Apple released the latest version of its mobile operating system, iOS 12, to the general public today. Traditionally, the software is available around 10am Pacific Time, so I started refreshing the Software Update screen on my phone around 11am here in Colorado. It was after lunch by the time I got around to installing it, thanks to some other meetings, and I’ve spent most of my downtime today exploring all the new features.

I went out to the garden this weekend and picked my first to ears of corn from the popcorn variety I planted back in June. This corn is a much smaller variety than sweet corn, so I have been waiting for the right time to harvest some and see how it turns out. After researching the best time to harvest popcorn, I discovered that you should let it dry as much a possible on the stalk and at least wait until the ear dries out and looses most of its green leaves.

Tonight, my wife and I went downtown for the opening night of the Colorado Symphony’s new season. It was lots of fun - great music, and plenty of reminiscing too. I’ve been to quite a few events at Boettcher Concert Hall¹ and all those memories came back as we walked through the halls together and looked around before the concert.

I’ve recently been challenged to evaluate my thoughts for negative thinking and instead replace those thoughts with gratefulness and a positive perspective. This is especially important because our thoughts drive the attitudes we have, the actions we take, and the words we say. Jesus taught that the things that are in our hearts (souls) are like treasure hoards, and whatever is most abundant in our hears will come out in our words:

I’ve been pondering the idea of “Christian Essentialism” lately, and one topic that’s come to the forefront of my attention is self-discipline. In order to effectively put your energy towards one goal, you need the willpower and discipline to stay focused even when things get boring and mundane. I’ve realized that this is an area where I’ve grown very lazy, and I’ve just recently begun to see the effects in a number of areas of my life.