For Laura and the Morbidly Curious

Since Laura tagged me and I can't resist a good game of tag:

5 Things I was doing 5 years ago (February 10, 2004)

1. Teaching 9th grade math in Glendale, CA

2. Interviewing for non-teaching jobs because I was burned out…thank God that didn’t pan out

3. Had a moment around Valentine’s Day where Michael and I thought we would start trying to have kids…a week later we thought “What are we doing? He still has years left of grad school.” and stopped trying. 6 Months later, SURPRISED at a positive pregnancy test.

4. Reading a whole book while floating in a bathtub for 3 hours on a Saturday

5. Living in Selah community with all the other seminary folks from around the world

5 Things on my to-do list today

1. Cook dinner (mini-pizzas with eggplant rounds as “crust”)
2. Order new tennis shoes for Owen online
3. Send Valentine’s cards (yep, they’ll be late)
4. Go on a family walk after dinner
5. Take a deep breath and not grit my teeth at the email that just crossed my desk

5 Things I would do with a million dollars

1. Tithe (seriously, tithing is like the “Jelly of the Month Club”…”It’s the gift that keeps on giving, Clark.”)<--Julie, name the movie quote!
2. Pay off Michael’s student loans (look, I can be long-suffering AND generous)
3. Secure Owen’s educational future...Baby #2, we'll see ;)
4. Consider buying a house…but where?
5. Take the “family” on a European vacation…I use the term family in our sense…Uncle Joe can come…Auntie Rae too….wait, just to have all the people would take up the million dollars. Nevermind, we’ll just rent National Lampoon’s European vacation instead.

5 Places I have lived (present-past)
1. Fresno, CA (.5 years)
2. North Richland Hills, TX (4 years)
3. Pasadena, CA (5 years)
4. Searcy, AR (5 years)
5. Houston, TX (10 years)

5 jobs I have held (present-past)
1. High school teacher
2. PartyLite candle rep.
3. Math tutor
4. Sonic carhop
5. Camp counselor

5 things I want to be doing in 5 years
1. Joyfully raising 2 or more kiddos
2. Rejoicing that Michael is loving life as a licensed psychologist
3. Enjoying hanging out with family nearby and hosting out of town visits from old friends
4. Serving in a community of believers (how?…still figuring out how to best match my gifts/skills with the body’s needs/wants…ask me about the plans I have for a women’s retreat…in my own mind, it’s awesome)
5. Walking confidently with the knowledge that I am living out God’s plan for me regarding my work/career/day job…whatever that may be

5 people I tag

1. Wade because I bet you’ve been thinking about “5 years from now” this stuff lately with the job transition
2. Robyn because I want to know what you’re doing today
3. Kelly V. because I didn’t know you 5 years ago
4. Krystal because I bet you have a great idea for $1,000,000 (not grant money, but personal money for YOU)
5. Stephanie T. because I wonder what jobs you’ve had

And I tag anyone else who is distracting themselves from the real world by imagining our future world…wait, weren’t we told something about that? .

Take heart: Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” You can pick up on my concerns just by reading my “want” list for the future.

And speaking of today’s troubles, I gotta get off my buns and start on that “to-do” list.

And with hands lifted high...

Today, I got the giggles at a blog post from "Stuff Christians Like" (an almost worthy spin-off of one of my brother Lee's favorites, the hilarious "Stuff White People Like").


It's regarding the 10 ways to respond to any song that compels you to lift your hands in worship<----link here

If you're not one of these 10, add your method...sometimes I'm "The Popsicle", aka "The Frozen Chosen"...the more people around me express themselves, the more I tend to freeze up, like it'd be too much for us ALL to be praising without abandon AT THE SAME TIME!

And if the worship leader "suggests" for us all to lift our hands, I'm "The Indignant One". The more you want me to do it, the more I cross my arms in front of me, sometimes with the Colbert eyebrow. I know, I have issues. You can save those comments and concerns for prayers on my behalf.

But if I'm truly relaxed and into it (last true time was when Phil Wickham came to RVC in October...yikes!), I'm more "The Miss America" or "Single High Five".


So, who are you?