The Keener Way

I had another word from God today. But I should probably explain a few things first, for the sake of context. For the past month and a half, I've been wrestling with a very challenging decision I have to make regarding a trip that I may or may not take. I had already made the decision, but in the aftermath of making a number of errors and misjudgments in a separate situation, there were those who felt I should re-evaluate my choice and not take the trip. The situation where I erred, those errors have since been corrected, and I stand wiser for having the experience. Nevertheless, this decision still had yet to be re-decided. Meanwhile, half a month ago, I had a birthday. And on this birthday, I took up a new hobby, stand up paddle-boarding. So. I was in the agony of feeling like I knew what the right decision was, but feeling like I lacked the logical grounds to back it up. And I felt like I needed more logical grounds to back it up, because even though I've given this decision...

  Scrolling Facebook for hours is not mentally healthy by any stretch of the imagination. I try to do it very little. But every once in a while, some worthy tidbit of wisdom comes through my feed. And today, this is what I saw: "Paradoxically, it is friendship that often offers us the real route to the pleasures that Romanticism associates with love. That this sounds surprising is only a reflection of how underdeveloped our day-to-day vision of friendship has become. We associate it with a casual acquaintance we see only once in a while to exchange inconsequential and shallow banter. But real friendship is something altogether more profound and worthy of exultation. It is an arena in which two people can get a sense of each other’s vulnerabilities, appreciate each other’s follies without recrimination, reassure each other as to their value, and greet the sorrows and tragedies of existence with wit and warmth. Culturally and collectively, we have made a momentous mistake...

     A blog post about writing? Yes. I've really not done any of these yet. Namely because my blog has been terribly neglected for a long time. But I want to get into a better habit with time. And I want it to be multi-functional. Life lessons from Abba, plus personality psychology, plus writing advice, plus sharing some of my own writing. So, here's some writing advice. For all y'all fiction writers particularly. One of the biggest struggles people tend to have is character development. And there are many ways to develop a character, to which point I hope to cover many of these in the future. But today, I want to talk about a unique aspect that many people never even consider. Everyday Carry, or EDC. As defined by wikipedia: "Everyday carry ( EDC ) or every-day carry is a collection of useful items that are consistently carried on person every day. The main reasons for having EDC are utility (usefulness), self-sufficiency , and preparedness : to help individuals i...

Its been way too long since I've worked on any of my main writing projects. I kinda missed them. But today I randomly started working on a small piece that I initially started writing three years ago and haven't touched in eight months. Valkyrie Misadventures is a collection of short stories about a young introverted "PK" (aka preacher's kid) named Valerie Clarke, as she learns to make friends and they navigate life together, having adventures, getting into mischief, learning valuable life lessons, and getting to know their Heavenly Abba better. And this is one of the first stories, where Valerie, in first grade, makes her first friend. Some helpful things to note: The church is non-denominational, but Valerie's parents come from a Quaker lineage, and so when her dad first took the pulpit, he encouraged the use of numbers for the days of the week instead of the names of Roman deities. As such, Sunday is "First Day", Sunday School is "Church Scho...

  Sometimes a moment comes in your life where you realize you're not as mentally healthy and put together as you thought you were. I've been going through a lot of that in the past couple weeks. Thinking back over a sizeable chunk of my childhood. Events that my brain classified as trauma, my personal experience with depression, as well as many decisions I've made that I'm not proud of, and how all these things have been affecting me even up to the present times. Guilt, shame, fear, and a hesitancy to take action on things, in a strange combination with a mild savior complex and an urge to try and control things that its not my place to control. Afraid to exist and take up space, yet constantly taking up space that isn't mine because of a paranoia that if I don't do it, bad things will happen. And it is a work in progress to figure out what "healthy" actually looks like. But in Abba's grace, I'll get there. But in light of this, I wanna share a...

 Today is July 7, 2022. In my main project, The Arayot Chronicles , my MC, Benjamin, is turning 25 today. And this is a big day for him, because its the day he saves the life of a man who once tried to kill him. Little did I know that when I actually reached this date, I would be taking some big steps of my own. Today I turned in my two week notice and I accepted an offer to return to my first place of employment. The thought of moving back brings up a lot of memories. Some good, some not. That was the job I was working when I questioned my competence. Where I battled anxiety and depression. Where those two forces of evil nearly convinced me to take my life into my own hands. In short, I'm returning to the job where the devil tried to kill me. Kinda like Ben saved the life of a man who tried to kill him. There's a lot of growing that's been happening. A lot of healing, a lot of moving forward into something new. Its scary. There are a lot of unknowns. I'm gonna have to ...

 Its been a while since I posted anything. Life has been pretty crazy. I could give a quick recap. So in February 2021, I moved with my family from northeast Ohio, to north-central Maryland. From semi-rural Amish country to the middle of uptown city life. I spent most of 2021 working for a small excavating company, but by fall, it was clear the situation wasn't sustainable, and God led me to a job working for a dealership that sells chemicals and equipment to dairy farmers. It was very lowly and humble work, pressure-washing used chemical barrels all day, every day. Then they moved me around to help fill in some other positions. I was a jack of all trades, and working long hours every day. This is one reason I've written next to nothing. In May 2022, I temporarily took over for one of the service technicians at this dealership, who wanted to quit. I was assured it was a temporary position. That was two months ago. In June 2022, my former boss from Ohio contacted me, and wanted ...