can put a cap on the fun and look back at all of the great memories had and great people met.

Days 6 and 7 were fun days at sea sailing west-northwest from the U.S. Virgin Islands back to Miami. The ship took a more southerly (than usual) route back (along the north coast of Cuba) due to ferocious winds north of us in the Bahamas caused by an unusually strong Arctic cold front that had made its way that far south. Winds were actually gusting up to 50 MPH at times against the starboard (right) side of the ship, but surprisingly the big ship handled it well. I could barely feel the motion of the ship, and that was a great thing, as I can easily get seasick when the ship gets a rockin’ and a rollin’. As we traversed the north coast of Cuba we lost the heat of the tropics and we plunged into the cold air of the north with temperatures into the 60s and wind chills into the 50s. (When we arrived en Miami early on Sunday morning – wind chills were well into the 40s !)

This was another excellent Carnival cruise. Why sail any other cruise line when I usually enjoy a fantastic experience on Carnival ? I feel like I’m returning home every time I board a Carnival cruise ship – old or new. I know what to expect, and I enjoy every possible minute of it. Carnival specializes in activities and things to do and see from early in the morning until early the next morning. I think they do it better than any other cruise line. Their customer service is the friendliest at sea.

As for my next (17TH) Carnival cruise – I’ve been looking – but I haven’t booked yet. It’ll likely be out of Port Tampa Bay (the closest cruise ship port to my new home) – or Port Canaveral – a little further away. (Carnival sails out of both ports, but with not as many ships as PortMiami.)

I may skip a year of cruising in 2024, or maybe I’ll wait until later in the year to do so. My income will change dramatically next year since I’ll be retired instead of employed, so I’ll need to assess my budget once I reach that milestone in my life.

And speaking of which – I spent 4 days and 3 nights up in Highlands County Florida last weekend, and I activated the start of a dream that I’ve been dreaming (and blogging about) for the past 7 years. That dream is to retire near Sebring. Last Thursday morning with my Real Estate Agent I toured 5 condos in my dream neighborhood, selected my favorite one, made a purchase offer on it, and it was quickly accepted by the seller. I am now 8 days into the 30-day closing process, and everything is working out smoothly so far. I’ll write more about that – next – #TravelThursday.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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1990s Blogging Career Driving Geography Holidays Military Travel Weather

Destination: Saudi Arabia

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. For this first edition of 2023 – I look back at how my year started 32 years ago in 1991.

Just 5 days after returning home to Homestead Florida after driving for 18 hours and 43 minutes and 1,103 miles from McLean Virginia (on Christmas vacation with my family) – I was on my way to Syracuse New York with a small group of airmen from Homestead AFB. Once on the ground at Hancock Field we joined-up with airmen of the New York Air National Guard, as we awaited our flight over to the Saudi Arabian desert. We were delayed by a blizzard for a few days – January 02ND and 03RD.

We finally took off late on January 04TH, and we touched down on the runway at Al Kharj AB Saudi Arabia at 1204 local time (0404 U.S. East Coast time) on January 05TH 1991 – exactly 32 years ago this morning.

I was assigned my tent at “Tent City” – W-23 – and I quickly made 9 new friends who would also be my tentmates in war (Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm).

I traveled a lot during the 10 days from December 27TH 1990 to January 05TH 1991. From Northern Virginia to South Florida by car – from South Florida to Central New York by plane – and from Central New York to near Riyadh Saudi Arabia by cargo plane. One thing was certain – I wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Everything else – was uncertain.

Next #TravelThursday let’s take a trip to PortMiami. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp