Author: Dalanel

Dalanelhttp://dalanel.com
Dalanel's avatar

God and the Choose Your Own Adventure Book

This is a post from my now closed blog, Christian Interpretations:

I like to think that sometimes our lives are like those “choose your own adventure” type books. If you don’t know what that type of book is, let me explain. In these books, you’re reading a story. So, in that sense, it’s like any other book. But, at the end of quite a few pages, the book asks you what you want the character to do. Most of the time, the character is you. Anyway, the book will ask you what you want to do and then it will tell you what page to turn to to continue the story.

An example would be, you are traveling a great distance to save the Princess of the kingdom that you are a part of. It’s a noble quest or whatever. Time is a factor. You reach a cave. You realize on your map that going in the cave would be a lot quicker but is more dangerous. You could also go around the cave but that would take 5 extra hours; hours you may not have. And then the book will weigh pros and cons of each path and then let you decide.

And I think, for the most part, that’s how our lives are. God is the author of our life. He has the best path for us to take in the book. But, in the end, we must decide for ourselves if we will go into the cave or around. God helps us along the way. If we know his voice, we’ll be able to make the right decisions. And understand that God may want some people to go in the cave and He’ll tell others to go around. It matters by His will and sometimes by what He feels we are capable of.

And so we don’t really want to say that God allowed certain (good and bad) things in our life to happen. All God did was write the book in accordance to the laws of nature. We then must turn the page of our destiny. In the end, we thank God and give him the praise he is due.

-DALANEL

Weekly News 9

Today’s good news is really awesome. Police in Canada are giving out “positive tickets“. Yeah, geared towards teens and kids, these tickets are really coupons for pizza and ice cream just for following the law. I really like this idea. Where was this when I was a kid? Heck, I’ll take a coupon now!

Remember 9/11? That changed everything we knew about airport security. Only, a 9 year old boy was able to get through to sneak onto a flight. Yeah. Nobody knows why he did it yet. Also, while on his flight, flight attendants were eyeing him and when they landed, they took him in. They won’t say why he caught their eye. Oh, by the way, the flight was from Minneapolis to Las Vegas. Yeah.

Being a furloughed employee during this government shutdown is not fun. However, some are trying to ease the pain. Restaurants in D.C are offering discounts to furloughed workers. Just present your I.D. and you’re in. I’m sure D.C. isn’t the only place this is happening, right?
Now, this weird news is too much for me to explain. Look:
The males of several species of insect-eating marsupials have a very  unusual life history. They mature quickly, often in less than a year.  Then, during a short and frenzied breeding season, they mate repeatedly —for up to 14 hours in some cases — until their immune systems crash and  their bodies start to fall apart. Then they die.
At first, I was like, wtf? Then, after reading the entire article, I was like, WTF!?

A woman’s faith in humanity is restored after a couple of teens returned her son’s lost wallet.

This has been around for 1,000 years already but we just wrapped up another cricket fight. It’s like dog fights or cock fights but with the little guys.

-DALANEL

Aiming to get DALANEL to 800 followers by 2014

I first want to thank all of you that are following me. You’re following me if you’re connected to me at these places (largest following to smallest):

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Tumblr
  • Google Plus

All of my followings combine to 736 as I write this post. Now, you may glance to the left and see a different number.

I can explain.

I don’t know why (maybe you fellow WordPressers can help me out), but WordPress only counts Facebook, Twitter, Email subscribers, comments, and Tumblr as the following of the site. Yet, on the sharing page, where you connect various accounts directly to your blog, I also have LinkedIn, Google+, and Path. My phone doesn’t have a Path.com app available so I can’t actually build a following there yet. Still, I have people on LinkedIn and G+. So yeah, I combine the numbers from all of those sites for this final number.

I previously underestimated the blog with a goal of 700 by the end of the year. However, I think 800 by the end of the year will be a manageable goal.

The hardest part? Getting people to the blog. As I’ve said, viewing here is pretty blah. Still, my streak of getting at least one new follower per week is alive since March 2013. So, while not many come, those people like what they see.

Time to do math.

I need 64 followers to make the goal. Including today, the 12th, I have 81 days to get to 800. So, I would need a little under one new follower per day. To be exact, I need .79 followers per day. Some weeks are pretty good. A standard week brings in a couple of new folks. Instead of per day, let’s look at per week. I would need 5.81 per week to meet the goal. 64 followers in 11 weeks.

So, can ya help a brotha out? If you’re not following, why don’t you go ahead and do it now? At the bottom right of the site (desktop version), you can see quick links to my various profiles to follow me at.

At the beginning of the following streak, I believe I was in the 300 range of followers. So, keeping that pace, I think 800 can happen.

And, again, for those of you that already follow me, thank you so much.

-DALANEL

Daily Good Stuff 197: A Sister’s Birthday

Daily Good Stuff makes a weekend comeback today to celebrate another sister’s birthday. Let’s get to it!

Every year on your birthday, you get a chance to start new. Sammy Hagar

1267029982_funny_birthday

funny-birthday-ecards-4

Continue reading →

Daily Good Stuff 196

A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame, a little less  than his share of the credit. Arnold H.  Glasow

At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” Daniel 4:34-35
4340278_700b

Daily Good Stuff 195

The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. Romans 8:6-8

When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know  peace. Jimi Hendrix

funny-demotivational-posters-duck-season

 

Continue reading →