The Random Stuff - From Coffee Addiction to Childhood Dreams - Get to Know A Little More About Me

So I thought sharing a little of the random stuff about me would be fun. And you may get to know me a little better from afar! Enjoy, and please share with me some of the random stuff about yourself too.

Not an ice cream fan, unless it's chocolate or Ben & Jerry's...

I would eat a chocolate every day. Instead I sometimes eat chocolate every day.

I'm addicted to coffee. But I can quit when I want to - I promise.

What activities did I enjoy as a kid? Dance was one of several others... Add winter outdoor activities to that mix...

I crave gourmet pizza in every country: grilled chicken with preferably a white sauce, extra garlic, artichokes, avocado slices, and mozzarella - I made it up myself. It's so good!

Leviticus is one of my favorite books of the Bible. Ask me about it. :)

I like to hang out in coffee shops (with or without bookstores) with a friend, a book, or alone. People can overload me - I need alone time. Being alone too much is unhealthy for me - make me go out.

Silence is my friend. Music is therapeutic. Nature is life-giving. Words are inspirational.

I began writing poetry as a child.

I love relationships - I mean, building friendships, really.

I love Encouraging and Empowering but not as the Entertainment (i.e. I don't like being the center of attention).

In my next life (pretend), I would be a novelist, landscape artist, criminal profiler...or undercover CIA agent. You never know... ;)

I have two high school diplomas. Figure that one out.

How many of my family pets died before I turned 10? 5+

I can't figure myself out...

I need alone time to process. And I'm a verbal processor.

In my life I have been called shy, confident, stuck up, blunt, sensitive, and outgoing - this could be confusing.

The task side of me (needing to get the job done) and my relational side were at war. Relational won. I quit my job to be a missionary. Now my task is to be relational. (My head and heart have similar wars - only it's daily...)

I love to travel. I want to go everywhere. And I want a home.

My beautiful mountains at my childhood home.

I love learning. So I may know a little about a lot of things and not much about anything.

I want to be a better listener and less selfish. I hate shopping especially with people because then I can't leave when clothes aren't fitting me. Trying on pants is the worst.

Growing up, I never wanted to be a missionary. It looked too hard. And they came from special factories in heaven - not where all of us common people were made. Later I realized that they are just normal people too.

I need to practice patience and flexibility. Maybe that is why God led me into missions.

I love outdoor stores!

When I was little, I wanted to play the drums and saxophone, be a helicopter pilot, and enter the Olympics in this sport?

You can comment or e-mail back and ask me more questions. But how about you? Be random, crazy, serious, introspective, and/or relational. I'd love it and love knowing more about you!

A Nonsensical Poem About Words

Did I ever say I love my Psalms assignments? It's the one creative outlet I get each week. This is a poem inspired by Psalm 104. As God is glorified in the creation, I thank God for words, even ones strung together with no purpose and no need to make any sense.

A Celebration of Words

(2^nd title: An Ode to the Word-Maker)

The fabric of my being,

The melody of my soul,

Plucked, prodded, and pulled

By some unknown whole.

Unsure of who dictates

What – within.

Is the edge of reason the brink of the gale?

Or really just the prime place to begin?

Hackysacks, hamper knacks,

Timing, and shrew –

Gibberish to most

But delight to the few.

A novelty of percussion,

A story of rhyme,

Nonsense is not no sense –

But joy found sublime.

And fashioned after You,

I don’t know where to begin.

You’re the Word that created design

And invented the rhyme.

You captured imagination

On the voice of the wind.

You inspired communication

From Your deity of Three.

You imprinted meaning on words.

You breathed life that gave breath,

So that I might send out a tantalizing tale,

But not for my ears only,

But for others to share.

So gaming and flaming

To crisp for the taming

Is not just noise to You either

And gives no need to decipher.

But that is enough to trouble your mind

As you might consider,

“What’s wrong with this girl?

A poem that makes sense,

Can’t she just deliver?”

So I’ll let you alone

From my first attempts

At the profoundly un-profound world

Of nonsense poems.

This is where delight

Is given in the sheer presence,

The God-given gift –

Of words.

Prayer in January 2008

This won't be a pretty song of eloquent praise to You because today I went from peaceful calm to disgust at my own humanity—my own rejection of You when I need You the most and know You will never forsake me—I choose to believe a lie in the midst of knowing the truth and seeing Your truth and power displayed in my life again and again. I seek forgiveness from this awful place. You are holy. You are worthy. You are truth and choose to act justly and righteously. I thank You, thank You for who You are—never changing all the time. You are a beautiful symphony, all instruments and melodies in Your hymn of praise. Glorify. Gratitude. Strength in my life. I simply say, “I give up control because You are the writer of the greatest song of my life! Not my own—but Yours!” Holy. Worthy. Nothing I imagined, but everything I’ve dreamed. Abandoned—upon the cross.

(Written during YWAM Community Meeting)