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Sunday Gratitude – 18.X.2026
Hi everyone! Glad to be back here. I’m still struggling with a lot, and there’s a lot that’s really overwhelming. However, I’m going to give it a shot as far as gratitude here.
Most importantly, probably, is that my son had a surgery on his ear a couple of weeks back, and everything went really, really well. Yes, he had the same surgery back in February on the other ear, and it went really well, but there’s still a good bit of nervousness attached to all these things.
Secondly, I recently took part in the Serbian Orthodox Choral Association’s annual choir festival. Because it was only a week after the surgery, I wasn’t going to go, but then there were people who had signed up who either couldn’t go or couldn’t sing, and I was asked if there might be some way that I could go. I managed to get things arranged, and I went. It was an amazing trip, and I hope to write about it separately. Most of us who went ended up driving, including the people I rode with, but everything went off without a hitch, there were no accidents or incidents with the driving, and the event was a lot of fun. I am very grateful for that, and for getting to see the city and experience the city a little.
If any of you are interested, our choir’s performance can be found here (our group starts at 45:15):
The weather has gotten cooler, and I’m grateful for that (St. Louis at over 90F was quite a shock to the system). This just seems to be one of those patches that is especially rough, so I’d appreciate your prayers for me and my kids.
Thank you ever so much for following; you are amazing!
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Wordle #477
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Wordle explanations are posted a day late to ensure that no one accidentally sees the solution before playing.
Line 1: “Vigor” certainly isn’t the greatest starting word, but at least it gave me an “O”!
Line 2: Any more letters? Any correct spots? No on both.
Line 3: And… Once again, the same thing
Line 4: This is where I really got worried as to whether I would solve this or not. Two letters in four guesses, and only one in the correct spot… Ouch!
Line 5: Finally… some progress!
Line 6: By this time, I had 4 letters, and knew where they had to go, but when it gets down to the wire like this, I still worry that there’s some possibility I haven’t considered. Interesting that I didn’t try an “A”. In this case, it really wouldn’t have helped, but I notice that because I am used to starting with certain letters, and when I don’t, I don’t always remember to play all of those “common” letters. I’m just glad I got it!
Did you get this Wordle? Tell me about it in the comments!
Happy Gaming!
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Wordle #476
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Wordle explanations are posted a day late to ensure that no one accidentally sees the solution before playing.
Line 1: I knew “dandy” was going to be a terrible starting word, and I was not disappointed here!
Line 2: Luckily, “storm” gives me a little bit more – “O” and “R” but in the wrong places.
Line 3: One more letter, but all in the wrong places.
Line 4: Being as the “O” is neither in the first or second spots, I think it’s fairly unlikely that it’s going to be a word with “OU”, so I pick a word with “O” and “I”, but separately. I am shocked the word does so well – finally things are falling into place!
Line 5: And… it couldn’t have been “rigor”, now, could it? However, “vigor” it is!
Did you get this Wordle? Tell me about it in the comments!
Happy Gaming!
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Wordle #475
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Wordle explanations are posted a day late to ensure that no one accidentally sees the solution before playing.
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Line 1: “Sloth” isn’t a terrible word to start with, but no luck here with the letters!
Line 2: Slightly better luck with “cramp”, but an “A” in the wrong place doesn’t tell me a whole lot.
Line 3: Considering the “A” isn’t in position 3, I’m moving it to position #2. Doing that, and not using letters that have already been eliminated, I make a silly guess that I didn’t even know was a word, and it actually does pretty well!
Line 4: Looking at what is there from the last line, “dandy” is the first thing that comes to mind, so I play it, even with having two “D”s. And… “Dandy” it is! (This might be the first Wordle I’ve played without using the letter “E”.)
Did you get this Wordle? Tell me about it in the comments!
Happy Gaming!
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Wordle #474
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Wordle explanations are posted a day late to ensure that no one accidentally sees the solution before playing.
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Line 1: So now I got the bright idea to start with the solution word from the day before. On one hand, it means I’ll never get the word on try #1. On the other, it’s an interesting little challenge. Here, we have the “H” correct already, and an “S” somewhere else in the word.
Line 2: If there is an “H” at the end, and the word doesn’t end in “SH”, “TH” is another good guess, and if that’s the case, the “S” is most likely in the first spot. I was happy that all those guesses panned out as well as the fact that there was an “O” that we now know has to go in spot #3.
Line 3: Now, just a matter of figuring out what could be in spot #2. “L” – Yes! “Sloth!”
(As an aside, sloths will always remind me of this book – Score One for the Sloths)
Did you get this Wordle? Tell me about it in the comments!
Happy Gaming!
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Wordle #473
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Wordle explanations are posted a day late to ensure that no one accidentally sees the solution before playing.
Line 1: I’m just mixing things up right now, but “leash” did well for me!
Line 2: This was extremely lucky, but there’s some strategy behind it. Since the “A” wasn’t in position 3, I figured that if it were in 1, it would be A-consonant-vowel-“SH”. My brain was freezing on that, so I went with the other possibility, that “A” was in position 2, and the word was consonant-“A”-consonant-“SH”. The first word that came to mind in this case was “marsh”, and it’s what the answer ended up being. I love solving Wordles in 2! 🙂
Did you get this Wordle? Tell me about it in the comments!
Happy Gaming!
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Wordless Wednesday (#1?)
I saw over at The Many Hats of an Orthodox Mom a Wordless Wednesday this morning, and figured I would join along. I don’t know if I’ll make it a regular thing (or even if I’ll do it again at all) but I’ll do it today.
Autumn people
A response to this post by Bishop +Seraphim (Sigrist).
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Wordle #472
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Wordle explanations are posted a day late to ensure that no one accidentally sees the solution before playing.
Line 1: I went with “paste” again, and got absolutely nothing from it.
Line 2: “Fling” just gets me the “G”, in the incorrect place
Line 3: Still didn’t get the “G” in the correct place, but the bonus is “O” and “U” together!
Line 4: Might this be a “GH” word? Nailed it! 🙂
Line 5: Apparently, this is “payback” for not using a “B” word as a starting word! *L* Still, I managed to get it. Crazy how different “cough” and “bough” sound, even with four letters in common!
Did you get this Wordle? Tell me about it in the comments!
Happy Gaming!
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Wordle #471
Never played Wordle? Check out my Wordle strategy page!
Wordle explanations are posted a day late to ensure that no one accidentally sees the solution before playing.
Line 1: I went with “paste” again. Got the “S” and “T”, though in incorrect places.
Line 2: Moved the “S” and “T” to the beginning, and lucked out. 🙂
Line 3: I realized that by playing the “R” and the “K”, I ruled out an awful lot of possibilities for what this word could be. Not having an “O” made the choices even fewer. “Sting” seemed like it could be reasonable, and, amazingly, it was correct!
Did you get this Wordle? Tell me about it in the comments!
Happy Gaming!
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Stumbling Uphill
I was recently on Instagram, and I was recommended an account of an Orthodox woman, whom I think is a priest’s wife. I clicked over to see what kind of an account it was, and about four posts back, she posted this video of Dr. Jordan Peterson answering a question about Eastern Orthodoxy:
I know that I saw this clip quite awhile back, but whether the interview it comes from predates when Peterson was gravely ill or not, I’m not sure. However, it was a message that I was needing to be reminded of.
One of the reasons that I left Protestantism is really connected to “when things go bad”. Even churches that don’t preach the Prosperity Gospel have kind of let themselves be infiltrated by the idea that if people are “good” and do things that are pleasing to God, they will be rewarded here on earth by health and wealth and peace or whatever. However, the flip side to that inherently is “if bad things happen to you, it must be because of something that you’re doing to cause it”. Certainly there are a lot of people that are responsible for their own misery, but plenty of “good” people suffer, and that is just the way of the world because of the wages of sin.
The thing about Orthodoxy, though, is that this hand-wringing about “why do bad things happen to good people?” isn’t dealt with in a way that tries to justify it. The answer is simply “Because evil exists”. If one wants to delve deeper into it, one can go into the philosophy of how tribulation is a means of purifying the soul and a means to bring us closer to God, and that is true and it is fine, but in the midst of the fire, there’s still a lot of pain, even if it is a cleansing fire.
As I often am, I’m reminded of St. Alexander of Munich, who lived a life of what we’d today describe as privilege, but was faithful until death. He didn’t die for lack of faith, but because of his faith he could boldly ready himself for the next life.
The lesson remains, as Dr. Peterson phrases it here, to pick up your cross and stumble up the hill. Sometimes it’s the hardest thing in the world to do, but it’s the responsibility we’ve been given. So much of what we believe being Christian is stems from the idea of confessing belief in God and Jesus as Savior, and rightly so – yet there is a part of this all that dictates that if one says that they are Christian, that person has to also bear the cross given and just strive to keep going, almost like a physical aspect to what it means to be Christian. It certainly indicates that one’s Christian identity cannot simply be something of the mind, but also requires a commitment of the body as well.
Dr. Peterson has been very careful about claiming to be a Christian or not – in the years since he’s been in the spotlight, he’s certainly been undergoing a journey and struggle of faith. These sorts of things are particularly hard when large parts of one’s life become open to the public, and I don’t want to comment on that. I can’t help but see a parallel, though, between how much he’s talked about just doing things like making one’s bed and the stumbling uphill to the City of God. There have been so many days as of late that my mind wants to tell me that it’s all no use, everything is just too overwhelming, yet at the same time, there are all these tasks that need to get done, laundry, dishes, appointments, what have you where I will just try to take a deep breath, shut out the voice that says that these things are impossible, and put one foot in front of the other to pitch in my little bit against the chaos, and let God take the rest.
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Wordle #470
Never played Wordle? Check out my Wordle strategy page!
Wordle explanations are posted a day late to ensure that no one accidentally sees the solution before playing.
Line 1: I’m getting feisty, and starting with “paste”. Got the “E” right off the bat, and “T” is somewhere else in the word.
Line 2: So I figured out where the “T” belongs now. Should I have stayed with my old standbys for the beginning word?
Line 3: Maybe it’s a “T”-blend, vowel, consonant, “E”? Promising…
Line 4: Of course, Murphy’s Law would have me pick the wrong blend first, but the game was wrapped up nicely with “twine”.
Did you get this Wordle? Tell me about it in the comments!
Happy Gaming!
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