Recertification Update, BREAKTHROUGHS and my Nest Steps

RECERTIFICATION

This is the season for me to become recertified with the housing authority and food stamps. I must get documentation in about my incomes and costs of living as well as answer their online questions into their online portal by March 25, Wednesday. Or I am at risk of losing those benefits.

I have known that and had it on the top of my ToDo list for a week. But I kept procrastinating.  

Then I talked on the phone with my pastor and accountability partner. Telling them helped to confess my weakness and need for prayer.

FINALLY, I got going. 

When I was stuck in the past what had worked was the 25 minute Pomodoro timer on the task management service named Kanbanflow www.kanbanflow.com that I use several times a day to juggle my tasks. 

For the last 2 days, I have made progress with the housing authority site. The marker says I am 70 percent complete. I found on this and other projects that I make my best headway in the evenings. So I will do more tonight. As of now, I had used 3 units of 25 minutes. That timer keeps me focused. There is built-in permission to take a break after 25 minutes. I do that unless I am on a roll. 

Please pray for me to complete both of these before the deadline. 

Then a representative on their side will call me. We will go over all the items. If there are no troubles then I will be approved for another year. 

BREAKTHROUGHS

For YEARS I have felt strong guidance from God to learn to draw. 

I have needed to have an activity that would bring play and fun into my life.

The activity of drawing would fit into my budget and schedule.

I have bought all kinds of art supplies and art books. 

Many times over the years I have attempted to engage with these materials. But there was no traction.

So I watched more Youtube videos and downloaded more PDF files. 

For this Lent, I committed to doing a little art each day. I have marked my calendar and I only missed a few days. Before I start I pray earnestly about this matter. My art engagement has lasted often for 5 minutes. But I counted that. Sometimes it went on for 30 to 40 minutes. 

The better times have included doodling, Zentangles, basic drawing exercises, expressing my thoughts or feelings by using prompts from at art therapist PDF.

FINALLY last night after much prayer I felt led to Pinterest and their collection of Art Worksheet as well as lessons about the foundational principles of art, and exercises for the art class of children. 

I surfed through hundreds of options to choose the ones that resonated with me the most. These are SUPER SIMPLE. I was intimidated by all the beginner lessons in books and on Youtube. 

When I found an image I liked I right-clicked it and saved it as a copy. Then I pasted that on a google doc of 44 pages with an insert page break between. 

Plus some of those Pinterest images took me to a website with others like it. From there I explored those options. I selected the ones I liked best. Some times I was pointed to save those to DropBox. There were about 12 of those and some of them were 4 to 6 pages. 

Therefore THANKS to answered prayers I have a custom-designed art workbook and my price was free if you do not count paper and ink. 

Pray for me to actively engage with these materials during Lent and after that. 

NEXT STEPS

In order to help me review and revise my priorities, I put the name of each project on an index card. I make 2 copies. 

One copy goes face-up on the top of my dresser that is in my walk-in closet which I made into my prayer closet. Sometimes I will reach out and touch an index card as I say a brief prayer over it. 

The other copy goes by my computer at my workstation. They are taped up in the order of importance. Even in the last 2 weeks, I have adjusted the sequence of those cards. This helps to keep me focused and not get sucked into the blackholes of other activities as much. 

Lord willing in a few days I will have completed my part of the recertification. Then my next step is to write and share a document that I am calling Possible Practical Provisions. This will list optional ways that people can be prepared for staying home for many weeks. 

I was a Boy Scout and an Explorer Scout. The motto Be Prepared stuck with me. The activities of camping and sailing made preparations a necessity. 

In this document, I will list the kinds of items for prayerful consideration. What follows is just a sample.

Note that there is a promise of money from Uncle Sam that some call helicopter money. So here are ways put that money to good use in the context of this season of shut down.

My intention is to offer an organized collection of ideas to help them make sense of what they can do to prepare. This will spark there thinking and prompt them to do their own online research. That puts them in motion and taking action steps to cope with these uncertain times. Such action steps are an antidote for fear, depression, and overwhelm. 

I will ask them for prayers as well as comments, suggestions, and questions. 

It is my hope that this will lead to a mutually beneficial and interactive online community. 

HOME FITNESS

Adults and children still have a need for exercise while homebound. So I will list options for them to consider and research. Possibilities include yoga, Taichi, Qi Gong, Nia Technique, step aerobics, rebounder, fitness ball, resistance bands, and calisthenics.

IMMUNE BOOST 

I have been researching foods and nutritional supplements that are proven to boost the immune system.

HYGIENE

There are dozens of Youtube videos and webpages about how to make your own hand sanitizer. One of the ingredients is essential oils. And within the essential oil options, a few are proven to be best for sanitizing hands. I have begun to research those to be listed soon.

I had a mild outbreak of itchy bumps under my beard. I tried all kinds of products. But it was plain old sulfur soap that worked best. That was far cheaper than all the other products. 

It can get costly to keep cleaning the home. But these days they offer gallon jugs of vinegar for cleaning. There are lots of Youtube videos on how to use vinegar to clean.

Many nature-based products have Tea Tree oil. Note that it can be bought without additives. That has helped me with skin troubles and many other things. 

I am always seeking the most natural solution to my problems. Years ago I came on Kleen Green http://www.naturalginesis.com/kleen-green/ which is an amazing solution.

I use Lysol Hydrogen Peroxide https://www.lysol.com/products/multi-purpose-cleaners/lysol-with-hydrogen-peroxide-multi-purpose-cleaner-oxygen-splash/ that cleans my metal kitchen sink better than anything else and it is natural.

THEN

And there are more such items I will share on the Possible Practical Provisions document soon.

I have been putting such ideas on my Mindmup www.mindmup.com under headings like new to homeschooling, new to working from home, natural aids to sleep, dealing with fear, prayer, meditation, journaling, lifelong learning, etc. 

I could never put all the options on a document. It would be like a multivolume encyclopedia. But I know that I can oversee the collaborative creation and improvements of a wiki. 

Besides the Wikipedia, there are dozens of other such online services and each one has hundreds of clients https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_wiki_software 

The skeleton of any wiki is like the sitemap of a website. The Mindmup www.mindmup.com is helping me to begin to think through the major categories and subcategories. I will need much help to make this useful to users initially and as it grows. 

Already I have received a few google sheets where kind people have listed many useful resources in an orderly format. I will be inviting others to do the same within their area of interest. 

There is a great service called Smart Sheet https://www.smartsheet.com/ that can take such google sheets and excel spreadsheets to weave them together in ways that approved members can edit.

It is possible to comment on each line item.

If you are interested you can begin to bookmark websites and books that you would recommend for others.

You could put those on a google sheet or excel spreadsheet with your comments as to why you recommend that item. 

Pray for God to connect me with the best volunteer right on time to get this project going.

PRAYERS AND PSALMS

I have been working on Volume 2 of Some Prayers and Psalms for many weeks. There are 7 core units that are ready. But I have been adding to the Appendix to include prayer resources related to the coronavirus. 

I set aside Sundays for this work. 

Pray for me to finish it this Sunday and get it out early next week.

Shalom

John