<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[More Than Code]]></title><description><![CDATA[Blog by @knownasilya about life and web development.]]></description><link>https://ilyaradchenko.com</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Mon, 18 May 2026 03:31:38 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://ilyaradchenko.com" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><pubDate>Thu, 04 Apr 2024 14:59:24 GMT</pubDate><item><title><![CDATA[Reading Now]]></title><description><![CDATA[### The Confessional County: Realizing the Kingdom through Local Christendom
Author: Ray Simmons. 

See details about the book [here](https://www.abebooks.com/9781513684758/Confessional-County-Realizing-Kingdom-Local-1513684752/plp).

[Currently reading, 30% of the way, 4/4/2024]

#### Thoughts so far

Lots of good nuggets to glean from this book. One of the biggest impacts for me has been remembering that God works in blessings/curses, which is obvious when you read the Bible, but somehow along the way I forgot that, or maybe it has to do with me not taking the old testament as seriously as I should have.

> “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.  Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. -- Matthew 5:17-20 (ESV)

---

Can buy a [downloadable MP3](https://gatherandgrow.us/product/the-confessional-county-ray-simmons/) (unaffiliated) if you do better with audio books.]]></description><link>https://ilyaradchenko.com/users/knownasilya/notes/cluld4s8c0001owosdz6vf6ap</link><guid isPermaLink="false">users/knownasilya/notes/cluld4s8c0001owosdz6vf6ap</guid><pubDate>Thu, 04 Apr 2024 14:59:24 GMT</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bad Habits and FOMO]]></title><description><![CDATA[I have to be honest, I've only picked up on this term about a year ago (maybe
longer) and at that time I didn't have any connection with the idea. A couple of
months ago, I inadvertently stumbled on it again while reading [Atomic Habits by
James Clear](https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits), and what an impact it had.

One of the ideas in that book talks about cues and cravings, in regard to making
good or bad habits. An example that James makes is in regard to checking your
phone, it goes like this:

Cue: A phone buzzes with a new text message.
Craving: You want to learn the contents of the message.
Response: You grab the phone and read the text.
Reward: You satisfy your craving to read the message. Grabbing your phone
becomes associated with your phone buzzing.
– James Clear (Atomic Habits, page 51)This example stirred something within me
because at that time I was dealing with checking Twitter way too much. I knew
about my bad habit, of picking up the phone and opening Twitter any time there
was a free moment or a time of silence. What I didn't know, was the reasoning
behind why I was checking it so often. Mainly because I had not taken the time
to analyze my habits.

The process of behavior change always starts with awareness. You need to be
aware of your habits before you can change them.
– James Clear (Atomic Habits, page 66)This is where FOMO, or the fear of missing out,  comes into play. I analyzed
this bad habit (did I mention that this was a bad habit?) and realized that I
was doing it because I was afraid to miss something happening in the tech
community, and specifically the [Ember](http://emberjs.com) community. I kept
analyzing and realized that I had the same bad habit with Github, which usually
occurred after Twitter had no content. So what now?

The first step is not what  or how, but who. You need to know who you want to
be. Otherwise, your quest for change is like a boat without a rudder.
– James Clear (Atomic Habits, page 40)This section really resonated for me and
told me what I already knew. And it's this: I won't change my habits if I don't
remember (or know) who I am. Notice how I said "who I am" instead of "who I want
to be". The reason this is important to me is because I have a solid identity
that is defined by my relationship with God. I need to remember who I am (a
child of God) so that I can focus on being who I am already. This sounds a bit
strange, but in Christianity, there is an idea, "already but not yet", which
illustrates that there is an ultimate reality already, but the time-based
version of that reality is still catching up. God already sees me as His son,
even though presently I have bad habits and sin because Jesus the perfect Son of
God has paid for my sins (past, present, and future) and called me his co-heir.

I really needed to remember that my identity and worth are not in how current I
am in the Ember scene or how much I know. It's not in my job or my own vision of
my future, but my identity and worth are in my relationship with God.]]></description><link>https://ilyaradchenko.com/users/knownasilya/notes/cltlvdsap000xn3bbcaqgcg84</link><guid isPermaLink="false">users/knownasilya/notes/cltlvdsap000xn3bbcaqgcg84</guid><pubDate>Sun, 10 Mar 2024 18:50:34 GMT</pubDate></item></channel></rss>