So now 2023 is coming to an end. Wow, what a year this has been! It has been filled with successes and failures. It has been filled with recovery from those failures. I feel happier now than at the start of the year. I have made some changes gradually all year long. I have a long way to go. I feel that although I have a long way to go I can see such positive changes in my family, and I feel encouraged to keep going the way that I am.
Our boys have gotten baptized! They have publicly dedicated their lives to Jehovah our God. I am so proud of them for making this choice. It means that they are on the path of life. The proper life. The one for which we have been made, a full and satisfying life forever here on Earth. Here I sit in this office waiting on the new rotation of 5 daily classes (a far cry from the 6 or 7 classes I am used to) and I am feeling ready. Ready to obey and ready to learn more about what I need to do to be in better standing with Jehovah God. I do not want my prayers to be hindered. Nor do I want to disappoint my God, Jesus, my wife, or my boys.
A life without end is in front of us. I can not help feeling happy while I am teaching. The students likely think it is a Friday. Another student (going through something he never smiles much anymore) said he doesn't understand why I am never angry. I told him I do get angry and make mistakes. It is just that I did not tell him this, my wife and work out our issues well before I sit in front of a class to teach.
What life is there without the kingdom headed by the prince of peace? Here it is! First you work very hard at your schooling to get into a good school. If you are fortunate your student debt is not too high. However, likely it will be. Then you get a mediocre job where you are making less money than your parents did! The number looks higher when you report taxes. However, due to inflation, it is MUCH lower. Even the cars we drive today have less in them. They are so light and all the techy stuff breaks easily. Ok, so now you have your job you are still sinking though because your wage can not keep up with inflation, and the cost of living...it just can't.
You get married! You have a couple of kids. You and your wife combined resources and bought a house using something called a subprime mortgage. YOU HAVE ACHEIVED THE AMERICAN DREAM. Now you both decide to get new cars. On TV you see an advertisement saying no credit so what get a car! Poor credit? So what get a car! Have a job? GET A CAR!
You do not realize that the house is based on bad debt, those cars are more added debt. You are now enslaved to them. You lost your job! You must stay in the area because...YOU HAVE A HOUSE! But wait...bills are adding up! Your wife tries to take on more over time. You get a part-time job (37 hours a week at a bit above minimum wage.
Now all of this time your kids are growing up. You then realize saving for their education is just not possible. That is ok they can get students too.
Now you are in your 50's. The world is on the brink of another world war. Mass shootings are commonplace. There is a drug epidemic that is killing more people than it should. You hear police sirens but you know likely they are rushing to save someone who overdosed. You are working more and more mainly paycheck to paycheck. Both you and your wife have some mild health concerns but you can not afford to pay for medical treatment.
How does all of this sound? It sounds depressing because it is. The Prince of Peace will free us from this system that was prophesied to fail in the bible. We can see it falling apart all around us.
Young people feel it. They have to lie flat movement in China. In Korea, there is the hell Josen movement. I had a teenager telling me about how bad South Korea is. I told him so is America!
With this dead system, it is time to make sure we love our heavenly father with our whole being. Show love to one another in mildness. Do chase after the things in this world. Those things will just be used by others in the new world order headed by Jesus with Jehovah's backing. So I will keep putting my anxiety in this system on Jehovah, and I need to pray constantly. I must not stop what I am doing. I must improve upon it! Thankfully I have plenty of help!
/tata
