Reels Shorts and tiktok another dangerous snare from Satan

 All over the world in homes EVERYWHERE people are resting and looking down at some device. I saw my oldest son looking down, I was doing the same, my wife rolled on to her side was doing the same. This is the picture of my bedroom I share with my wife: We are "watching" some program, yet we are both propped up in a way to support our device which is in our hands ensnaring us. 

How did this start? Well at first it was just a minor thing Yogita enjoyed. It was truly not an addiction at that time. I would say hey lets do so and so, she would drop her device and we would join in that activity. 

It started with me! I was the one that got hooked. My wife told me that she didn't like it. She gave good reasons as to why. I did not listen. I kept watching responding gruffly to her not paying attention, or ignoring her altogether. The end result? She started doing it too! Then our sons followed suit. Jeyo trolls youtube videos and comments, while George does something similar like me and his mother. 

Now, I am at a point where I must do something. I must lead my family, not by making dogmatic statements like "Just because I do it doesn't mean you can do it" or " Do as I am telling you or else!" implying that some fun activity or hobby time will be taken away.  

No, I am going to stop using my device. I will not look at reels when we are watching a movie or documentary. Then I will start some other activities that my wife and I can enjoy and then expand that to our sons. When we watch movies we often talk, especially documentaries, we see why we need Jehovah's tent spread all over the world, over all of mankind. 

This expansion will eventually include us all perhaps Scrabble (where up to four people can play), or some other family game. It could include cooking together everyone is involved in preparing the meal. 

On some holidays I know George will love this, we can play some online game together. What that is we will need to figure out. 

Reels and these short bursts of dopamine are something that Satan uses to undermine the family bond. 

I will pray more on this matter and take action. I will not let something else pull the wool over my eyes.

/tata

A very nice Thursday

 So here I am at work. I never thought I would be in the situation I am now. 

You see last year we were having regular weekly bible studies as we had been inactive for a long time. 

So field service was to drop the boys off (if our bible study was on Thursday) have the study drive Yogita to work, and then I would go to work.

Fast forward one year later things have changed A LOT. Yogita wanted to expand her ministry. So she prayed to Jehovah about it earnestly. At the time a change was needed at her workplace. That change gave her the opportunity to cut back on work hours (earnings dropped then stabilized) and expand her preaching work. Well, what about me? I too prayed and thought what about my Thursday? I was very nervous because the place where I work teachers have to do far more than in "normal" academies. I was just sort of getting the hang of it. As my Boss's husband smugly told me one day last year "You are making fewer mistakes'. This was true. But I still just wasn't confident enough to go into service yet. About three months ago I decided to auxiliary pioneer for 15 hours a month. Going on Thursdays, and Sundays to preach about the coming kingdom meant that it could work out well. Also, my library of apps has grown a lot. 

So it started to get easier to prep for classes. See which grammar area they are in pull up a worksheet related to it, and make modifications if needed. I practiced doing it on Wednesday evenings. I would pretend I would go out in field service the next day. So I would prepare all of my worksheets so that all I would have to do was check, edit, and print. This takes about 15 to 20 minutes. 

So yesterday I was able to get my work prepped very quickly, and then make it to field service. 

This change has given me so much satisfaction as I know I am doing what Jesus told us to do!

Now it is Friday and I am finishing this post. I never want to go back to the way things were before, NEVER. Now, I have more peace happiness, and contentment. I still make many mistakes, but I know I should pray read my bible daily, and work on my shortcomings. Staying away from the old crowd I would hang out with also help. I know that if I go back to the old way it will be even worse than it was before.

/tata

Still the heat wave is with us.

 This summer has been yet again an unprecedented one. We have had this heat wave for over a month. Twenty-one people have died (which was reported) due to this heat. In our congregation still many are sickened by the heat. 

I am happy to say that I am still doing ok, and Yogita and the boys are weathering this heat wave well enough. Yogita needs more rest, and I have curtailed our walks as it is just too hot even at night. 

Last week was a vacation and we enjoyed it but we stayed home. I really enjoyed that time. I have been chatting with my twin brother and it has been really encouraging to me. Also, we chatted with our sister-in-law Wendy it was really nice to hear her voice! 

Jeyo now has a job and is putting his skills to work. This is a blessing from Jehovah, and it will be amazing to see what he will do with his talents in the new world. It is funny how we say "new" world or kingdom. Actually, it will become the norm as it will last forever, and years of this system of things will be dwarfed, and then forgotten when the new kingdom is established on Earth. 

Tomorrow is a holiday, so we will enjoy it very much! 

This was written on August 14th, and posted today.

/tata

More summer heat

 The temperatures are still in the mid 30's dropping to 30 degrees Celsius at night by 9pm. These are a part of the signs of our day. This heat makes life hard to deal with. Commodity costs are going up, and now we have to contend with high electricity bills. It is something that I am glad we are able to handle, thanks to Jehovah. Others, have to deal with this in other ways. We are fortunate enough to have two working AC's.

It was so hot that I canceled field service (outdoors) and we did letter writing at home. Last week we also did letter writing for field service due to the heat. This heat wave is making more people sick than it did last year. It looks like a hole where people used to sit on Sunday. Fortunately, they joined on Zoom, so we were still together in worship to Jehovah. 

I am going to use the wet towel method where we place a wet towel on our shoulders. It really helps with the heat. In the new world, I am sure it will not be like this. I will have to refer to this blog to explain how hot and humid it would get. 

I could not get the Fold 6 due to me missing the date to order the phone. I will see if I can try this weekend at another shop. I wish the weather was not so hot, then I could to the Mangyeong River and get some river plants for our fish, and one snail. Maybe we can stop by and get it quickly, I will drive the car over there. 

Ok, time to start this work part of the day. (actually, it already started)

Heat waves all across the globe

 Actually, there are reports of all kinds of weather-related natural disasters. Reports of wars, and people going without food due to those wars. Yes, we are living in the time of the end. I think it is important for us not to get too worried about each day, week, or month. We need to handle them as one day, one week, or one month. If you living in a country with bi-weekly paydays then a bi-weekly work-it-out plan is needed. 

When I think longer term I look at taking my pension money and using it in this daily grinding situation that we are all living in. I have learned that to live with a view to "show one's means of life" is wrong and leads to more stress as it is a waste of time. 

As this system is passing away, a new one is coming. In that one, our perception of time will change. I can only imagine when I am 20000 years old. Only then can we understand when we are told in a little while Jehovah will do this or that. We can understand that it will be within perhaps a few hundred or several hundred years.

So as of of right now, we are going through a very bad heat wave. Temperatures are regularly above 35C. This is not normal. Usually, they are in the high twenties with a few days in the low 30s. Also, the humidity is very high! So we use our air conditioners and fans. People in the congregation are getting ill left and right. We too are feeling sick, I am having loose motions. Actually, it is odd for me as usually I can endure different temperature extremes. This is hurting even me. Yogita and George are easily sickened due to heat and extreme weather changes,

So another week in this system here we go!

/tata

Vacation time!

 I wish we could go camping but likely we will remain local. This is still very nice. I plan to drink whiskey with my wife on the trail for one or two nights. The boys will enjoy gaming with their friends and their hobbies. Oh does that mean our preaching work stops? No way! On Tuesday I will see if I can tag along with Yogita and Sister Marafae, Thursday we will go out as a family on Saturday, and maybe Sunday! 

We will make both meetings together as a family. I will try to order KFC through our phone for pick up next Sunday. So this week will not mean that we stop preaching. Also, I am looking forward to two family worship days next week. 

I will spend time with our boys at home and in the ministry. I will spend more time with my wife on our walks (weather permitting) and also add 2 more date nights to next week! Of course I want to get plenty of rest and hydrate as best we can. 

/tata Posting this the first day back! LOL