Ale for the Soul

 What will the future look like?  Unfortunately, I'm not a fortune-teller or mind-reader.  I'm also not one who will second-guess the here and now in order to try to manipulate the future of my choosing.  (At least not anymore.  Think about Jacob the "heel-grabber" who tried to bring about God's plan using human "wisdom".)  Almighty God is the Great "I AM", not the Great "I Was" or the Great "I Will Be".  In His Heavenly Kingdom, it is always the eternal present and my life is viewed on that scale.  Father God knows what will become of my life, hopefully seen obediently in the midst of His perfect and loving design.  To get there, I must live in relationship and fellowship with my Lord and in community with other believers.  I also believe this is born out of a place of health and well-being, which means I must deal with the issues that have been ignored for so long.  (Trying to perfom His Will out of my own strength.)  All ...

In addition to celebrating fourteen years of sobriety away from alcohol, I had another cause for joy in the expiration of the legal obligation at midnight on the 18th of August.  After four years of a forced vacation and the subsequent ten years of supervision, I am no longer bound by the dictates of the State of Texas.  This doesn't mean I no longer have a black mark on my record, but rather I am now able to nagivate life more freely without the involvement of the powers that be.  In the following week since having that burden lifted from my shoulders, I have been continuing to unencumber or divest myself of the pressure to maintain compliance with external forces.  Initially upon release from the puppetmaster, so to speak, I wanted to take a month vacation to celebrate such a joyous occasion.  In addition, I had absolutely determined and every intention to execute a move out of Fort Worth for a place of my choosing.  Neither of these have happened nor loo...

 August 18th is a special day as my brother and I share a birthday.  He turns the corner on 33 years of age while I am only now entering what I shall call the pre-teen years.  Of course I'm talking about two different types of birthdays.  For my brother, his birthday represents the chronological progression of time, while mine is still a measure of time but in regard to sobriety from alcohol.  When life changed for yours truly, I had no capacity to envision what may be in store for the future.  The first three and a half years were spent on a forced vacation, an environment that really didn't allow for seeking out an alcoholic beverage as I had greater concerns to contend with.  It wasn't until I moved to Fort Worth that I asked myself where I wanted to go with this sobriety stuff.  Figuring the sober life hadn't been too terribly bad, I figured it was worth taking and running with it.  Leaving the garbage heap of life behind me, I could now ...

About a month ago, my brother notified his wedding had been postponed once again due to the Corona Virus.  I'm sure this was a disappointment for him, his fiance, and everyone involved.  Yours truly could have been more sensitive and sympathetic about the issue.  Unfortunately, the only topic of concern on my mind was cancelling the tuxedo rental and gaining a refund.  I had roughly $270 invested in a wedding that may never happen.  Even though I'm now working full-time with great pay and benefits, I wasn't willing to throw away that much money.  Thankfully, I did receive a refund and have been using the money for basic necessities of life: gas for the truck, groceries, and various other expenditures.  If and when the wedding ever takes place, maybe I can get remeasured for the tuxedo and still participate in the festivities.  I was also able to cancel the vacation days previously scheduled for this event.  As soon as the Corona pandemic is o...

Typically hard times get worse before getting better, at least that is the case for me.  This could mean becoming more ill before fully recovering; time slowing down waiting for that first payday after experiencing prolonged unemployment; a project that never seems to go right until that breakthrough of success arrives.  Currently I have a bed bug infestation in the apartment.  Ugh!  They migrated from one apartment to another till they finally arrived at the last "house" on the block, so to speak.  The issue came to a head Sunday night/Monday morning when they were out in full force keeping me from a much-needed night's sleep.  As a result, I called in to work knowing I would be worthless to both myself and the company's customers if I tried to work productively.  I hated to burn a personal day, but I felt as if there wasn't much choice.  Later on that afternoon, the exterminator paid a visit to diagnose the situation.  Next Wednesday, he wi...

Throughout life, I have experienced various prolonged nuisances that have kept me slightly off kilter and agitated.  Whether these issues are designed to keep me both humble and grateful for God's many blessings, I still find the underlying culprit a pain in the backside.  Recently I have been dealing with bed bugs in the bedroom of the apartment.  My next-door neighbor and I believe they came from his neighbor in #4.  In the seeming migration from one residence to another, they have made their presence known and are beginning to make life rather unsettling.  As a kid, I would often hear, "Sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite."  In my young mind, I simply believed this was a humorous phrase to say upon retiring for the evening as there were no such insects as a bed bug.  Now I have been enlightened, dispelling my once youthful ignorance.  Ridding myself of the mattress and boxspring, which were in need of replacement anyway, I began to stri...

Websites and blogs periodically undergo maintenance by the host company, as did mine, and I couldn't seem to find the correct tab to click in order to post a new journal.  This is largely due to my lack of computer knowledge in learning how to navigate unfamiliar territory.  Just when I seem to master an area, it changes.  Ha!  I was bummed out about not knowing how to add my thoughts and struggles to the forum.  As you can now see, I have finally discovered how to go about adding an entry to Ale For The Soul.  Quite a bit has occurred since we last fellowshipped.  First, I celebrated two three-month anniversaries: the first is the amount of time that has passed in working for Enterprise Rent-A-Car; the second is the swiftly dwindling amount of time remaining on the legal obligation with the State of Texas.  Of course, both events are great mile-markers, but I must admit the excitement is greater for the final release of the legal constraints on y...