A Grand Hodgepodge

The Hodgepodge is back so grab your coffee and join the fun here on Wednesday mornings. If you've answered this week's questions add your link at the end of my post then go say hey to your neighbor there. Here we go-  

1. Do you think intuition is as valuable as rational thinking? Explain why or why not. 

Probably a silly question because of course the world needs both. I do think mothers especially have a sense about their children that might be described as 'intuition', and they should not ignore that. I wrote a whole post about this a while back, which you can read in the link here-I Had A Feeling. 

2. In the grand scheme of things____________________________. 

...small acts of kindness and forgiveness mean a lot. 

3. Last place you went that felt like 'Grand Central Station'? Have you ever actually been to Grand Central Station (and by Grand Central Station I mean Grand Central Terminal)?

Hmmm...getting two toddlers out of the house and into car seats and then out of car seats and back into car seats and then back into the house can feel a little chaotic lol. 

I have been to Grand Central Terminal. The saying generally uses the terminology Grand Central Station, but New Yorkers will tell you that's incorrect.  Besides the trains running to and fro there are restaurants, shops, and even a self-guided audio tour (or at least there was pre-Covid). If you're in the city it's a fun place to wander, eat, and people watch. 

4. October 6 is National Noodle Day. What's your favorite dish made with noodles and have you made/eaten this dish lately? 

It's tough to pick a favorite but I'm going to say beef stroganoff. I have a fancy recipe, but also a crock pot recipe that's delicious and less labor intensive. It's more of a winter dish in our house. I also love spaghetti and made that while my grandsons were here last week. 

5. A time recently you had to really 'use your noodle'? Elaborate. 

I try to 'use my noodle' regularly to keep it in good working order-ha! I enjoy puzzles and word games and hope the hype about those activities keeping you mentally young is true. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We had a fun full week with our grandsons so a post about that will be forthcoming. In the meantime, feel free to hop over to the Garden and Gun Magazine link and vote for our pup who is currently (as I write this post) in 1st place in their good dog photo contest. I know many of you have been voting, and while it feels like the contest might never end, it will. Friday at 5 PM EST. 

You’ll find the voting link here-Garden and Gun

Thank you to the many who have gotten on board with the crazy way this has taken off and have made it so much unexpected fun. 

Hunley thanks you too.

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I Had A Feeling

Anybody sense what today's word in the April A-Z Blog Challenge might be?

Day 9-I is for Intuition

Today's word is courtesy of my niece. I had a feeling she'd pick a good one-ha! I didn't really have a feeling. I knew she'd pick an interesting word because she's an avid reader and a fellow lover of words. In this case my feeling wasn't based on intuition, it was based on actually knowing her in person and expecting her to act accordingly. 

When I was growing up the word female was commonly placed before the word intuition, so we knew this mysterious phenomenon as 'female intuition'. I guess that's no longer pc, but women in particular do seem to have a sixth sense about certain things. 

There's loads of research and opinion on the topic, but in a nutshell intuition is when our brain uses past experience and present day cues to make a decision, all with lightning speed. So much so that we're not even aware of how we landed where we landed. We just know. 

There's also something going on inside our bodies that might give us what's described as a 'gut feeling'. These gut feelings signal the brain and also give us pause. At least they do if we acknowledge them and pay attention. 

Was there ever a time when you did or did not do something based on a 'gut feeling'? Your intuition? I can't think of something specific, but I know there have been many times I've had a sixth sense about my children. And almost always when I have a sense something is off with one of them, it is. 

I think we should pay attention to our intuition, but we also need to figure out what role our emotions might be playing too. Am I really just afraid to do xyz or is this my intuition telling me to hang on a second, take a step back, look more carefully at the situation?

I also think for Christians the Holy Spirit is a guiding factor in our decision making process, and is a more powerful force than human intuition alone. Sometimes we hear the Holy Spirit described as a still small voice, but how do we know if its something we're actually hearing or something we're telling ourselves?  For me personally, the only thing that works is to quiet my mind, read His word, and pray for direction, trusting He'll direct my steps. 

Still I don't think our human intuition should be ignored and I for one will always make that phone call/send that text asking 'Everything okay?' when my gut tells me maybe everything is not okay. 

Whew. This was a lot to think about on a Friday, wasn't it?