Random Dozen - #12

1. If you could master one sport, what would it be?
This is a tough one for me, because, frankly, I do not want to do any sport ... I do love to watch figure skating, diving, and aerobics, so out of those three I guess I would choose figure skating.

2. When you make a major purchase, do you go with your gut instinct, or do you do research to make an informed decision?
What I usually do is go with my gut instinct while praying, "Please God, if this is a dumb thing to do, stop me!"

3. There is an old kids' game that says you can find out what your movie star name would be by using your middle name as your first name and the name of the street you grew up on as your last. What is your movie star name?
For most of my childhood, I lived off  SR 581, but since that won't make a good last name, I'll use the other roads I lived on.  There were three others for roughly about the same period of time, so I could be Lea St. Charles, Lea Raymond, or Lea Lambert.  Pretty cool, thanks for giving me the idea for all these aliases! (I could choose one of them for my pen name when I write that great American novel!)

4. Would you rather give up your favorite music or your favorite food?
I laugh at this question because I have so many favorite foods!  So, I give up one of them, big deal.  There are so many more!

5. There are two types of banana preferences. One is pristine yellow, almost to the point of being green; the other is spotty and more ripe. Which is your preference?
I like my fruit to be picture perfect, so of course, I'd pick the pristine yellow.

6. Your favorite tree is?
a beautiful red sugar maple ... or else a flowering dogwood.  Actually, I love all trees.

7. On a scale of 1-10, how tech savvy are you?
I was going to say 5, but realistically it's maybe 4.9...

8. Has H1N1 touched your family?
No

9. Are you an analytical person, or do you just accept things the way they are without questioning or scrutinizing?
I'm basically a trusting person

10. Is your personality more like that of a dog, cat, or Koala?
I'm not sure what a Koala's personality is .... but I guess since I'm a bit of a loner, I would be more like a cat.  Although, since I'm terrified of mice, I would not be a good cat ...

11. Do you keep in touch with friends you made years ago?
Last year I got together with some friends from high school for the first time in 30 years.  I'm not good at keeping in touch, but I'm hoping to improve at it.

12. You are checking out at a grocery store. In the express lane, there are more people than the regular lanes, but of course, their load is less than those in the regular lanes. Which lane do you choose (assuming you qualify for the express lane) and why?
It doesn't matter what choice I make, it will always be the wrong one!  I always get behind someone who has to have a customer service person come talk to them ....


If you'd like to see other answers to these questions, visit Linda at 2nd Cup of Coffee.

Friday's Fave Five - November 13, 2009

It's time for Friday's Fave Five, a time to think about a "few of our favorite things."


This has been another one of "those" weeks, but as always, there are favorite things I can think about.


1. Favorite Musical - "The Sound of Music." 


2. Favorite Bible Teacher - Beth Moore.  If you like Beth, you can watch her on "Wednesdays with Beth" on Life Today with James and Betty Robinson.  The program is on several channels, so you can probably find it wherever you live if you live in the USA.


3. Favorite translation of the Bible:  It's hard to choose because I have several I like:  The Message, The New Living Translation, The Amplified.  If I could only have one, I'd pick The New Living Translation.


4. Favorite food - pizza. I love any pizza - take out, homemade, even frozen, it doesn't matter.  If it's pizza, I'll eat it.


5. Favorite meme - Friday's Fave Five, of course! I do participate in a lot of memes because I like structure and the pressure of writing daily (even though this week I didn't write much), and FFF is my favorite of all of them.  One of the best things about this meme is that the participants are so good about coming by each blog and commenting.  Comments are what makes blogging worthwhile!


This week I'm including a bonus fave - a quote:

Vance Havner tells of an old bishop who could not sleep. One night he found the promise in Psalm 121, that He who keeps Israel will neither slumber of sleep. He said, "Well, Lord, if You're sitting up with us there is no sense in my doing it. Goodnight, Lord!"

To read other favorites, visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

Random Dozen - #11

1. What was the last song you listened to?
It was a MercyMe song, "Here Am I."
2. Have you ever had “buyer’s remorse” over anything?
Lots of times!  It's usually a piece of clothing that I think I love, and then I get home and start wearing it and realize it really doesn't look that good, after all!
3. What is something in your life that you are thankful for now that you didn’t think you would be at the time of the event? (Something that seemed ill-timed, inconvenient or hurtful which turned out to be a good thing)
We were living in Terre Haute, IN, and I totally loved it there. My husband lost his job and we had to move back home because we still owned a home there that we had been unable to sell. I was really bummed about it but later when my husband became ill and diagnosed with bipolar disorder, I saw that it would have been much harder to go through a time of illness if we had still been living away from family and friends.
4. Do you watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade every year? If so, do you have a favorite float or balloon?
I always forget to watch ...
5. Share a quote, scripture, poem or lyric which has been an inspiration to you lately.

Let's vow together to put feet to our prayers; to love on people in tangible ways.

… Karen Ehman, Encouragement for Today Devotional, November 6, 2009

6. This is meant to be a fun question, and this is a G-rated blog, but please share a “guilty pleasure,” something that you enjoy that’s probably not the most edifying, time-worthy or healthy thing you could be indulging in. Did I mention this blog is rated G?
Not the most healthy thing to indulge in? Chocolate, lots of chocolate, and I'm not talking dark chocolate - milk chocolate is my fave!
7. What Thanksgiving food are you looking forward to?
Pretty much all of it - I'm an equal-opportunity glutton on Thanksgiving!
8. What is your favorite book to read to children, or what was your favorite childhood book?
Reading to children is something I'm passionate about, I believe it teaches them to love books and reading and prepares them to be a good student.  I read to my girls every night until they were like 9 or 10.  My favorite book to read them when they were tiny was "Is Your Mama a Llama."  I don't remember who wrote it, but I saved the book so that someday I can read the same book to my grands.
9. Do you collect anything? (Feel free to post a photo.)
Angels, house or church figurines, dishes, and scrapbook supplies. I don't have time to scrapbook, so I just keep getting scrap supplies. Smile.
10. Gift bags or wrapping paper?
Gift bags - I'm all about easy.
11. Share an after-school memory from when you were younger. What was your routine like on an average day?
I used to like to come home from school, get an orange and cut it into wedges, and take it into my room. Then I would pop an orange wedge into my mouth like false teeth and suck out the juice while reading my library book.
12. True story: Once, in a job interview, I was asked this question and told there would be no clarifying; I simply had to answer the question: “When you’re fishing, do you feel for the fish?” So what about you? Do you feel for the fish??
No, I don't think fish have feelings.




If you'd like to read other answers to the Random Dozen, visit Linda at 2nd Cup of Coffee.

Thankful Thursday - Trials

This week's theme is being thankful in the midst of trials. When I think of trials, I think of these two passages of scripture:

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:6-7

and

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. Romans 5:3-5

Now, I don't know if I have arrived to the point where I greatly rejoice when I have a trial (OK, I know I'm not there yet) but it's wonderful to know that I do get something out of it: increased faith, endurance, confidence and hope. These are all attributes that are greatly needed in my life.

In fact, I must have them! And God knows I need them; so He allows me to go through tough times to get them.

He says that my faith is more precious than gold. People have given their lives to find earthly gold. I've read many stories of the old Gold Rush days and the things the golddiggers would endure to find gold. Surely finding spiritual gold (faith) is more important! Am I willing to suffer discomfort to find gold?

This is Thankful Thursday, and so I do want to be thankful for the trials I've been through. I have learned endurance when I had to pray for 10 years to have children. I learned faith when my husband was out of work and needed a job. I do have hope that my beloved daddy will meet me in heaven, because my family and I prayed 17 years for him to be saved before he made Christ his Savior. Most of all, I have confidence in Him because every time I've been in trouble, He's always worked things out for me. Every time.

Thanks, Iris, for reminding me to be thankful for trials. I'm in the midst of two different struggles right now. But, it's going to work out fine. I'm not giving up, and Jesus will get the glory.

To read other thankful hearts, visit Iris at Grace Alone.

Random Dozen #9

1. It's early morning, about 2:00AM, and you're driving home. You come to a red light and sit there. There is no one in sight for miles around. Do you wait it out or run the light?

Probably not, because I would debate about it so long that the light would turn green anyway ...

2. If you had the chance to re-do the last 24 hours, would you change anything?

I would change worrying about a certain situation so much and trust God more to work it out ... Oh wait, I can do that right now!

3. When you reply to someone's comment on your blog, do you reply in your comments or go to her blog and comment? (Or email her)

I go to her blog and comment, I believe in returning the favor. It's a blessing to me when someone takes the time to comment to me, I feel I should do likewise.

4. Your favorite Disney movie is:

Mary Poppins

5. Do you recycle?

Not really. I live in a small rural community that has no recycling centers, but I do re-use some things.

6. Games of strategy or games of chance?

Strategy.

7. Do you have any recurring dreams?

Nope, just weird, crazy illogical dreams - almost every night.

8. What did you learn from your first real job?

If you're friendly, cheerful and have a good attitude, your boss will do his best to keep you as an employee.

9. Do you buy or borrow most books?

Libraries are a gift from God. Need I say more?

10. What fashion trend of the past did you say you'd never wear again but did?

Hmmm... this is a toughie because so far I think I've kept my word. I said I'd never wear stirrups, toe socks or hip huggers again, and so far I haven't!

11. When do you start Christmas shopping?

I start my shopping the day I get my Christmas bonus. I know ... I need to work on that.

12. Have you ever been so happy that you literally jumped up and down for a few seconds? If so, what was the occasion?

I've always been easily excited so I think I've done that lots of times throughout my life. It really doesn't take much to make me happy. The time that sticks out in my memory is the first time I learned I was pregnant after 10 years of infertility.

To read other random answers, visit Linda at 2nd Cup of Coffee.

What's On Your Mind '09 - The Psalms

This month, "What's On Your Mind, '09" is focusing on the Psalms.

I love the Psalms! I once spent a whole year using my devotional time to read the Psalms over and over. God has used the Psalms to comfort, instruct and encourage me.

I'm glad we're discussing the Psalms the whole month of November because I couldn't say all I'd want to say in one post!

Today, I wanted to share a few things about Psalm 37, one of my favorites. Psalm 37 is so rich! There is just so much gold to be mined out of those timeless words that David wrote.

Is there something that you desire above all else that has not happened for you yet? Then read verse 4 of Psalm 37 and meditate on it:

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

This scripture means a lot to me. I claimed it for my own and prayed that God would show me how to delight myself in Him, because the desire in my heart was to be a mother. I did struggle with infertility for 10 years, but today, I am a mother after having giving birth three times to healthy beautiful baby girls.

Delighting ourselves in Him speaks of relationship. If my relationship with God brings me delight, I must be in a good place with my Christian walk. If it's a delight to spend time with God, and to talk with Him, discussing the "stuff of life," then I know Him better. I'm better able to determine what His will is for me. I can then line up my desires with His will.

It's like earthly relationships. I can ask more of someone closer to me. I'm not afraid to ask my husband or my best friend for something. I know they love me and understand me and are willing to help me if they can. I don't ask a favor of someone that I barely know.

If there is a desire, a dream in your heart that you haven't seen come to pass yet, just start spending more time with God. The more time you spend together, you'll see that He wants to bless you. You may even find that the dream of your heart is something He placed there in the first place!

There is so much to say about Psalm 37 that I'm going to make it a series of posts. I hope you'll join me as we study more of this amazing Psalm.

If you'd like to hear what's on the mind of others, visit Shane at Heart Reflections.

The Simple Woman's Daybook- November 1, 2009

FOR TODAY...November 1st from Jerri's Daybook

Outside my window... a gorgeous fall day.
I am thinking... about my role in leadership at my church.
I am thankful for... God's word, sometimes holding onto its promises keeps me from falling apart.
I am wearing... gray slacks and fuschia top.
I am remembering... my room at the first house my parents owned. It was a cozy little room, just right for reading and dreaming.
I am going... to stay home each weeknight this week. YAY!
I am reading... the third book in the Sister Circle series by Nancy Moser and Vonette Bright. I'm enjoying this series very much.
I am hoping... for an emotional healing for a couple of my friends.
On my mind... those same friends and the hurt that they are feeling.
Noticing that... I feel much more productive when my office is clean and tidy!
Pondering these words... you have been chosen "for such a time as this."
From the kitchen... pork chops and apple pie.
Around the house... lots of pumpkin decorations.
One of my favorite things~ memes and the blogosphere!
From my picture journal..

Where I'd like to be today ...
(Picture taken during our vacation in Florida, 2005.)

To read other daybooks, visit Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook.