What's Your Flava?

You Are Cream Pie

You're the perfect combo of simplicity and divinity Those who like you life for understated pleasures

What Kind of Pie Are You?

Desire

Could you share your thoughts on desire with me? Anything you please! I'm planning on dedicating some time and thought to the subject - I'd love to get your thoughts.

If you're at a loss for direction, I'll lend you some road signs that might lead you down a path you'll find interesting. But I'm not in the biz of giving you too much direction! I want to hear from YOU!

Is desire a good thing?

Is desire always a good thing?

Is desire a bad thing?

Is desire neutral?

Have your desires altered your life? How?

How do you perceive desirous people?

Do you feel you're a desirous person? Why? Why not?

What are your present-day desires?

Have you ever dedicated your life to pursuing one of your desires?

Have you ever desired something and not gotten it? How did that affect you? Your life? Your worldview?


Okay...I'm starting to feel like I'm writing a review sheet for a test, so I know it's time to stop. : )

I am really looking forward to hearing from you. I'll plan to keep you posted on what I learn about desire. Have patience with me...this may take a while.

Have YOU Ever?

HAVE YOU EVER...
Smoked a cigarette: NO
Wrecked a car: YES
Stolen a car: NO
Gotten a speeding/parking ticket: YES! I've had 3 tickets and had to work parking tickets into my budget my junior year of college. It was ridiculous.
...How embarassing. Why did I tell you that?
Been dumped: YES
Shoplifted: YES! When I was 4, I was at the grocery store with mom and there was a plastic bucket of Chicklets at the checkout counter. I thought they were free samples, so I took a pack. When I got out to the car and showed my mom, she had me return the gum and apologize to the man at the counter: "My name is Pauline. I stole this gum. I was wrong. Will you forgive me?"
I haven't done any shoplifting since then.
Been fired/laid off: YES
Been in a fist fight: NO
Snuck out of your parents' house: NO
Been arrested: NO
Gone on a blind date: YES. Ugh.
Lied to a friend: YES
Skipped school: YES. My parents were pretty liberal when it came to school attendance. From the time my brother and I started school, mom would often say, "Why don't you stay home from school today?" :) Thanks, mom!
Seen someone die: NO
Been to Mexico: NO
Been to Europe: YES
Eaten sushi: YES
Taken pain killers: YES
Had a tea party: YES
Cheated while playing a game: YES
Fallen asleep at work: NO
Used a fake ID: NO
Had surgery: YES
Felt an earthquake: YES
Experienced a tornado/hurricane: NO
Thrown-up in a public place: NO, but I've been thrown up on.
Touched a snake: YES
Been robbed: YES
Broken a bone: NO
Slow danced with someone you love: YES
Petted a deer/goat: YES
Won a contest: YES
Hit a home run: YES. For one glowing moment, my coach thought I could actually hit! What a fluke.
Been suspended from school: NO
Been in a car accident: YES
Made a speech: YES
Partied till dawn: YES
Had braces: NO
Gotten stitches: YES
Been spanked: YES
Sat/Stood in a corner: NO
Eaten a pint or more of ice cream in one night: YES
Witnessed a crime: YES
Swam in the ocean: YES
Climbed a mountain: YES
Been struck by lightning: NO
Flown: YES
Sailed: YES
Sung karaoke: YES
Snuck into a movie: NO
Paid for a meal with only coins: YES
Laughed until a beverage came out of your nose: NO, I've lucked out.
Been kissed under mistletoe: NO
Crashed a party: NO
Slept in church: YES
Worn pearls: YES
Slept in a cabin/tent: YES
Jumped off a bridge: YES
Eaten pet food: NO, but I've eaten mud.
Kissed a mirror: YES
Bowled a strike: YES
Glued your hand to something: YES
Done a one-handed cartwheel: NO. I have a hard enough time doing a summersault.
Cheated on a test: YES
Talked on the phone for more than 6 hours: NO
Skipped showering for a week: NO, unless shampooing and washing in a lake doesn't count?
Gone skinny dipping: Hmm...
Picked and eaten fruit right off the tree: YES
Been told by a complete stranger that you're cute: YES, and later that night, he and his wife left me a $20 tip.

Romance

.....A subtle fragrance; second glance; a second chance; a quiet dance; a loooooong glance; a stimulating trance...wanna-go-to France? ;)

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Raindrops on roses and....whiskers on kittens...bright colored kettles and warm woolen mittens.
Just kidding! I don't really like kittens. :)
Let's start again.

These are a few of my favorite things:

perfume
beautiful color combinations
tom drums
the four seasons
snow
autumn leaves
the sun
getting a suntan
the city
the country
water
rivers
piano
people
cultures
different personalities
boys
men
old men
coffee
candles
brown
lavendar
closing my eyes
the morning
the nighttime
vanilla
apricots
blueberries
watermelon
bread
smell-good lotion
my nightgown
eyes that tell a story


Those are just a few! What are some of your favorite things?

Just an Innocent Thought or Two

Have you heard Greenday's big song for the year: 'Wake Me Up When September Ends?' I REALLY like it!
For those who may not have heard it, the first lines go like this: "Summer has come and passed. The innocent can never last. Wake me up when September ends."
I listened to the song so much the other day that the words got frozen in my head!
"The innocent can never last. The innocent can never last...
The innocent can never last?"
What do you think about this statement? True? False? Is it happy? Sad? What do you think innocence is?
I've heard a couple other statements that, I would say, have to do with innocence.
In another song I know, the vocalist makes this claim: "All I've ever wanted, are clean hands and a pure heart."
Would you say that's innocence? Is it the desire for innocence? Is she innocent for simply desiring innocence?
What about this statement: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
If the innocent can never last, does that mean that no one's going to get to see God? Is pureness of heart innocence?

I'm interested in this topic of innocence. Very interested. I want quotes, people! Quotes! Can someone please find some others that might add to this conversation?
Of course, if you don't want to look up quotes, I'd love for you to share some of your own...just let me know they're yours, k?

HOPE

Hope! Tell me about it!!

Goodbye, I'm Coming

For me, "goodbye" has always been the hardest thing to say.

When I was 3, I remember looking out my brother's bedroom window, brokenhearted as my dad sold his diesel truck.
Dad assured me he would get a new one...
But that wasn't what made me sad. I was crying because I didn't want to say goodbye to the old one.
I remember the night when I was 5 and my grandma called to tell me that our family's boat had been through a storm and had sunk to the bottom of the lake. I wept.
She said we'd get a new one, to which I said, "But it won't have green chairs and a black stripe on the outside of it!"
My grandma tells me that I always cried when I had to say goodbye. I didn't want change...not with tires, boats, carpet, and definately not people!
One of my Japanese exchange students wrote me last year, having just been through her graduation ceremony in Japan. She wrote, "Life seems to be a series of 'hello's' and 'goodbyes.'
"It makes me very sad," she said.
I haven't found any better way to say it than that.
...

I'm reading a book called, "The Namesake," a story about a Bengali couple who comes to America to raise their baby boy.
At one point in the story, the boy's mother, Ashima, is recalling her last moments with her dying grandmother, whom she calls "Dida."
The last thing she remembers saying to her grandma is, "Dida, I'm coming." It's a phrase Bengalis use in place of "goodbye."

I like that.
I like that very much.
There's something final about saying "goodbye."
There is something eternal about saying, "I'm coming."

...I'd like to think of goodbyes more like that.

When I Fail

When I fail, I retreat to three different neighborhoods of my mind: the neighborhoods of Shame, Denial, and Grace.
Sometimes I run to only one. Sometimes I visit two - I sit around on park benches and sulk for a while. Sometimes I pass through all three neighborhoods, doddling and wandering before I finally make my way home.

Why do I do that?

Heavenly Wonder...

I wonder what Heaven was like today?

I wonder what the sun looks like from an angel's perspective?

I wonder if Jesus ever still watches the earth's sunset?

I wonder how small the ocean really is?

I wonder if God has ever caused a shooting star to fall for the sake of one of His children?

I wonder if He ever dips His hand in the Milky Way and catches a handful of stars and planets, just for the amusement of the angels?

I wonder if Sundays are God's favorite day in heaven?

I wonder if they even keep track of earthly days in heaven?

I wonder how many angels are here, standing and sitting around me?

I wonder what they look like?

I wonder what they're thinking?

I wonder who "the great cloud of witnesses" from Hebrews includes?

I wonder what God's favorite color is?

I wonder if Jesus told His disciples what His favorite music, books, and personal interests were?

I wonder how funny Jesus was?
...I think probly really funny, because 'truth' and sincerity...honest life experience is very funny. He always told the truth, He was always sincere, and He, of all people probably had the most ironic, bizarre honest life experiences - coming from heaven and adjusting to earth? I bet He told the wildest stories! I'll bet He was a riot.
He's my favorite.

I wonder what the extent of "the mysteries of God" are?

I wonder what 'mystery of God' is being revealed to me...today...right under my nose, and I can't see it?

I wonder how fearful the Devil is of the day Jesus comes back?

I wonder if the Devil operates out of fear?
Perfect love casts out fear...There's no love in the Devil, so he certainly doesn't have any to cast OUT any fear. Hmmm...
Revelation tells of his demise. He already knows the end of his story.
Maybe that would cause him not to fear. What's he got to lose now? He knows once the heavens open up, his time's up.
Does he operate out of greed? Greed to take any he can down with him?
That's more like hate than just greed, probly, huh? The Devil comes to steel, kill, and destroy. Hmmm...

I wonder how he feels that God's word has already made it clear to us that even he has been created for the glory of God? :
"By Him (Jesus) all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through Him and for Him."

I wonder why Jesus chose to rescue me...from hell and from myself?

I wonder why He still loves me?

I wonder what He sees in me that I don't see?

I wonder if God heard my voice singing in the heavens as He was sitting on His throne today?

I wonder if it made Him smile?

I wonder what makes Him smile the most?
...I think it's His Son. His Son, and those of us whom Jesus died for and is daily causing to be made just like Him.


Ah, the vast wonders of heaven.

Limited?

I heard this said the other day:

Our only limitation in life is our current revelation of God.


Dyin' to hear your thoughts.

Blue Like Jazz

I read this in "Blue Like Jazz." I thought it was worth underlining and giving some thought to:

Tony the Beat Poet says the words alone, lonely, and loneliness are three of the most powerful words in the English language. I agree with Tony. Those words say that we are human; they are like hunger or thirst. But they are not words about the body, they are words about the soul.

What do ya think?
Are there words you'd add or subtract from this statement?
Do you think "alone, lonely, and loneliness" are some of the most powerful words in the English language?...
Hm...

7 Things (Inspired by Patrick)

If you haven't checked out Patrick's blog, "People : Places : Things," you've GOT to. The link's over there to your right.
I could list the reasons why you should visit, but I think you'll find your own reasons to love it once you get there.
"But...could you please just give us one reason?"
Okay, okay. But only one.
Every-so-often he leaves cool personality tests to take or lists to make...things that make ya go "hmm."
I'll say no more. That was a "teaser." Anymore might be a "spoiler."
"But..."
Nope. The rest is up to you. : ).

This is a deal I stole from his blog. (Sorry, Patrick. I don't think you'll mind, though. So, I guess I don't have to say sorry. Nevermind. I'm not sorry.)

K, here we go.

Seven Things...

7 things I want to do before I die.

• Visit at least five of the seven continents - live in at least one other country.
• Be part of a worship band that uses lots of bongo drums and makes people dance.
• Write. Children's books, poems, love letters, songs, prayers, and a book, calling Christ's Bride to Himself.
• Create a unique, "real," and absolutely amazing ministry with my husband.
• Watch with a smile as my husband's dreams become realities.
• Run on an ocean coast with my golden retriever. Oh ya...own a golden retriever. ; )
• Create a home that's more than a home. A place of beauty, warmth, light, fragrance, and good things to eat and drink. It will be a safe retreat for my family, as well as anyone else in the world who needs it.

7 things I cannot do.

• I cannot play golf.
• I cannot make myself get through "Pride and Prejudice," the book or video. There's something about it that makes me roll my eyes - even the thought of it makes me sick to my stomache. I have no idea why.
• I cannot deny Christ and how He has changed my life.
• I cannot deny that I listen to Michael Jackson.
• I cannot seem to learn and retain how to play chess.
• I cannot believe I have a brother who is computer scientist. Where did those genes run off to?!
• I cannot stop thinking about Patrick. (Okay, so my plug for Patrick's blog wasn't completely unbiased. But try it, you'll see. Start at the very beginning - a very good place to start...sorry. I had to.)

7 things I say often.

• I love you.
• GOOD JOB!
• That's awesome!
• THAT'S funny.
• Dude!
• Wow.
• Ohmyyyyyygoooooosh...

7 books or series I love.

• Waking the Dead - The Glory of Man Fully Alive
• Interpreter of Maladies
• Reaching for the Invisible God
• I Was Just Wondering
• Blue Like Jazz
• The Silence of Adam
• Colossians

7 movies I'd watch over&over again.

• I DO watch "You've Got Mail," over and over again. I fall asleep to it almost every night.
• What's Up, Doc?
• What About Bob?
• The Matrix
• My new DVD of the first season of "The Office."
• Ocean's 12 - I didn't get it the first time. I caught more of it the second. I'm still kinda workin' on it.
• The Italian Job. Hey! I need to add that one to my list of favorites! Not only is the movie great, but the scenes in Italy?!! And the music!! Dude!! (Not the soundtrack - it's lame. Somehow the magic didn't transfer there. I was bummed.)

7 songs I can't get enough of.

*disclaimer: I don't really know the names of songs. I'm totally freestylin' it here.

• More Than (In Love With You) - worship song
• All That I Need
• It's Gonna Be Alright
• How Far is Heaven
• Hotel California - is the intro amazing or what? The guitar solos? Nothing else quite like them.
• To The Morning
• Several songs by Celine

See how fun that was?

Don't you wish you were in Patrick's blog right now, checking out all the other fun stuff you can find there?