In a List/Survey Mood

I copied this from a friend's blog. The thing said to bold ones that applied.

1. Touched an iceberg
2. Slept under the stars (in and out of a tent)
3. Been a part of a hockey fight
4. Changed a baby's diaper
5. Watched a meteor shower (not really sure but think so)
6. Given more than you can afford to charity (grrrr…yes)
7. Swam with wild dolphins
8. Climbed a mountain (without singing the Sound of Music song)
9. Held a tarantula (but have petted one)
10. Said "I love you" and meant it
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris (does Paris, TX count?)
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise (intentional and unintentional)
15. Seen the Northern lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope (crazy but yes many times)
20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment (more often than I should)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Bet on a winning horse (does a winning dog count?)
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill (in school…certainly)
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb?
26. Gone skinny dipping (well chunky dunking a few times)
27. Taken an ice cold shower
28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar (homeless yes, beggar if you count kids)
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Ridden a roller coaster
31. Hit a home run
32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
33. Adopted an accent for fun (best fun in a card game)
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
36. Loved your job 90% of the time (thankfully has happened a few times in life)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Watched wild whales
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach (singing makes it best)
41. Gone sky diving
42. Visited Ireland
43. Survived a Hurricane (more than once, thank-you lord)
44. Visited India
45. Bench-pressed your own weight
46. Milked a cow
47. Alphabetized your personal files
48. Ever worn a superhero costume (yeah for childhood)
49. Sung karaoke
50. Lounged around in bed all day
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud (we had a club in girl scouts)
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Done something you should regret, but don't
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (little lemonade stands don’t count I bet)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Been in a movie
60. Gone without food for 3 days
61. Made cookies from scratch
62. Won first prize in a costume contest (yeah for the rodeo)
63. Got flowers for no reason (love is always a reason)
64. Been in a combat zone (depends who you listen to)
65. Spoken more than one language fluently
66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone
67. Bounced a check (thank the banks for protection)
68. Read - and understood - your credit report
69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy (yeah for Joy’s new interest)
70. Found out something significant about your ancestors
71. Called or written your Congress person (yeah for the Girls State influence)
72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over (not willingly but that is what God had me do)
73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
74. Helped an animal give birth
75. Been fired or laid off from a job
76. Won money
77. Broken a bone (but come very close a few times)
78. Ridden a motorcycle (the things we do for boys…doofy)
79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph (not on the motorcycle)
80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read The Bible cover to cover (just Genesis to Revelations, not the index and maps)
86. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about (oddily yes)
87. Gotten someone fired for their actions (I was the boss at the time)
88. Gone back to school (not yet but soon)
89. Changed your name (never officially)
90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands
91. Eaten fried green tomatoes
92. Read The Iliad (just parts of)
93. Taught yourself an art from scratch
94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating --NEVER!!!
95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
97. Been elected to public office
98. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
101. Had a booth at a street fair
102. Dyed your hair
103. Been a DJ
104. Rocked a baby to sleep
105. Dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all four 106. Raked your carpet
107. Brought out the best in people
108. Brought out the worst in people
109. Worn a mood ring
110. Ridden a horse
111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
112. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe. (if ice cream counts)
113. Buried a child (just assisted a lot with it)
114. Gone to a Broadway play (musicals yet but not to NYC)
115. Been inside the pyramids
116. Shot a basketball into a basket
117. Danced at a disco
118. Played in a band (loved it in high school and even a semester at COM)
119. Shot a bird
120. Gone to an arboretum
121. Tutored someone
122. Ridden a train
123. Brought an old fad back into style
124. Eaten caviar
125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need -
126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant – as a child at the circus
127. Published a book
128. Pieced a quilt
129. Lived in a historic place (aren’t they all??)
130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage
131. Asked for a raise
132. Made a hole-in-one (only in mini-golf, Cottey proved I suck at golf)
133. Gone deep sea fishing
134. Gone roller skating (as a child I lived for this)
135. Ran a marathon
136. Learned to surf
137. Invented something
138. Flown first class
139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite (an odd experience for a conservative spender)
140. Flown in a helicopter
141. Visited Africa
142. Sang a solo
143. Gone spelunking
144. Learned how to take a compliment
145. Written a love-story (HA)
146. Seen Michelangelo’s David (only in pictures)
147. Had your portrait painted
148. Written a fan letter
149. Spent the night in something haunted (if I believed in it, I did live in Rosemary Suite)
150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
151. Ran away
152. Learned to juggle (kinda thanks to Ms Anne)
153. Been a boss
154. Sat on a jury
155. Lied about your weight (but now it is worse and I say the truth)
156. Gone on a diet
157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
158. Written a poem (yes and it was published twice)
159. Carried your lunch in a lunch box
160. Gotten food poisoning
161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission (depends how this is defined)
162. Hiked the Grand Canyon
163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks (usually don’t sit)
164. Gone to the opera (elementary school and to see Jessica)
165. Gotten a letter from someone famous (do emails count?)
166. Worn knickers (aren’t they just short pants?)
167. Ridden in a limousine
168. Attended the Olympics
169. Can hula or waltz
170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books
171. Been stuck in an elevator
172. Had a revelatory dream
173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
175. Saved someone’s life
176. Eaten raw whale
177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
178. Laughed till your side hurt
179. Straddled the equator
180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
182. Sent a message in a bottle
183. Spent the night in a hotel
184. Been a cashier (wasn’t my official title, just part of the job)
185. Seen Old Faithful geyser
186. Joined a union
187. Donated blood or plasma
188. Built a camp fire
189. Kept a blog
190. Had hives
191. Worn custom made shoes (but they were my dad’s boots!)
192. Made a PowerPoint presentation
193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
194. Served at a soup kitchen
195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube
196. Know CPR (need to be recertified)
197. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
198. Built your own PC from parts
199. Written your own role playing game
200. Been arrested – but stopped on prom night

Coming Out

In an odd sort of way, I feel a little bit like someone who is coming out with telling people about what I’m getting to do now. While I’ve been prepared for this all my life and even told people about that preparation, I am truly being in the position that I fought so hard 15 years ago. Never would I have envisioned the path that my life had taken, but I look back now and see so many of the necessary steps. Sadly, I still don’t know the reasons for some turns, but peace is so real for where I am now.
I am the Children’s Minister at First Baptist Church Galveston. Yes, there is not fear in saying it anymore. I smile when I think about the opportunities and challenges that God will enable me to face. I do still fear so many people/friends not understanding or wanting to understand who I am because of this title now. My friend, Christina, has lived out so many of my thoughts and emotions in her blog the past few years. I do think God allowing me to match up with her again has been positive for my faith and ability in leadership. From her, I know that the love is going to have to come through stronger so people will see the Jesus in me and not all the religious crud that can sometimes seep through.
The acceptance of this ministry was not an easy one. I was asked if I would do it before Hurricane Ike. At that point, I just didn’t know that I had the faith for the confidence or the time. Then Ike’s destruction and Grandma’s death occurred. Somehow I went into an almost autopilot mode. Certainly, I expressed emotion during the next six weeks, but I don’t know what of it was real and what was exhaustion. Reaching out for friendship wasn’t really working for me. Hours upon hours were spent in bed wishing for rest or on the internet grasping for connection. When I realized that I was not functioning well, I requested time off. Based on experience of the last months, I knew that I needed to deal with some areas. I also knew that I couldn’t/wouldn’t do it on my own, so I wrote people from my past who I hoped would pray. I was so disappointed in others that I took every measure I could to protect myself with asking these women who I knew loved me to pray for certain aspects of my life on which needed focus. I went on a personal retreat. One of the biggest things I received from that retreat was God hugs through prayer, songs, scripture, and nature sightings. I hadn’t forgotten that God loves Janna, but I’d lost how He shares that love when his people fail. After the retreat, I can hear people talk about the way people love each other on the island. I can see at work people talking about helping each other. I still in WBS at UBC and my mind can’t focus because I’m thinking about the families on the island. I volunteer in with the baby class and smiled while doing it. It was then that I knew God wanted me to say yes to Pastor Ray to being the Children’s Minister at FBCG. Feeling love, knowing I still have children skills, and recognizing God hadn’t forgotten my acceptance of his call were all things I needed. Another blogger and minister has expressed this very well the past few years that I have been reading his blog, which I found by accident almost. The heart of his blog is about being real in life and ministry that it isn’t about religious mess.
Now, I am embarking upon this God given adventure. I was so excited to be apart of the staff meeting on Friday. Knowing the mission before us and being apart of what is once again a missional church is overly exciting for me. I adore First Baptist Galveston! Being apart of a church staff that wants to see the island know Jesus thrills me. This church is about figuring out how to help many while rebuilding ourselves! We may not be in our sanctuary which has no power. We may not have as many people or the curriculum for everyone yet, but these people are ready to worship and serve! We do have a store in the sanctuary and doctors helping with prescriptions. This is a church that is working to meet the real needs of the island. There may not be parks to play in and meet people, so we will find a new way. Many of our members may not be living in their homes right now, but they will find a way to still be apart of their church. God knows me so well to know that this is what He designed me to be able to do.
I pray that I don’t get timid in telling people who will not understand or will have judgments about this opportunity. As we have people come for the next 2 to 3 years to continue to clean up the island, I pray they see our loving and reaching church. When people talk to me about my church, I pray that I speak of the positives and not the things of struggle for many. As I build and rebuild relationships in Galveston, I pray that they will be true.

10 Things I Can't Control But Would Like To

*or reasons I'm not blogging cause I don't trust it

(in no particular order)

10. The health that God gave me, but I can control the effects.
9. My immediate family and Godly cousin being overly far away and technology not always agreeing to work.
8. The constant changes in the weather making it difficult to plan.
7. My friend's financial situation.
6. The hatred spewed from people around me whether knowingly or no.
5. My automatic nature to be loving and meet needs but not having my hints for real help returned.
4. The salvation of some of those that are on my heart daily.
3. All of my family getting the help they need to heal from Grandma's and possibly other deaths.
2. My friends with children needing some time with their children away from them.
1. The maintenance people not doing their jobs of painting my ugly door and making my tub hold water.

Yep, I know what spiritual warfare is. Is this it or is it a lack of faith and trust? I'm not sure, but I need to figure out how to give it to God so that I can be the woman He created me to be.