Actual Wisdom Spoken

We’ve all been here…my back up was deathly ill last week and missed the entire week of work. So you can imagine what 5 days of accounts receivable and physician posting, along with phone calls and internal computer issues might look like.

I am taking a brief intermission from the ‘piles’ to share a funny story with you.

My husband calls to see if I’ve got my ‘head above water’ and I tell him about the back up and ask if perhaps he’d like to go live on some island like the really bad movie of the 80’s??? “The Blue Lagoon”.

This was his response….

“Yeah…I’d like to live at the Blue Lagoon…as long as they had wireless internet.”

So I added…

“And an ice maker!”

He responded…

“If they have wireless internet…they’ll have an ice-maker.”

And so continues the daily grind in Oklahoma on this journey (8 weeks left) towards graduation…filled with fun and frolic daily!

Pressing on...

Refueling My Faith

Back to work tomorrow and while I’m rested…I dread going in to what I’m sure is several days work. The price of vacation…worth it still!

The craft show was not wonderful from a business standpoint, but taught us valuable lessons about the show ‘circuit’ and various ‘hints’ about these shows. The bigger event we’re doing is actually in November, I’m hopeful we’ll have a decent showing then.

In somewhat related news: My husband and I watched some movies last night. One of them was “Click” with Adam Sandler. It had poor sales at the box-office and frankly it is not among my top HALF of favorite movies…but it did offer an important life lesson about something I routinely struggle with.

The movie reminded me that to try to ‘fast forward’ through the routine, dull, or painful things in life; is ultimately eternally detrimental. I thought again about how I wish my weeks away so it can be the weekend and I’m not sitting at my workplace BORED TO TEARS, or worse yet, struggling with some inane policy implementation. This movie reminded me that each experience in our life has purpose and to ‘wish it away’ or not fully live in that moment is only cheating me.

Add to that realization something happened today in church…I’ll share what I can. I don’t know if I’ve shared recently what’s happening with me…and church. In the words of a ‘retro-country song’; “I’ve lost that lovin’ feeling”.

It’s not that I don’t LOVE my pastor and the people in my church…cause I do! Truly…madly…love these people. It’s this awkward feeling I get when I feel the Spirit of God moving…and want to shout or clap or express something and I glance up to a congregation that seems absolutely satisfied in their silent worship and private note-taking without expression. Usually I just clench my eyes closed and let the Spirit guide me…but it’s taking a toll on me.

I have been struggling many Sundays just to get up and GO to church. I’ve disengaged from the women’s group (to an extent), and am not involved in members’ meetings, or outreach activities. (I feel like I’m writing a Dear Abby letter here…so bear with me…it gets better…I promise).

I’m struggling just reading the Word of God regularly. Initially I thought it was related to the whole “god of church” thing I posted about a week or two ago…but now I realize it’s much worse….It’s an attitude issue.

I didn’t want to go this morning but I hear this famous quote in my head that I know you’re familiar with: “Be the change you want to see in others.” Plus I watched this incredible Pastor on television, that I try to watch each Sunday, and he preached about this very issue…the loss of passion in people. He preached about Joshua and Caleb and Jericho. He talked about how Joshua had to endure through what seemed a ludicrous idea to defeat Jericho and He did it with total FAITH!

Side note: Thank you Lord for teaching me again and again through these stories of faith.

So…I’m sitting in church and Pastorman has changed the format and preaches first…and worship and singing are the end of the service…different, but effective. It’s getting near the end and he tells us all to pray that God would reveal to us any ‘idols’ we’re placing above Him and to go and pray about it and just get ‘right with God’. He tells us to find someone to pray with if we need to, and then worship God.

Remember a long, long time ago I posted about a woman I needed to call and check on cause I hadn’t seen her in forever. BTW, I did call and email her but never could touch base with her in person or on the phone. Anyway…I’m standing there singing, I glance over her way thinking…I wonder if I’ll ever get to spend some time with her…and lo’ and behold she came to get me to pray with her.

We went across the hall to a ‘prayer room’ and we visited about her situation and I shared with her about my own lack of passion and God having to break some serious pride off me lately…and we promised each other to practice what AA teaches about accountability and to call one another any time (day or night) when we’re struggling…with the pride issues, or the walls we have built and refuse to remove.

I went back to my seat feeling so loved by God. That He would still choose to use me, even amidst my own self-absorption. God reminded me that no matter where we are…even when we don’t even want to be in church…He will use us. No matter what our own ‘issue’ is…He will use us exactly where we are…if we allow Him room and a heart.

I thanked this woman and told her she was sent directly from God and I mean that. It isn’t always easy for women to be honest about exactly where we are and this woman excels in this open honesty. I know part of it is we’re much alike in temperament, but the bigger part of it is God…He chose to use this woman, this moment, to remind me to “be still and KNOW He is God.”

Have a FAITH-filled Monday and see how God uses you!

Not So Fair...Vanity

I’ve felt a bit bombarded by all things ‘vain’ this week. A part of that could be in working with beautiful beads and crystals as we continue to prepare for this weekend’s show. A part of it is also related to the extreme amounts of television I’ve watched this week.

I imagine this is where I’ll lose over 50% of you…and that’s okay. To each his/her own. I watch television. I watch some really mindless, totally stupid television programming. It’s called ENTERTAINMENT. No apologies. The truth is I’m not always looking for hyper-stimulation of my brain and I don’t always want to get thrown into a book which will pull me away from anything or anyone until complete…that’s the way I’m wired.

So a 30-60 minute mindless viewing doesn’t hurt me and actually (usually) offers me laughter and distraction for a time. One thing I will say is the television programming offered during the day, specifically talk shows, really disturb me. Not the entertaining ones…but the ‘stars’ who are spouting their own opinions and judgment on National Television for their fans to hear and ‘side with’. It bothers me.

I’m one of those people who are bothered by actors or actresses or sports stars who don’t realize the impact of their…much…publicized actions. I don’t feel sorry for them. They chose the life they have. I don’t expect perfection, but I do expect a tempering of what is said for the whole world to hear.

Ironically that doesn’t have anything to do with why I’m writing this (you know how I ramble). I have a love-hate relationship with the new uber-popular show “Ugly Betty”. You may remember I posted a not-so-nice review of “The Devil Wears Prada”. I didn’t like the way the movie played into the already over publicized goal of thin-to-anorexic/bulimic diet goals of most public people. When a woman who is a size 4-6 is considered “fat”…I have a problem with that message. SO…I was guardedly concerned about the message of “Ugly Betty” which at first glance seemed to be a sitcom based on that movie.

What I’ve found is good and bad (as with all things on earth). The good is that Betty isn’t an idiot. She isn’t lazy and worthless…nor are her less-‘ugly’ co-workers. She makes mistakes, as does everyone. She is capable and bright. She is sometimes dismissed because she doesn’t appear to ‘know’ fashion, and she works in that industry.

The bad is how they make her appear ‘buffoon-ish’ at times. She continues to dress without regard to color or style. I just don’t ‘buy it’. I don’t believe a young woman who supposedly loves this magazine would dress completely against this ‘flow’ if she has been a subscriber for as long as they imply. I think it also ‘sells’ the idea that you can either be pretty or smart.

With that in mind I will probably watch it until I am certain it is yet another program aimed at convincing America that ugly = what the network honchos decide.

Have a Thursday surrounded in beauty…beauty God brings to and through YOU!

4-Word, 4-Friends

Sally over at Eternal Echoes has also tagged me with a word Meme that is much like the “Meaning” Meme, but it is called 4-Words, 4-Friends…I love words, I love friends…so I’m going to double-post today and include this Meme. WOW! 2 Meme’s in 1 day! I am truly blessed!

Truth: My mind immediately travels to “ABSOLUTE TRUTH” which while elusive, is also freeing. To be able to DEFINE absolute truth would imply to me knowledge that I am yet to attain. I have reached a point in my journey to recognize Absolute Truth is something gained through God’s wisdom to each of us and perhaps completely individually. It is also ‘distributed’ at God’s discretion.

Ordinary: This word reminds me that God created us each to be EXTRAordinary. We are a called to be a reflection of Him…His glory which will never be ordinary. To accept the ordinary in our lives is to give in to sin and to give up on hope.

Prayer: My personal communication and direct line to God!

History: I think about my own personal history and my ‘journey. But more than anything else, I think of the Delirious song “History Maker”. So I’ll share those lyrics because that pretty much says it all for me.

Is it true today... that when people pray
Cloudless skies will break; kings and queens will shake
Yes it's true... and I believe it!
I'm living for you! I'm living for you!

Is it true today... that when people pray
We'll see dead men rise... and the blind set free?
Yes, it's true... and I believe it!
I'm living for you! I'm living for you!

I'm gonna be... a history maker in this land.
I'm gonna be... a speaker of truth to all mankind.
I'm gonna stand, I'm gonna run
Into your arms, into your arms again.

Well, it's true today... that when people stand
With the fire of God... and the truth in hand
We'll see miracles, we'll see angels sing...
We'll see broken hearts... making history!
Yes it's true... and I believe it!
I'm living for you! I'm living for you!

[Chorus] [2x]

Into your arms, into Your arms again!
Into your arms, into Your arms again!
Into your arms, into Your arms!

I'm gonna run into Your arms,
I'm gonna run into Your arms.
My Savior! My Savior!
I'm gonna run into Your arms!...

5-For-5

Shalee’s Dinerwas running a little 5 for 5 yesterday and she passed me a helping! I was giddy with excitement as it’s been well over a week since my last Meme.

1) Five Minutes to yourself. How would you spend them ideally?
Should I be embarrassed to admit that I get well OVER 5 minutes to myself each and every day? Well I do. It’s really a win/win because if I don’t get some “ME TIME”…it gets downright ugly.

Shalee did a list of things she would LIKE to do with her 5 minutes and along that same “outside the lines” mentality I’ll list 5 of my favorite 5 minutes.

1. The 5 moments surrounding the moment I said “I do!” to Paul.
2. The 5 minutes I met my first niece on her "birth" day.
3. The 5 minutes I encountered Jesus for the 1st time.
4. The 5 minutes I spend with any of my cherished friends; both online and in the flesh.
5. The 5 minutes a day (sometimes several times a day) I spend daydreaming (I love to daydream)!

2) Five Dollars to spend right now. How or where would you spend it?
I would likely spend it on some unique cards or beautiful paper…or a Sonic drink with extra ice.

3) Five Items in your house you could part with right now?
1. Any and all dust existing now or awaiting the perimeter of my home for entry.
2. Any negative spirits.
3. Our 1 existing CORDED phone. I feel so bound with it.
4. All shoes…hate em…see reason above on #3.
5. Anything made of nylon (except those no-stick pans…they have nylon, right?)

4) Five Items in your house you absolutely, positively could never part with? (Stealing from Shalee on this one)
Paul
Mimi
Bubba
The rest of it…while providing convenience and some amusement, even downright fun…is only stuff. I will say…if my coffee pot or ice maker go away…you probably better stay away a few days while I readjust.

5) Five Words you love?
1. Emmanuel
2. Holy
3. Grace
4. Mercy
5. Forgiveness

And now for tagging? Hmm…let’s just leave it out there…you want it, grab it and let me know…you don’t…that’s okay too!

On the agenda for Day #3 of Vacation. There are these little ‘shops’ in Edmond (a suburb of OKC) that I always intend to go peruse on a day off and never quite make it over there. It’s only a few minutes drive away, but I tend to get sidetracked with other ‘doings’.

Today, I am going to prowl and peruse these little shops. Sure, I’m using the premise that I need ‘display ideas’ for the upcoming shows…but really there are a few stores over there that I just love to ‘haunt’. I think I’ve only actually bought things once or twice in several years, but I’m a wonderful window shopper.

I’m also going to a new bead shop to check out the supplies and see if I’m missing any new clasps or charms. Then it’s back to mom’s to do final work on displays and bead work before the weekend.

I’m going to try to photograph some of the beading tonight, if the photos turn out…I’ll post them later.

Have a dust-free Wednesday!

Vacation: Day 2...Just a Couple of Questions...

Why is it on weeks I am NOT working the days FLY by?

and

Who DO you think you are?

I had a wonderful day yesterday with my friend. I ended with a birthday dinner with HMTQ and Pastorman (her birthday not mine...and Paul was off work so he could attend too)! It was yummy and fun.

Today I’m heading over to HMTQ’s house to help prepare for a garage sale and then to my mother’s house to bead until my fingers ache. Just 5 more days til the first ‘show’…though it’s an outdoor show and it’s been raining all week…hmmm…could be a ‘wash’, no pun intended.

Nothing too significant to post…I’ve read a ton of ‘great stuff’ today. There are two I want to leave you with because they touched me the most today!

1. The idea of “enough” over at Grandma Dawn’s.

2. This heartbreaking story and f/u comments over at Jesus Creed. If the link doesn’t work, the story is called “A Letter From the Heart”, and it lives up to every word.

Is It Monday Already?

My husband and I went to see “The Guardian” this weekend. We had seen several previews and it looked incredible. What the preview doesn’t offer and what was included as a bonus is a love story. You can hardly beat a movie with action and adventure for the man in your life and true love and poignant moments for the women!

I don’t want to spoil it for you but I will say if you’ve seen “An Officer and a Gentleman”, or “Top Gun”, you’ve probably seen this movie. Sure the actors are different and the story is a bit different, but it’s pretty much the same movie…I still loved it. I had no idea what the Coast Guard even did until seeing this movie.

There is this wonderful scene where a ‘mature’ woman lectures Kevin Costner’s character about aging. What she said really ministered to me too. I don’t remember all of what she said but I do remember the gist…which was if you have physical pain it means you’ve lived your life. Another seed of wisdom came from teacher to student when Costner’s character lectures Kutcher’s character to use all the gifts God gave Him to save lives instead of focusing on his lack.

Throughout the movie Kutcher’s character is trying to ‘outdo’ Costner’s incredible records in the Coast Guard and asks over and over again how many ‘saves’ Costner had. When Costner tells him “22”, Kutcher seems perplexed and puzzled. Costner then tells him… ‘That’s how many I lost. I only counted the ones I lost because they’re the only ones that matter in the end.’

I sat there with tears streaming down my face and at that moment I was reminded no matter what our vocation, our goal is to use ALL the gifts God gave us to SAVE lives and that the only “records” that matter are the lives lost because we didn’t share Christ with them or live the life Christ has called us to live…FULLY!

I’m not trying to lecture you, but I DO hope I have reminded all of us that God puts people in our path, whether we work outside the home or inside the home. God puts people in our path through these (too numerous to count) blogs, through friendships, through co-workers, co-educators, grocery stores, restaurants, video store clerks, holiday events, even through church sometimes. He does it for a reason, don’t ever doubt that. Some are here for a short time (even moments sometimes) and others are here for a lifetime. However long I have, I am reminded that my words, my actions, my LIFE are a witness.

Ultimately I was reminded the only ones that really matter…eternally…are the ones I lost! I will be accounting for those losses one day…the ones God brought to me and I ignored or worse yet…I led astray. I think about Jesus lecturing the Pharisees about the souls they had lost to God through their own misconceptions and legalistic teachings. It was bad enough that they themselves were lost…but they had also lost others. YIKES!

In other news: This is the week I am off work because I had too much leave and was going to lose it…I don’t think so! This morning I am preparing to spend the day with one of my best friends who I don’t see near often enough! She is just a younger version of me…so you know she’s fun, wise and very, very sweet! I can hardly wait. While preparing for that visit, I am watching GMA and there is this new product for all your mommies (or wives).

There is a hand washing product, ‘squid soap’ and it squirts the soap on your hand with an ink like product that will not wash off until the person has washed their hands for 15 seconds (which is how long it takes to kill those germs according to the AMA). So cool!

The President is also speaking about the North Korean nuclear arms testing they did this past week. I don’t think it’s going to be a very ‘happy talk’, but probably very necessary. It looks like we are in a time of war, not unlike every other generation, just a bit more global during this generation. I am troubled by the mentality that has led ‘man’ to develop a weapon of mass destruction, so troubled I don’t even have words.

I guess that’s everything you could possibly expect from a stay-at-home-vacationing blogger for a MONDAY! Now go…wash your hands…and think about going to see “The Guardian” and as always PRAY for our nation and our World Leaders!

The god of Church

I’m ‘homechurching’ today. I’m not angry, hurt, offended or anything like that. I love my church. I love the people in my church. I love being a member of Journey Fellowship (no, that picture is not our church building...pretty kickin' huh?). I’m not just saying that for the benefit of those members who might read this…including Pastorman and HMTQ! I really mean it! That’s not to say I haven’t missed church for lame reasons too, that’s just to say TODAY…that’s not the case.

I have a temperament that tends to do everything in extreme mode. When I take on a hobby…I hobby with a vengeance. When I read…I read voraciously. When I clean the house…I speed-clean and can get really ‘bogged’ down in the minor details of a closet (i.e. hanging like colored items together versus hanging all pants together).

My mind goes into overload and much like the Starship Enterprise, the bells and warning alarms sound, reminding me that I’m reaching overheating status. At which point my brain shuts down and I can no longer process anything.

This is part of what happened at our first church experience (as a married couple). I threw myself into serving and attending and just overdid it. Church was no longer about serving and corporate worship of God…it was about performing and the ‘business’ of church. I became very burned out and that ‘burn-out’ translated into a seed of bitterness and ultimately sin.

I was not honoring God with my ability to serve EVERYwhere. I was worshipping another god. The god of church…the building.

I had to truly repent from that attitude and even now…years later, I’ll catch myself heading down that path and God redirects my steps (when I allow Him that space). Today God reminded me that I’m getting worked up over church and it is no longer glorifying to Him, it is all about ME!

I know I’ve shared before that I have this very crystal clear sensor that knows when something I’m doing is God’s doing or MINE. If it’s all about me…it’s HARD! If God is directing…it just comes together…easily! That includes what I write, my artwork, my crafts, my housekeeping, my job…all of it…including church.

This is easy to write, because God has the keyboard. I am a vessel, a willing vessel, desiring to bring Him glory in all that I do or say. If church begins to become your god, I hope you will hear the one true GOD whispering to you.

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my soul be pleasing to you, O’ Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

This morning as I am renewed by His promise and Spirit I am reminded that where I am…God is with me, whether it be a church building or just a small ‘green room’ in a home somewhere…

Have a GOD-filled Sunday!

"Ramble-Stiltskin"

That’s my name. I seem to be a rambling sort of gal these days…and so as I drove to work I pondered what I would write today and it was just random rambling…and for some reason the word Ramble-stiltskin came to mind…I hated that book RUMPELstiltskin…frankly it was downright scary! I re-read it this morning and had forgotten that he ripped himself in half at the end. It’s definitely a story about desire, greed and the price of these things.

I tried to imagine having to trade things away for my words. It did make me realize that just as the young girl in Rumpelstiltskin didn’t think twice about offering some future ‘gift’, we sometimes don’t think twice about what we’re trading for our words…or desires. Am I trading a piece (or a PEACE) of my soul for some of these desires?

I am so thankful that on days when I listen…with my heart…I can hear all the words God wants me to share and it isn’t rambling, it’s wisdom direct from Heaven…usually gifted to me on my journey, and hopefully encouraging to you!

With that in mind, Tam posted a question from a message she heard by Brennan Manning last week. It’s a good one, one I hope we would spend some time pondering and answering. I have been thinking about it since she posted this on Tuesday.

What is our response to God when He asks?

“Do you believe that I love you?”

Personally I struggle truly fathoming how deep a love God has for us. Sometimes, when my flesh is struggling…I doubt His love…like a child who has been reprimanded or punished by a loving parent. Other times I feel the tangible essence of God as He hugs me and holds me tight.

I am certain He loves me. I do BELIEVE that He loves me. Have I reached the point where I understand the depth of that? Not completely…not yet. I’m not sure I will this side of heaven.

I have seen the ‘cross’ and I have seen the sacrifice…what was traded out of love! Yet in honesty, there are days when I walk in doubt and fear, more than love and certainty. There are days when my faith is crippled by my own flesh. But I will seek. I will seek to answer a resounding “YES” that will rise to the heavens and God will KNOW that I understand that He does love me…and just how much He loves me too!

In closing I’ll share lyrics to a song I love that I heard this morning on the way in as I pondered these things…

Help me remember the reason I’m alive
And that I was on your mind the day you died
Help me imagine, this is not my home
And some day I’ll be resting by your side

Help me remember the day you won my heart
And you paid my way to freedom with your love
Help me imagine the beauty of this gift
A grace that I am so unworthy of
But you’ll never let me fall away from you

Chorus:
You know my name
You know my story
Still you’ve taken on the world
Just for me
I am amazed that you hear me speaking
You listen close to every word I say
Who am I to be loved this way?
You know my name

If I rise, if I fall
My only hope is this
That you’d be with me everyday
Who am I to be loved this way?

Detour 180 - You Know My Name
From the album Fighting For You

Have a loveABLE Thursday!

Revolution or Evolution?

I know you’ve heard. Everyone has heard. It only frightens me when I think about what it used to look like. I am NOT going to do it; I don’t care how much I am pressured to ‘cave’…

…I’m not wearing 80’s clothes again! They’re BACK! Sure there were some cute leggings and skirts…for some people. And the layered look, while on the warm side, was convenient in the winter. Keeping a collar up also helped keep a chill out, and it’s quick to get dressed in the morning…you just keep layering and layering and layering…clothes, hair, socks, pants, everything.

I wonder sometimes if the 80’s styles were designed by some vagabond or previous homeless person who was used to wearing everything he/she owned.

Regardless, when I thought about my own clothing choice this morning, a pink t-shirt and black pants, I thought about FASHION and its evolution…which as it turns out is actually only REVOLUTION! What a sad picture for urban anthropology and future archeologists! Someday someone will dig up these time capsules and find the most popular clothes and wonder how the pre-historic people “knew” what would be popular.

Those of us who lived the 80’s (and that’s MOST of us), KNOW…these are repeats. As a matter of fact for as long as I can remember the FASHIONS have not been new and inspired, they are a re-circulation of previous decades, sometimes with a new flair or color or pattern. How disappointing.

You can flip on a television almost any day and see new shows about designers’ challenges, yet we continue to be swayed by old-RE-designed clothes. What’s that about? Since I have been alive, I have seen resurgence of clothes from 3 generations.

Not to belittle the industry, but it sort of makes sense…there are only SO many ways to wear hair, pants, jeans, shirts, skirts, dresses, etc. It makes sense we would rotate these to meet the ever-increasing demand for originality. Unfortunately what is being sold (at a HIGH dollar I might add) is NOT original…it’s at the thrift stores (or was before it became popularized again), it’s in people’s attics…it’s in those ‘retro’ magazines you can find at antique shops or in your father’s garage (if he’s a ‘collector’ like mine).

By the way…the word RETRO is really defined as OLD and outdated.

I went to the MALL the other day (something I rarely do anymore because they’ve LOST their popularity…we’re going back to strip malls!), and INSIDE the mall was an actual thrift store. Oh it’s named something chic and cutesy…but it is nothing but old clothes that are being resold as the newest fashions. There were concert shirts from bands that no longer exist, all the clothes inspired by a Madonna/Cindy Lauper era, and accessories too! It even has that ‘worn a few decades ago’ smell to it, like a thrift store.

I wanted to stick my head in the door and quickly shout out (because the smell is a bit overwhelming) that there is no need to pay $50.00-$75.00 for those vintage jeans, just go get your parents or grandparents old clothes. The older generations still tend to keep all their old clothes (at least that’s what my parents tell me) because “you never know when it will come back into fashion.” Apparently they were right on that too.

One of my friends was lamenting a season or two ago that her husband refused to give up his ‘pegged’ jeans (I don’t know if they’re calling it that anymore but it’s BACK)…and he had bought several pair the last time they were popular and still had a brand new pair…and now their back in style. It’s sad when you wear a fashion for so long that it makes it way BACK into popularity.

My father calls this the “throw away generation”. He reminds me constantly to save things because they’ll ‘be worth something someday’. At the very least I am more inclined to keep my clothes…to GIVE to some young family member and they’ll think I’m the uber-coolest to buy them such awesome ‘retro’ clothes.

This whole thing DOES have a point. When I thought about how completely UN-original these NEW fashions are…I thought about how incredibly GRATEFUL I am to a God that is not only ORIGINAL but wouldn’t dream of recreating me and calling me “new and improved”. You see God ONLY deals in original artwork. Every star, snowflake, sand grain, blade of grass, tree, mountain, ocean and most importantly every PERSON is a one-of-a-kind unique creation of God!

It feels so good to know I won’t walk into a store one day and see a younger-newer exact replica of me! God created KPJARA as a unique, beloved creation just for His glory!

Have a mullet-free Wednesday!

OH...lest I forget...I wanted to clarify from yesterday...I am so NOT upset about selecting new words for my friends who made the request...in a way I got to play the game twice...and make it a bit more challenging...so the new words are:

Miracle
Dangerous
Obedient
Imagine

Thank you to all who participated and contributed and I look forward to reading about what these words mean to others!

Word Drought

Business items: It seems a few ‘outliers’ in the ‘Word Meaning Meme’ have requested NEW words! Yep…you heard right…they’ve rejected my initial randomly chosen words as uninspiring (my words, not theirs) and so I am searching for 4 new words and thought I’d throw it out here…tell me what you think!

I need 4, astounding, invigorating, energizing, inspiring, meaningful, thought-filled, moving, stimulating, stirring, rousing, exciting, revitalizing, enlivening, wondrous words to use! I need them by tonight. I’ll post the winners tomorrow…ladies (you know who you are) get ready! This could get very interesting. Don’t worry about dup’s just submit whatever comes to mind.

Aside from that I don’t have a THING to say…can you hear me now? That’s right I got nuttin’! Here is my ode to nothingness.

On Empty

I’ve used the fuel
That makes me go

I’ve used it all
Now I need a tow

I’m sitting by the side of the road
I’m sitting with my heavy lode

I should have stopped 100 miles back
How on earth did I lose track

I sit and hold my useless key
The tank for fuel is reading “E”.

Random Bits and Pieces

You know how I love books…of course you do I write about them all the time. Remember when I wrote this post about “Buck Naked Faith”? Well I heard from the author and apparently his second book: “Plastic Jesus” is out and he has an excerpt at this link. Go check it out!

I believe Sandras has done it again! He really has a way with words. I’m going to get my copy this week and look forward to soaking in new wisdom!

In other news…I am working through Thursday then I’m off until October 16th (Praise GOD) and I’m looking forward to; sleeping late, some time with friends, completing the ‘blue room’ scripture border, reading tons, blog surfing and posting, perhaps checking out some chick flicks and even maybe an action/adventure or two, and preparing for my first ‘Arts and Crafts’ show.

Yes, you read that right. My mother decided we were beading in vain if we were never going to sell our wares. I signed us up for two craft shows. We’re doing one October 14th and one November 18th and we have been beading like maniacs ever since I got the confirmations.

My brother is also coming to town the end of October and is finally getting our website up and running! More about that when it’s done. I’ve got to remember to get some good pictures of our projects before the show and AT the show so we can include them on the webpage.

I had a wonderful weekend of garage sale-ing and dinner out with friends we hadn’t seen in far too long! We did a ‘review of restaurants’ (translation: we changed our mind once we were seated at the first place, and left after appetizer and beverage).

We ended up at a place my husband and I really loved the time we went. You’ll never believe it when I tell you…but it’s at one of the Culinary Schools here in OKC. It’s called Chef di Domani (Chef of tomorrow). Not only is the food exquisite, but the entire staff is culinary students and so it’s fun to ask specific questions about preparation, etc. and test their skills while learning along with them. The whole experience was fun and memorable... and the food…excellent!

I found some wonderful bargains at the garage sales on Saturday, including a few vintage items for a friend of mine who has recently starting selling some treasures! I hope she can use them.

I suppose I should get busy and try to focus for day 1 through 4! It won’t be easy, but by weeks end I’ll be free long enough to re-energize through Paul’s final 8 weeks of school and upcoming holidays and potential change!

Have a random kind of day!