Saturday Story

What letter story will I tell today?  A, P & V are done, so that leaves another 23 letters to choose from!

Queen's Guide presentation.  How about the glasses!

Let's look at Q today.  What Q words can you think of?  Questions, quotes, qualifications, Queen, the Queen, Queen's Guide, qualities, quality time, Quality Street, quarantine, queue, quilt, quinquennial.

Isn't quinquennial a beautiful word?  I found it in the dictionary.  I didn't know there was such a word.  Apparently it means recurring every five years.   The only example I can find is from the Fixed Term Parliamentary Act in the UK that says that there should be a general election every 5 years.  Unless of course they call another one in between.   Sorry!  Off down a rabbit hole.  That's what comes of reading the dictionary!

Let's go back to my list and find some relevant stories.

I have lots of qualifications.  A teaching certificate, a B.A.(Hons) and a Masters degree (M.Ed). Sad to say that the degrees were about proving that I was capabale of getting them.  My grammar school teachers had said I wasn't good enough to go to University.  They also said that I shouldn't apply to a London Teacher Training College.  However I did ignore the last piece of advice and went to Southlands College in Wimbledon, London.  But after leaving college I got it into my head that I needed to prove myself.  This was before people talked about being 'enough' but I expect it is the same thing.  I did my first degree part time with the Open University and my masters part-time at Warwick University.  However I never told the school what I had done so I'm not sure what it proved and to whom.

Standing on a manhole cover to stop my heels sinking into the grass!

I also got photography qualifications and creative embroidery qualifications.  And at one point took the Mensa exam. And got in!

The day I received the letter telling me I had completed my masters degree my dad asked me when I was going to start my Ph.D.   And I took up the challenge and looked into doing a Ph.D in children's literature at Worcester University.   And then I came to my senses!

I didn't need to prove myself.  I didn't need more qualifications.  What I needed was just to be me.

But it's hard when you've always been performance driven.  I try now to be a 'being' not a 'doing'!

I expect there are other Q stories but I'll leave you with a quote from Charles Schultz:

'Don't worry about the world coming to an end today.  It's already tomorrow in Australia.'

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice

Q

In our Living Your Word of the Year group we are using a fortnightly (bi-weekly) A-Z challenge throughout the year to help us focus on our word and live it out.

Because of the way I have made my journal it's a case of going with the flow of what background the pages have when I turn to them.

Not the most attractive combination. I really need to consider what journal I might use next year.  This junk journal isn't really my thing!

I was in a quandary as to what word to chose for Q.  I wanted something quick and easy for my pages.  Could I find something quirky?  Should I fill the pages full of quotes?  I had been thinking a lot about quilts but that wasn't going to help!   I was on a quest to find something to do.  The obvious Q is question but I'm not sure that has anything to do with my word: [commit].

I randomly put stickers and washi tape on the pages.  This was definitely random rather than quirky!

I needed to find something of quality over quantity!  And there you have it: Qualities.  As in character.

I found 3 excellent scriptures. 
But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit. Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.
Galatians 5:22-23 (TPT)

So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.
2 Peter 1:5-9 (The Message)

However, you are chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, people who belong to God. You were chosen to tell about the excellent qualities of God, who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9 (God’s Word)

I only printed out the first and third of these.

Not one of my favourite layouts.  In fact quite questionable in terms of creativity.  However my word is commit and I am committed to finishing this A-Z challenge.  I cannot quit.

That's probably more than enough Q words for now!

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice

Join Our Inspirational Facebook Group: Living Your Word of the Year

Join Mary Brack, Valerie Sjodin and I in our Facebook group where we are giving participants the opportunity to live out an A-Z of their own word throughout 2019.  Mary explains what we are doing in her blog post.  We don't like a lot of rules, so we will have suggestions and options to spark creativity, and to help in recording and exploring our word’s meaning in visual and fun ways. We will each blog about our experiences and our art.

 Living Your Word of the Year 2019

Hashtags on Instagram:  #livingyourword2019

Check out the other blogs:
Mary: www.foundonbrighton.com
Valerie: www.valeriesjodin.com/blog

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