Random Dozen 3-4-10

1. How old is the oldest pair of shoes in your closet?

2. Did you buy Girl Scout cookies this year? If so, what variety?

3. Do you know how to ballroom dance? If not, would you like to?

4. Were you a responsible child/teenager?

5. How many of this year's Oscar-nominated movies did you see?

6. If you're going to have a medical procedure done, such as having blood drawn, is it easier for you to watch someone else having the procedure done or have it done yourself?

7. What is your favorite day of the week and why?

8. Do you miss anyone right now?

9. Do hospitals make you queasy?

10. At which store would you like to max-out your credit card. Not that you ever would, you responsible person, you.

11. Are you true to the brand names of products/items?

12. Which is more difficult: looking into someone’s eyes when you are telling someone how you feel, or looking into someone’s eyes when he/she is telling you how he/she feels?

Stolen from Sara Bowyer

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 2010

Holy Habit

This week as been tough, I'm not gonna lie.

It seems like the moment I returned from my rejuvenating time with my friends, I have been attacked from all sides....physically and emotionally.

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your fellow believers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. I Peter 5:8-9

This verse has a lot of meaning for me today.

First, I am studying Daniel with Beth Moore and we are at the point where he is thrown in the lions den. You can not miss the connection with that story and the fact that Peter describes satan as a roaring lion. And let me tell you I have felt his hot breath around me this week.

But I learned from Daniel in my study that I need a holy habit.....what I default to when times get tough. Daniel had made a habit of praying to God. Each time that Daniel faced a trial, his FIRST reaction was to go to God. When he was faced with the decree to not pray to anyone but the king for 30 days or be thrown in the lions den, verse 10 tells us he "went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thatks to his God, just as he had done before."

Even King Darius recognized this in Daniel. When he was thrown into the lions den, Darius says to him "May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!"

I want to be like Daniel.

I want a Holy Habit of going to God.....first.

I want my default in hard times to be to run to my Father...
...not try to react or handle things myself.

The end of the I Peter verse says " you know that your fellow believers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings."

One of satans biggest ploys is to get us to feel like we are all alone. But we ALL face the roaring lion in some way or another. Satan can't have us if we are sealed by the blood of Christ, but he surely can try to make us miserable and ineffective! And we become ineffective when we fall back on old habits...unless our habits are holy ones!

I Peter also shows me that we need to be lifting each other up...we are all in this together.

So, my goal is to develop a holy habit like Daniel....a habit of turning to God first.....not just for me, but for those around me too.

I want to remind you all of my "praying for you" tab at the top of my blog. I have commited to praying for those who leave requests there. Just click over and leave your request in a comment and if you don't have a blog, give me a way to contact you. Also, when you receive your answer, please don't forget to come back and tell us in another comment....
....we all want to praise God with you!!!

Philippians 4:6-7 says:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God.

Beth Moore reminded me that everything can be affected by prayer!!

God would not have told us to pray in every situation if it couldn't.



I want to be a Daniel...

...how about you?

1. Have you ever fired a gun or shot a bow and arrow?
2. Do you know where your childhood best friends are?
3. Do you usually arrive early, late, or on time?
4. Are you more of a New York or California type?
5. Do you have a special ring tone?
6. What is your favorite type of chip?
7. Best comedy you've ever seen is ....
8. Have you ever cut your own hair? To quote Dr. Phil, "How'd that work for ya?"
9. If you were going to have an extreme makeover, would you rather it be about your house or your personal self?
10. Are you allergic to anything?
11. Why is it so hard to change?
12. One last question dedicated to February love: CS Lewis said, "To love is to be vulnerable." Please share one example of that assertion or share any thought you'd like to about this topic

Random dozen 2-23-10

1. Have you ever fired a gun or shot a bow and arrow?
2. Do you know where your childhood best friends are?
3. Do you usually arrive early, late, or on time?
4. Are you more of a New York or California type?
5. Do you have a special ring tone?
6. What is your favorite type of chip?
7. Best comedy you've ever seen is ....
8. Have you ever cut your own hair? To quote Dr. Phil, "How'd that work for ya?"
9. If you were going to have an extreme makeover, would you rather it be about your house or your personal self?
10. Are you allergic to anything?
11. Why is it so hard to change?
12. One last question dedicated to February love: CS Lewis said, "To love is to be vulnerable." Please share one example of that assertion or share any thought you'd like to about this topic.

My sweetie and Me!

29 and 1/2 years and I still love the guy a lot!

Random Dozen 2-11-10

1. Are you pleasant when you're ill, or are you a grumpy, fussy patient?
I hate to put anyone out or be a bother, so I am a very pleasant ill person.


2. When you find out that school is canceled (due to inclement weather) what is your gut reaction?
I LOVE having inclement weather because that means I do not have to go to work since I work in the school. Next thought is "geesh, we will be going to school way into the month of June, Oh well!"

3. What is one domestic skill you wish you could improve?
Keeping a clutter free house. I am so terrible about just "putting" things in a stack, then other stacks, and other stacks until I am overwhelmed and unable to productively work through it, so, there the clutter sits.

4. Do you decorate your home for Valentine's Day?
I use to decorate. I have decorations. But for some reason, I just can't seem to focus enough to remember to do so.

5. What song is on your mind today?
Fly Me to the Moon.

6. Do you prefer contemporary movies or classic?
Classic! Unless it is a romantic, clean movie, or a new movie of an old story such as Pride and Prejudice, Becoming Jane, Sense and Sensibility, etc.

7. How well do you "compartmentalize" your feelings? For example, how well can you put aside a really trying moment to deal with the immediate situation which is not related to the trying moment, e.g., putting aside a tiff with your spouse in order to finish wallpapering a room.
Not well at all! I keep things bottled up inside really, really well, but I will use this pent up feeling to hide and cry or use it to slam cabinets, go for a drive and cry and beat the steering wheel and cry and yell, well, you get the picture.

8. What is the first thing that attracted you to your spouse? (Or if you're single, to your best friend.)
The first time I saw my spouse "to be" I thought he was arrogant and selfish. But, he was cute! The next time, was a year later and I was watching him play music during the judging of a talent show held for newcomers to UCA. (Of course, he could not compete because he would have won every thing!). I was attracted to his dark eyes, cute glasses, his music talent, and his humor. It was love at, um, second sight!

9. When was the last time your heart raced?
Literally it was 2 weeks ago when I went to the ER and they kept me overnight for heart monitoring! Figuratively, it was when I got called to the office because the principal wanted to meet with me. 50 years old and I still get scared when I am called to the office!

10. What are your memories of Valentine's Day at school?
Making Valentine mail boxes and during the party, the fun of going around and "mailing" my valentines that I had spent days selecting just the right one for everybody.

11. If you were going to receive candy for Valentine's Day, which would you prefer?
Chocolate. Really good chocolate. Godiva. Russell Stover. Sees.

12. Red or pink?
Red.

Random Dozen

1. Do you use the labels various charities send you as “free gifts?”
Absolutely! Saves lots of time on Christmas cards and lots of thank you notes. Unlike Grandmother Nesbitt, I do not send a donation. If you do, they send lots of "please donate" mail that I know I will not answer. Why should they waste postage and kill more trees mailing things to me?

2. What is your favorite time of day (or night) for skywatching?
Um. I love watching clouds, rainbows, stars, meteor showers, but I really really love watching sunsets. Sunrises are nice, but I am usually so busy getting ready I don't have time to enjoy them. My favorites are the sunset on the night of our wedding. I actually sent the photographer out to take a picture. (Sadly, she did not understand my love of sunsets and did not take the picture :o[ ) My next favorite was the sunsets and sunrise over the Grand Canyon.

3. What is the most adventurous you've ever been with trying a new food?
Calamari, fried. A long time ago, a French snail. It tasted like rubber :o(
4. Have you ever heard a rock sing? (Trust me, there's a reason for this one!)
In Death Valley, there is a field called the Devils Golf Course. There the rocks were made of sand. They pinged and snapped. Does that count?

5. If you could learn a language you don't presently speak, what would it be?
Spanish. My sister in law is a Spanish teacher married to a Spaniard that she met when in school over there. They always speak spanish to one another. It would be fun to secretly know what they were saying! But, I have zero ability to learn a new language! Not my thing at all.
6. Al Capone's tombstone read, “My Jesus, Mercy.” If you could write your own epitaph, what would it say?
She tried to reflect God to others.
7. If you were a famous musician who was known by one name, like “Cher,” “Sting,” or “Jewel,” what would it be? It doesn’t have to be your first name, but it can be, if you’d like.
Nez
8. Have you ever been inordinately “into” a television show?
Yes House, the Olympics, Saint Elsewhere, Clean House, Extreme Makeover.
9. When you sneeze, do you go big, or do you do that weird “heenh!” sound that makes people think you’re going to blow your brains out? Any other variation we should know about?
I sneeze a lot, so I have lots of practice! I usually sneeze big, yet hold it in my head. It has caused some sinus problems for me! Not good at all.

10. Do you still read an actual newspaper that you hold in your hands, or do you get your news elsewhere?
A real paper, in my hands. I will never see the advantage of not actually holding and turning reading material. However, I do like to look for special articles on the local news websites and special stories I follow links on Klove.com .

11. Are you a good speller?
Moderate. When I was taught to read, it was a sight word/ whole word approach. I was not taught phonics which is sad. I can not ever decipher a new unknown word or one written in dialect. That is reading, not spelling, but they are connected! I do however love spell check.

12. At what time each day do you start thinking about lunch?

Well, since I make my lunch most every day and take it to work, that would be around 7:00 each morning. I think about eating it when ever I get hungry, usually around 12:15ish.