A cute long paragraph to say

Let's say Dave is a serious life long alcoholic who downs a whole bottle of vodka a day. One day he gets caught robbing a liquor store and is sentenced to ten years.
For obvious reasons prisoners aren't allowed to drink alcohol (although they might make it or smuggle it from time to time). At the same time if you cut this guy off cold turkey he can quite literally die.
How does the prison deal with this?

Hello.
I (33f)have the CPTSD Ive known about it since a 2012 and have struggled since then to get treatment other than ssris. I recently had a mental health flare up and have finally found a therapist that I like. I lot of this have been coming up in therapy where my therapist thinks I should be kinder to myself or stand up for myself. I’m not sure because I’ve been trying to do so but it’s not seeming to work.
My husband works for himself/ works from home/ teaching himself to run a business for the past year. We live in hcol I work full time and pay for our health benefits, (he has an office in the apartment and we still split rent 50/50 (when he has the money to) and pay for all household goods and groceries (unless he is working and he will pay for half) I do most of the large purchases, car, insurance vacations, electricity and water and cell phones and he has the internet. He had liked to live month to month while trying to work as little as possible. I enjoy being with him when he has time for his own pursuits and he doesn’t like 9-5 life so I’m very happy with him not working as much as I do.
The thing is, is that he has been telling me that I don’t do enough, or that he doesn’t ask anything of me, or that I don’t spend enough quality time with him. He doesn’t like that I spend time after work reading or listening to audio books, scrolling Reddit or watching Tv. He says that he wants to see me being productive. He talks about how I need to have more productive hobbies. Like instead of reading, writing, or if I’m reading, blogging or reviewing it. He wants me to go on walks. He says I’d be less depressed if I did more things. He calls the time I spend in the evening mindlessly scrolling and said today that all the time I spend on my phone I could be spending with him. My screen time average is 2.5 hours/day. I’m pretty sure he thinks I’m just wasting my whole life away, it makes me think that he thinks very low of me.
This past year he wanted to start having dinner together at the dinning room table every night. (Like we are “supposed to” It’s been hard for me to rally for them. We would fight because I have a hard time eating without relaxing first and I would be so keyd up after a long shift he would get upset that I wasn’t appreciative. It took a lot of conversation to get him to understand that I need that wind down time before I can face dinner and conversation and real life again. I hurt my back and was unable to sit at the table so he has been understanding about sitting at the couch. After dinner and watching a show together he gets upset if I get on my phone when he goes in his office to work. He wants me to spend the time more productively. On my phone I read and listen to audiobooks. I read 5-6 books a month usually. Sometimes more if they are short stories. Idk how to explain to him that I like reading and it helps me relax. I suggested we read the 5 love languages book and he bought it which made me so happy, after he read it he said he excelled in all the love languages and that it was me who didn’t know how to speak his love language. What am I supposed to say to that?
He does most of the daily household chores ie dishes and laundry. I’ve told him in the past that if he paid for part of the electricity and the health insurance I could afford to get a cleaner. When I was in school and working part time I kept a better house but it’s a lot harder now because my job is stressful and mentally exhausting. I thought the cleaner would solve the issue. He doesn’t think we need one but gets upset that I can’t keep up with half of the duties. Dispite the fact he is home 24/7 and I’m only home in the evenings. Sometimes I work up to 14 hour days. Also, some days I need to be in bed. I give a lot to my job and I thought to was worth it to keep our lifestyle going weather he is actively working or not but now I’m hearing that the only thing I contribute is money and that it doesn’t count because he is going to pay me back.
It’s still hard for me though because I always have to make sure I have the money because I never know if he will be able to contribute or not. I don’t really want to work a bunch either. I am also just a work enough to survive kinda person.
The biggest issue I have is that I don’t think he respects me. Because how could you have such a low opinion of someone you respect? Why does he keep saying that I don’t do anything or that he doesn’t ask anything of me. How can he love someone who doesn’t do anything? He says that he is just trying to better me but I’m okay with myself. I’m not perfect but I’m not bad.
It’s true, I’m depressed and love to get cozy in the couch for hours at a time while listening to an audiobook and scrolling Reddit . I do clean on weekends that I don’t also work. I do the dishes twice a week and vacuum and clean the toilet every weekend. I do the litter box every other month. (It’s the crystal that get changed monthly) I buy the cat food and we split feeding them unless I’m working. I don’t do the dishes daily though(I get depressed with the endless daily tasks) I offered to buy a dishwasher because I had no problem doing that daily but he didn’t want me to spend money on it. I prefer to do larger weekly tasks because it’s hard for me to have the energy daily. I don’t like to cook after work so I’ll order us dinner or pick groceries that are quick meals. This is not what he considers healthy though and prefers to cook us healthy meals.
To me this relationship is me finding compromises and him finding reasons why I’m not doing things right. I am trying my best but I just feel like it’s never enough.
Am I crazy for being hurt by his attitude towards me despite him saying it’s to better me? Is my depression and laziness after work making me a bad partner or is my partner not being understanding of my needs?

Xpost from relationship_advice, looking for opinions.
we've been together just over 10 months. Over that time some odd things have happened which made me question my trust in her and I like her but have been slightly wary of her since. I've been staying with her at her apartment for the past couple months or so and lately nothing too weird has happened and she seemed to be much better overall. But she recently asked if I wanted to move in and I just felt like I wasn't ready for that kind of commitment at this point as I was still trying to regain her trust and wasn't fully over some of the stuff that happened, and so I ended things. She is completely heartbroken, says she's in love with me and wants me in her life. And I question whether I made the right choice and whether I overreacted to some of the stuff the has happened.
I wanted to write out all the situations but the post got way too long too quick. But one of the bigger incidents was once (before I was staying there consistently) we were texting throughout the day and then suddenly she stopped replying, And I didn't hear from her for the rest of the day. I tried again the next morning and then finally she replied that afternoon but it was a very short response that's very unlike her. Then that night she texted saying a guy had gotten stabbed outside of her apartment while trying to help her with something. So she brought him up to her apt and tended to his wounds and had him stay the night there (she says he stayed out on the couch). I didn't know what was going on and was a little bit angry as well and then she called me. She acted like it was no big deal but she could tell in my voice I was not in a good mood (I was trying to figure out what was happening) and she said I was being rude and hung up on me, and also said the guy had left.
She called again moments later (or I did I can't remember) and there was some guy talking in the background who I thought was one of her roommates but she said it was the guy. I said "I thought he left," she said "he came back." I didn't know what to say and then she's like "ooooh you got real quiet" in a mocking type way. The guy is super drunk and she's pretty drunk too I think. They were both being a little disrespectful to me and he mentioned how they played cards together the night before (something that was a thing her and I had started doing together recently which I really enjoyed) and they mentioned they were going to play a game this night too. He was telling jokes and in one of them mentioned the town and street I live on which was really weird. Also mentioned at one point that his son or sons came over as well (I think to check on him but also it sounded like they hung out for a bit too).
It seemed like he was going to stay the night again. I didn't know what to do but my instincts were going wild and while it was late and I had to go to work early and it's like a 35 min drive to where she lives, I said I was coming. We also facetimed and the dude was chilling laying back on her bed. I stayed on the phone the whole way there. Once I said I was coming she got a little quiet and the guy started acting nervous and at one point said "you didn't mention you had a boyfriend" (she says she did mention it) and "at least we didn't have sex". He kept saying he's got to go but she said stay and meet my boyfriend. I get there and they're in her room with beer cans and tobacco everywhere and then he leaves. She said to him "you can stay but we are taking the bed," (she may have said "room" but I'm pretty sure she said bed) which shouldn't that go unmentioned?? Once he was gone she's like "are you breaking up with me?" I wanted to in that moment but I pictured her just calling up that guy and having him come back if I did right then plus I was still in shock as to what just happened so said "no."
We talked a little about it in the following days and she knew I was not happy with what happened but we didn't have any huge in-depth discussion about it. Since that day she makes random comments here and there like "you're the only guy I want in my room," or "you're the only guy who would be anywhere near my bed" little comments like that in conversation.
There was a point where she was trying to get off of a certain medication, without a doctors help and was struggling with it big time and acting extra crazy due to it and I can't remember if this was during that time or not, but either way it's a bit messed up right? And even though she's been way better lately, I can't help but still be disgusted by this.
There are a few more incidents in the past I'd like to share but this one's probably the worst. And it's too bad because she seems to have changed for the better lately now that she's getting proper medication and whatnot from a doctor but not enough time has passed to where I have regained my trust on her and not think of incidents like this.
TLDR: My girlfriend wanted me to move in and despite feeling a strong connection at times, I ended things because of past incidents which I haven't fully regained trust in her yet from.

This might be a bit of a long post, so I apologize in advance. TL;DR at the bottom.
For context, I’m living in a major city and my current lease ends at the end of next month. My current roommates and I are all splitting up and going to different places, and I originally planned to move in with another friend before those plans fell through. A friend of mine from my first year of college is planning on moving back to the city to finish school and work, and jumped at the chance to find a spot with me to live.
He’s a good friend: he’s fun, can socialize, and we share a lot of the same interests. He actually came back to the city this past weekend to tour apartments with me, and spent about five days at my apartment while we checked out different spots and hung out. It seems like a good deal, but at the same time it feels like he’s one of those friends that you love, but couldn’t live with.
I already wasn’t too sure about living with him when he brought it up originally. He’s a good guy, but seems to be really into things (whether it’s school, a hobby, or a job) for a couple weeks/months before losing all interest immediately. Freshman year he dropped out of school halfway through the year and moved home. He then transferred to a different school, lasted there for a maybe a year max and dropped out again. He did this a third time with a community college in his home town before quitting school altogether and focusing on work. Even then, he wasn’t able to hold a job and quit most of them after only a few months. My biggest concern is that he’s going to do the same thing here, but this time we’re going to be on a 12 month lease and if he bows out, I’m fucked.
Additionally, there was just some interactions this weekend that threw me off. He would wake up really early while my roommates and I were asleep and then immediately start having loud phone calls, playing video games, and just generally not giving a fuck about keeping it down. I asked him to try and be quiet in the mornings, and he did get better about it, but would still rip weed and cough so loud it woke all of us up.
One day while we were out in the city, I tried talking to him about a possible roommate agreement and my expectations (I’ve lived with some really shitty roommates before) and he shut me down entirely. He got defensive, called roommate agreements “gay as fuck”, and tried calling me out for my own mistakes in staying on top of cleaning freshman year. I wasn’t even accusing him of anything, just trying to lay out simple guidelines for us (literally the most basic roommate etiquette) and what I’m looking for and he got flustered and wouldn’t even humor the conversation.
Finally, last night, we were going over the apartments we toured and which ones we wanted. He was dead set on one that at the end of the day I wasn’t that interested in. It happens, I wasn’t expecting to get exactly what i wanted and was willing to talk it over. But, again, he wouldn’t even humor a conversation and got loud and defensive when I tried to point out the pros and cons of the two places we were deciding between, and what I saw as a better deal for both of us. The worst part was him claiming that he was being generous by “letting” me search for the apartments, schedule the tours, and keep us on track all by myself while I’ve been busting my ass with school. I dropped all my responsibilities to hang out with him and do these tours this weekend and let him crash at our place, and by the time he left he didn’t even say thanks.
So yeah, sorry for the bit of rant/vent, but that brings you up to speed. I ended up requesting applications for the apartment he wanted more, we got them, and he left this morning. It’s just now that he’s gone (and after reading this all out again), I don’t really think I want to live with him.
How do I tell him? Am I a piece of shit if I bail on this now even though his hopes are up? Is it too late and should I just bite the bullet and hope for the best? I don’t want to lose him as a friend because, despite how bad this post might make him look, he’s genuinely a really close friend of mine and we get along really well in most other ways. I’m just pretty damn positive that cancelling this plan will ruin our relationship.
I’m confused and frustrated and more than a little unhappy. Any advice on how to approach this situation would be appreciated. Thank you.
TL;DR - My freshman year college buddy is planning on moving back to the city and living with me. He came up this past weekend, we toured apartments, and found one that we can manage and that he really likes. It’s just that I got more and more frustrated with him over the weekend, it didn’t seem like he cared about being respectful while here, and I’m nervous due to his previous unreliability. I’m not sure about living with him anymore or how I should tell him this. Ideally, I’d want to stay friends with him, but no matter how gently I break the news he’ll probably blow up. Any advice on how to approach this is welcome.

I just came back from the clinic and I tested positive for HSV 1 as well as gonorrhea in my throat, and in my genitals. I am feeling so many different emotions right now. There's a lot I want to say but don't know how to say it and I need to just let it out. My ex was blocked for a week and we had no contact for 2 weeks, and I made the biggest mistake of my life and I unblocked him, and had sexual contact with him.
I didn't even have sex with him the first time I saw him, because something in my gut was telling me not to. But his dick touched the outside of my genitals and that's how I contracted HSV 1. I had sex with him 2 days later because I knew at that point it was too late anyway. I didn't know that I'd get gonorrhea too.
There is a lot I want to say regarding my ex but I don't want to sound offensive, long story short he is most likely living a secret life. Me and most others believe he is bisexual and in the closet, and won't come out because of his family. So I believe he's engaging in risky sex because of this, he also has a substance abuse problem. It's just a lot.
He is insisting he wasn't with anyone in the time we were broken up, obviously a lie, I'm really disgusted thinking about who could have given him both herpes and gonorrhea at the same time. He will never tell me the truth about his sexual impulses, his sexuality, nothing. I'm also afraid to leave him and be with someone else because I'm afraid that nobody else will love me if I have herpes. He's actually taken all of this news pretty well but still lying about his sexual history.

https://www.reddit.com/TaylorSwift/s/98uUK4F5XD
Aide from the fact that she/her team copyright strike any and every poor indie artist and small business just making fan merch with THEIR OWN IDEAS AND UNIQUE DRAWINGS/ART that she’s mad more people want because her own store’s merch is cheap and shit but they would rather punish people than upgrade their products. (Which wasn’t looked down on before her, btw, which Olivia Rodrigo even shaded her for as 20 year old who was somehow mature enough to verbalize that it was a way your fanbase shows love and appreciation and that she personally also wouldn’t copyright strike an artist for being inspired by Olivia in music the way she was by Taylor—which is a whole other deal where we all know Olivia, A TEENAGER AT THE TIME, was taken advantage of by a fucking thirty year old woman and her team—)
Aside from the fact that she thinks that everything she says needs to be trademarked. Aside from the fact that she thinks her name is an icon—looking at you, the trademark claim for “TAYLORCON” to also be owned by Taylor. Aside from the fact that it’s just PAINFULLY obvious the only thing she cares about is money and somehow her fandom is falling for it instead of recognizing it for what it is—her only seeing them as money bags, which i think is a nice way of wording what she sees her literal human fans as—
Aside from the fact that you can’t even tell who her real friends are from who her PR friends are because her posse is just a revolving door and even her known long-term OG friends have not been around since last year, but we definitely know it’s none of the POC people bc they’re just props (Ice Spice) or artists that are more renowned than her who she wants to be talked about in the same sentence as (Lana Del Rey).
Aside from that one of her most public toxic traits she gets away with is queerbaiting to the point that she does that actually sometimes make the Gaylors seem not as crazy as the Eras Fanatics (even if they too take it too far) and makes you see why some in the queer community, such as those in an emotional and vulnerable state would honestly believe she IS SENDING THEM SIGNALS because she knows she needs that demographic to keep her from falling behind rising pop stars that are out selling her and breaking her records in streaming and in the media like Olivia and Sabrina.
Aside from all of that. It’s this. Except it’s also IMPOSSIBLE to ignore everything presented previously and so much more not posted.
She’s a greedy, money-hungry, unethical, selfish narcissist. Worst of all—she’s mean.
YOU ARE NOT THE FIRST WOMAN TO EXPERIENCE FEMALE RAGE AND I ASSURE YOU FEMALE RAGE GOES BEYOND BEING MAD ABOUT BEING GHOSTED.

Recently I wanted to play some of my old childhood favorite games on coolmathgames [.] com. For the first few minutes, it was working fine, but then the game started lagging and glitching out a lot. It gave me a message along the lines of "coolmathgames says: abort [insert long string of code].js" I didn't know what it was and was worried it was a virus so I instantly exited the tab. I tried to search it up to see if anyone else had a similar issue but all I could find was a random review that said "Coolmath is an old website filled with malware and spyware..." I'm not sure if I trust that review, but I'm really worried that I might have gotten a virus. I don't see anything is my downloads folder (I'm on a phone), but I'm still worried.

Hey everyone. I am relatively new to coachs teachings and have read the book just twice. Found coach after a brutal breakup in January from my (27m) live in girlfriend (26f) of seven years.
She lost all attraction to me, and it was definitely my fault. As coach says women will give you 6-12 months of mental uncertainty before ditching your ass. I had a ton of shit happen, not an excuse but I just didn’t deal with it in a healthy way, turning to weed to sort of numb everything.
Anyways, we met up once in March to talk - of course I fucked up as coach teaches to just make dinner at your place, have fun and hook up. However I couldn’t help myself and we met for a drink and hung out for three hours before I fucked it up and asked her on a date at the end of the night. She ended up thinking about it for a week before she decided she was not interested. I simply said thanks for your honesty and processed not to contact her again for a while.
However I did need to reach out to her due to some logistical things regarding the move - mostly some shit of hers I found when packing (things she actually might need - physical copy of medicine license, etc). During this conversation she asked if I wanted to grab a drink with her before I left. She could only make it that night as her parents were coming into town for the weekend.
So I said yeah because I was unable to resist, like a goddamn dumbass. But honestly it was like the best date we had been on in a year or so. Everything was super light, super fun and honestly super flirty. We ate dinner and I expected her to excuse herself to go change and get ready for her parents but she ended up insisting we play pool. So we ended up hanging out for three hours again, with a TON of touching going on in the pool game. My hand on her lower back, at one point we were sitting on the table and I put my arm around her and she put her head back on my shoulder. At the end we went into the parking lot and she said “I’m sorry I looked so crusty, I just came from work and I’m bummed I couldn’t hang out longer I just really have to leave to grab my parents, I’m already late.”
She said how good I looked 3-4x and even mentioned how good I smelled at the end. We left it with a super long hug in the parking lot and she was giving me fuck me eyes, but I decided against going for the hook up as I didn’t want to misread the situation. However as coach says he who hesitates masterbates.
However this meeting has left me more confused. My parents live in the city I’m leaving, so I’ll be back several times before the year end. I still badly want to end up with this girl (part of the move is to force myself to move on) and can’t decide if I should reach out when I’m in town next. Based on the vibes of this meetup, I believe we would 100% end up going out and hooking up.

I (32M) recently got broken up with by my partner (30F) of 1.5 years.
My parents immigrated to this country from South Asia and I grew up with very little connection to there (don't speak the language or know much of the culture).
My ex actually grew up there and only came to the US in the past decade. So there was a lot of ground to cover in terms of learning.
I thought we were good progress in the 1.5 years together learning about her culture and family expectations but I regretfully might've taken it slower than she wanted which is part of why we broke up.
I just thought we had more time if we were going to marry. I got overwhelmed trying to prioritize what to work on perhaps. My therapist is saying I'm being hard on myself, that 1.5 years is a relatively short time to learn a language and culture and family expectations and that I made good progress given that we also had to spend time adjusting to each other as people. But I think I ultimately failed to manage expectations in a way that made her happy.
I still want to learn more about my language and culture (I even finally started Duolingo for it as I recently went on mental health leave and am taking a long hiatus from one of my hobbies so I have a lot of time), but how can I manage expectations better in the future? There's a good chance I date more people who grew up in my home country who would appreciate me gaining familiarity.
Things I thought of:

1. Identify courses in history, politics and culture. Then come up with a timeline with my partner for doing them
   
2. Commit to certain completion milestones on Duolingo, ie maintain a daily streak, do one lesson a day
   
3. Come up with a list of essential/cultutally significant movies and try to watch one a week. My ex and I sort of did this but it was very adhoc and I didn't really establish a quota or process for it
   

Tldr; I (32m) screwed up managing expectations with my ex (30f) around learning about her culture. How can I clearly establish learning goals and milestones next time. What is an appropriate amount of time to spend in the relationship before establishing this sort of thing?

I am a transfer student , transferring to UC’s main campus in Fall of 2024 and tried to fill out my housing application to where I was then placed on the housing waitlist. How long until I know if I’ll be offered housing ? I have already started the transfer process at my current university and will not be able to attend UC if i will not receive housing. I’m also confused as to why transfer students are waitlisted , when their website says that transfer students follow the same steps for housing as first year students and the deadline to submit a housing application for Fall 2024 isn’t until June 4th.

Jerran Class: Gunsmith Age: 27 Soul: Amoral Soul
Jerran is a tanned, clean shaven man with long brown hair and dark brown eyes, he's typically seen wearing a beaten up button up shirt and army pants.
A Gunsmith, born and raised in a village that would inevitably be captured by the Bremen empire, both him and his father were given a choice, build weapons for them, or die. His father made the heroic choice and died, he however chose the cowardly option and built weapons, saying nothing else about it until his village was retaken in the war, where he immediately defected to guarantee his own survival, though he would be moved to another war zone to provide repair for the soldiers on the front. However, he would retreat as soon as he had the opportunity, leaving for neutral ground, not having heard about any signed treaties thus ending up on a train going through Prehevil (Sorry for it being so long, plan on shortening it up) Skills Gunsmithing: Jerran can seemingly make firearms out of any random junk he finds lying around. -Pipe Shotgun: 2 Rusty Pipes, scrap metal and a bonesaw. (Slower rate of fire, primarily a stunning tool. +43 attack, +30% hit rate) -Pipe Pistol: Broomstick (carved into a handle), Rusty Pipe, Bolt, Scrap Metal (+32 attack, +25% hit rate) -Pipe Rifle: bonesaw, 2 Scrap Metal, 1 Bolt, Broomstick. (+40 Attack, +25% hit rate) Modify: Can modify either Crit Rate or Damage for firearms at a ritual circle through prayer and engravings on the gun. (All-mer for Crit rate, Grogoroth for Damage) ((to make allmer circles have a point.)) Scamper: effectively a reskinned Escape Plan, Jerran panics for a moment, ducking and rushing away as fast as possible. Alert: (only applies in a battle against the player) a coShotgun! Jerran notices your approach and fires a handmade shotgun! Pass: His trembling hands causes his shot to miss! (Attack Down) Fail: Despite his shaking, he manages to hit a clean shot! (Stun for a turn, heavy bleed.)
Moonscorched Form: The Watcher, A reflection of Jerrans paranoia, The Watcher takes the form of an hourglass covered in eyes with two hands reaching out from underneath. Pulls out various guns per turn, the eyes drain mind as they seem to be watching and waiting for the subject...

“““I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!” ‭‭Revelation‬ ‭3:15-16‬ ‭NLT‬‬
Christ had come to send a message to the church of Laodicea. The message would rebuke them of their lukewarmness, causing the lord to threatened to spit them out of his mouth. While many may not understand the full context of the verse, “spitting out of his mouth” leaves a bad connotation. What does it mean to be lukewarm, and how do we avoid being spat out?
The city of Laodicea( the location of the church this message was written to) was located between two other cities, Hierapolis( north of it) and Colossae(south of it). Hieapolis was filled with hot springs, heated from a volcanic mountain nearby, and is known for it’s hot springs even today. The people of Hierapolis believed that the hot springs obtained a healing nature, and would use the thermal springs for patients. This obviously makes the water good and useful.
However when water flowed from Hieapolis down to Laodicea, it took so long to do so that the water cooled, turning from hot to lukewarm. So when it came to Laodicea becoming lukewarm, it lost its healing properties, and thus wasn’t useful anymore.
Think of a Christian who’s lost their saltiness. A lukewarm Christian is one who isn’t living for God, but living for the world, and thus useless to him. It’s not someone struggling with sin, but one who fully embraces it, or has backslides into it.
”This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all.“ 1 Timothy‬ ‭1‬:‭15‬ ‭NLT‬‬
If this is you, don’t fret yet, there’s still hope. God didn’t come for the healthy, but the sick. Like all sins, we must repent and turn to God. Not only this, but we must be “refined by fire.
”So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference. “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.“ ‭‭Revelation‬ ‭3‬:‭18‬-‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬
Laodicea had a decent amount of gold, seeing they were quite wealthy. But God cares not for ones wealth, but for ones faith. Paul in 1 Peter 1:7 describes faith, which is tested by fire, much more valuable than gold. We must have a living faith in God, but like all living things, it must be made strong through trials and tests.
Laodicea was also famous for its glossy wool. But here Jesus offered pure white garments, representing the covering of sin and putting on righteousness. God’s people must be righteous, or set apart from the world, living like Christ instead of the world.
When we do these things, even if we face struggles, our faith with shine like the brightest flame.

I've been working for months to try to unravel the complicated history of my ancestry, but I was wondering if anyone could point me in a better direction.
From what I've found so far, it looks like my great-grandfather was born in a Rusyn village that's in present-day Ukraine. From what I can tell, everything about him seems to line up that of Rusyn people: he was a coal miner, his last name is a Hungarian-ized (later American-ized) version of a Rusyn last name, he was Greek Orthodox, he settled in PA, etc.
But... my great-grandmother is a whole different story. The area she was born in changes on literally every document I've been able to find, and since the majority of my grandmother's siblings have passed away and my grandmother wasn't raised with her parents for very long, I'm having a really hard time putting the pieces together. I know boarders changed constantly in Europe due to the wars, but how do I begin to unravel that? Her maiden name is Polish but she was allegedly born in Czechoslovakia (some docs say Krompachy, some "Kossive," some say she was born in Austria, some say "Slovakland," and some say Dubrava without a country name). But her sister wrote that she was born in "Brgesko, Czechoslovakia" which isn't a place from what I can tell-- the only thing that comes up is Brzesko, Poland. This is, notably, the one that seems to be the most accurate however, since "Kossive" and Krompachy came out of no where.
Additionally, if she was in fact Polish, why wouldn't she just write that on the census documents? Her ethnicity was written as Slovak, Hungarian, and "Slavish" and she wrote her native language as "Slavish" many times, but that doesn't make sense to me. If she was from Poland, why wouldn't she just write Polish? And if she wasn't Polish and she was Slovak, why wouldn't she just write that instead of "Slavish?" I think it's possible she might've been Rusyn as well, so that may explain the "Slavish" thing, but it's extremely difficult to discern that because I literally cannot figure out where she was actually born.
So, I guess my question is, how do I untangle this? What is the most straight-forward way (short of a DNA test 'cause I don't have the money nor the trust in these companies to do that) of being as certain as I can about their ethnicities? I want to be able to talk about where my family came from-- especially since this is important to my grandmother and I want to be able to give her an answer-- but I don't want to claim to be something I'm not.
And as an aside, I'm aware that a lot of these areas were part of the Empire and switched hands between Austria and Hungary often, but my main issue is trying to figure out where my great-grandma was actually born because there's so many inconsistencies there that I don't even know where to start. Additionally, I have tried to look into my great-grandmother's parents since she came to the US with them, but it's just brick wall after brick wall and people who've been doing this for a lot longer than I have can't breakthrough it.

Hi all! I’ve been struggling with this issue (in the title) for a long time. I was getting better at it but my friend who I used to work with just lmk that one of my past coworkers was talking shit on me and went as far as saying that I deserve everything bad that comes to me and that I should k*ll myself. For context, I was a manager, and this ex coworker NEVER followed the rules so she constantly had to be coached, hence why she dislikes me. But I’ve been struggling so hard to not get very angry and upset about it and to not lash out. What are some ways to help me ease my mind and ignore things like this?

I'm not even a "son". I remember when I was like 15 or 16, I saw someone having a lift inside their house when we went to their house-warming party, so I was excited and told my dad "a lift!" and was bringing this up to other people in the party too. Then my dad was like, why is your tone so excited etc. This happens a lot of time. I managed to make a sale by myself from selling stuff online, or when I was excited to tell my dad the type of customers that came to buy my goods, dad was like, why your pitch is so high?? However, note that when he invites his guests over, they can be laughing that I hear it upstairs with my doors shut. Also, my brother's gf can be gushing over something with a "high tone" and my dad says nothing. Other females can be in high pitch and he sometimes say stuff like they are so cute.. I dont even have a high pitch when I talk and some mistaken my voice for a guy... I realized this translate to me not showing my emotions everywhere I go. People think I am calm in all situations, but I'm actually squeeling inside or freaking out inside

I have been wanting an airport in this game so long. There are so many possibilities that would make this game so much more fun.
The port was a very creative part but it's only good for jobs and stealing, YOU can't travel anywhere, like on a boat or something.
You might have to make an extra long drive to get there, but it's this huge place with a long runway and maybe two terminals. Inside there is a snack shop and maybe a VIP lounge (where you can make it have long wait times and a nice card to replicate the sad reality of real lounges).
And there would be so many new jobs to do. You could start as a cashier or some customer service inside the airport (you know deal with a few karens), then become a flight attendant with your experience, and then finally a pilot.
And then the actual AIRPORT part. Listen, say you're super rich and lazy in the game. You want to travel from the ski resort to the island without driving? Go to the airport and get a nice ride there. The devs could also have fun with other planes not used for passengers (cargo or military).
Any other ideas?

Looking for answers to the question: will a JW lie that they are out of the religion so their kids will still be in their life?
Long story short, my nieces were raised in abusive JW home where the mother hid and enabled their sexual abuse from the husband. Husband was reported and arrested. JW mother stood in court with the molester. Kids were taken out. Years later. Supposedly not together but also not divorced.
Fast forward. Kids are now young adults and “mom” wants to be in their lives now. Says she’s done with JW but suspiciously still doesn’t go to regular church, doesn’t put up Christmas trees. Conveniently celebrates holidays on days other than the actual date.
Is she lying to them to keep them in her life for influence?

My husband had a septoplasty today for a deviated septum. He was nervous going in and when he was finished the PACA nurse told me that his B/P was 130s systolic prior to anesthesia got above 180 systolic during the surgery. They had to give him multiple doses of Labetalol and Hydralazine to get it under control. She said that he should speak with his PMD about having undiagnosed hypertension. After we left the surgery center and I was able to talk to him, he told me that he woke up during surgery and could feel everything. He heard multiple people talking and he heard his doctor ask for the "hammer" and then he heard the tap, tap, tap, and then a loud crack of his nose being broken and felt everything. He tried to alert them, but he couldn't talk and he tried to move his arms but he couldn't because he was paralyzed. It lasted long enough that he remembers at least 3 or 4 "tapping' episodes and he remembers the MD saying that something was abnormal in his turbinates and then he thinks he went back under. I'm guessing that this explains why his b/p got so high. I've heard of 'anesthesia awareness" but I've never known anyone who's experienced it. I'm an oncology RN and have no experience with surgery. Is this something that could have been prevented or is it just an unfortunate risk of surgery? Should he be contacting his surgeon to let him know or wait until his post-op appt next week?

Hey all,
Today is my 90th day of no PM. This is going to be a long post so get ready.
Some background: I just turned 37 a week ago. I was using porn regularly from the age of ~13/14 to 30 years old. At first it was curiosity, i had stumbled on my dad’s porn collection and that lit something inside me. It was a mix of adrenaline and disgust. But as I got older I began to use the internet for porn. I’d say I had a mostly healthy habit (2-3 times a week, <10 minutes a session) up until my senior year of college, when I figured out you could edge. Still, everything was mostly good until I was about 22, moved out on my own to a different state, and had mounting anxiety, fear, and self-shaming because of unemployment, comparing myself to successful friends, and overall feeling incredibly inadequate in a thriving Silicon Valley startup scene (~2010).
I used porn to cope. I used it to feel happy, feel some pleasure in an otherwise bleak and depressing day of tears and shame for my life. I’d watch an hour, maybe 2 hours, often edging the entire time. My tastes began to morph and become more deviant. Still, I didnt want to turn away because, I just didnt want to face the rejection and scorn of my peers for not being successful.
Finishing the post in a comment below

Asking here because I don’t know where else. I recently did 3 shoots around the first week of May and I haven’t shot since. I already felt pain but figured it was the usual soreness after a long shoot.
However, in the past week, my right hand (the dominant hand I used to hold the camera body) hurts to move upon waking up. It goes away after a minute.
Has anyone had a similar experience? I’m only in my early twenties, but Google keeps saying it could be arthritis or at least some inflammatory issue. Should I get it checked for wear-and-tear damage or something?
Appreciate your time.

The Collect
O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Readings:
Psalm 97; 99; 100 Reading I Samuel 16:1–13a
Gospel: Matthew 8:18–27
18 Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side.
19 And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest
20 And Jesus saith unto him,The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head
21 And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
22 But Jesus said unto him,Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.
23 And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.
24 And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.
25 And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.
26 And he saith unto them,Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.
27 But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!
Commentary:
Our study for today encompasses a collection of seemingly unrelated passages, but when viewed as a whole we find a great lesson in the cost of discipleship; not only for those who made up the first century church but for us today as well.
Although the verses recommended for this day begin with verse 18, by looking back at the rest of the chapter we find information which establishes the scene and gives us context for our understanding. Rather than to take a single verse at its face value, we must always look at the preceding verses as well as those that follow so as to thoroughly understand.
Assuming Matthews recollections of the events of chapter 8 are reflective of works of Christ that hapopened on the same day—and not events from throughout his ministry and lumped together here as Matthew wrote this Gospel years after the fact—we could conclude that our Lord had a busy day.
The chapter begins as Jesus is coming down off of the mountain where he preached the Sermon on the Mount, a great multitude of people following his every step, and a leper comes to worship him, he heals the man and tells him, “See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.” Then after entering Capernium a Roman Centurion comes to him asking Jesus to heal his servant. Impressed by the faith of a man who was not a Jew, but a Roman Gentile, Jesus healed the man’s slave by the authority of his word without even going to the slave’s bedside.
Matthew tells us that Jesus continued to heal many that day, beginning with Peter’s mother-in-law, then many others who were sick or possess by demons.
Our Lord had no qualms about healing the sick, but throughout the Gospels we can detect a note of concern on his part in that many were coming to him, apparently for the sole purpose of the healing of physical ailments, and not for the healing of spiritual illness. We find in more than one place, Jesus making the decision to cross over the Sea of Galilee, presumably so that he could teach away from the crowds that seemed to only want physical cures.
“Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side. And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest And Jesus saith unto him,The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (vs. 18-20)
In a time when most were illiterate and few could even write, Scribes held an important position. Scribes had knowledge of the law and could draft legal documents (contracts for marriage, divorce, loans, inheritance, mortgages, the sale of land, and the like). Every village had at least one scribe, and we can surmise that scribes enjoyed a certain degree of wealth due to the need of their services.
Jesus lived a very simple life, traveling about teaching the people of his plan for salvation, a life that was not glamorous and one without financial compensation. Jesus didn’t tell the man “No, you can’t follow Me.” But He told him the truth, without painting a glamorized version of what it was like to follow Him. This is the opposite of techniques used by many evangelists today, but Jesus wanted the man to know what it would really be like.
“And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him,Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.” (vs. 21-22)
“Actually, this man did not ask for permission to dig a grave for his deceased father. He wanted to remain in his father’s house and care for him until the father died. This was obviously an indefinite period, which could drag on and on. This man was another of His disciples; yet he did not follow Jesus as he should have, nor as the 12 disciples did. This shows us that the term disciples has a somewhat broad meaning in the Gospel of Matthew, and must be understood in its context. The man wanted to follow Jesus, but not just yet. He knew it was good and that he should do it, but he felt there was a good reason why he could not do it now.” (Guzik)
“The excuse that this disciple made, to defer an immediate attendance on Christ (v. 21); "Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Before I come to be a close and constant follower of thee, let me be allowed to perform this last office of respect to my father; and in the mean time, let it suffice to be a hearer of thee now and then, when I can spare time." His father (some think) was now sick, or dying, or dead; others think, he was only aged, and not likely in a course of nature, to continue long; and he desired leave to attend upon him in his sickness, at his death, and to his grave, and then he would be at Christ's service. This seemed a reasonable request, and yet it was not right. He had not the zeal he should have had for the work, and therefore pleaded this, because it seemed a plausible plea.” (Henry)
“And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them,Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!” (vs. 23-27)
“He does not chide them for disturbing him with their prayers, but for disturbing themselves with their fears.” (Henry)
Here we have three great lessons in discipleship. The scribe would have been accustomed to receiving remuneration for his services, a disciple of Christ in those days as well as today must be prepared for hardship. Scribes such as this man enjoyed a certain degree of celebrity, an important man in the community who provided a service that was often needed. Disciples seldom gain celebrity, and the ones that do, frequently experience a downfall. Jesus said; “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Mt. 6:24) Jesus knew that this man would find it difficult to leave that which he was used to and to take up the cross and follow him.
The second lesson involves a disciple—a follower but not of the 12—who would have Jesus wait on him, until the man’s father had died and his affairs settled. Jesus knew his time on Earth was short, his appointment with destiny was just months away, but this man expected Jesus to wait for him.
We have to remember that at this point in his ministry, even the 12 seemed to think that when he established the Kingdom of God, they would enjoy high ranking positions in his administration. So many failed to realize that Jesus was speaking of a spiritual kingdom, a heavenly kingdom, and not a worldly political subdivision. Although Matthew does not make this point clear, we might surmise that this man wanted to be part of what he erroneously perceived to be a glorious worldly kingdom that rivaled that of King David’s era. Whatever the case may be in this man’s situation, when we consider the rebuke Jesus gave him “Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.” We can learn of another great cost in discipleship, the need to serve Jesus versus the need to serve our own agenda.
Finally we come to the third lesson. “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” We, as disciples of Christ, must always have faith, even in the face of danger.
Matthew Henry wrote: “His disciples followed him; the twelve kept close to him, when others staid behind upon the terra firma, where there was sure footing. Note, They, and they only, will be found the true disciples of Christ, that are willing to go to sea with him, to follow him into dangers and difficulties. Many would be content to go the land-way to heaven, that will rather stand still, or go back, than venture upon a dangerous sea; but those that would rest with Christ hereafter must follow him now wherever he leads them, into a ship or into a prison, as well as into a palace.”
Benediction
Almighty and most merciful God, grant that by the indwelling of your Holy Spirit we may be enlightened and strengthened for your service; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Thought for the Day:
The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all others, charity.
Benjamin Franklin