The 1st player of this "game" starts with the topic "6 weird habits/things about yourself" and people who get tagged need to write a xanga entry about their 6 weird habits/things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a Comment that says "You are tagged" in their xanga and tell them to read yours. Yeah...don't really know who to "TAG" because I don't even know who has a Xanga or some kind of blog except for you, Cindy (and the people you tagged I've always wondered how people know themselves so well to answer questions like this! I had to think about what to write and ended up just observing myself last night before going to bed - so most of my weird habits have to do with my "going to bed" routine!) 1- I hardly ever brush my teeth in the bathroom. I almost always am either lying down on my bed listening to the radio or sitting on the couch watching tv. It seems like a waste of time and energy to just STAND over the sink to do the actual brushing when I could be doing something else. 2 - I have a queen bed and I'm only one person for my big bed. Instead of "flipping" my bed, I usually rotate MYSELF on the bed that way I don't wear out one side of my bed more than the other. A couple of weeks I sleep on the left side of the bed, a couple of weeks on the right side of the bed, a couple of weeks with my head at the "foot" of the bed sleeping on the left side, a couple of weeks with my head at the "foot" of the bed sleeping on the right side. I figure it's easier than physically flipping the bed AND it keeps me "unattached" to a certain side of the bed for whenever I do get married 3 - Whenever I lock the door before leaving the house, I usually tug on the door knob two times before I head down the stair case - which is probably how the bar lock that was on my door accidentally swung into the locked position and locked me out of my house. 4 - Whenever I come home and lock my car with the car alarm locker I lock it once by the car and usually a 2nd time at the top of the stairs and sometimes even a third time from my house window. 5 - None of the clocks in my house are set to the ACTUAL right time - nor are they set to the same time with each other. The only clock that I have that's correct is my cell phone clock and my car radio clock. I didn't realize how far off time they were until I had guests stay at my house and point it out! 6 - this is a mix of weird and pathetic. I've had a guitar for 3 years and I still don't know how to play it. (don't know if that really fits in this list, but I'm staring at my guitar thinking ... I WILL LEARN TO PLAY GUITAR!!!) I'm watching "Skating with Celebrities." If Dave Couilier (yes, the Full House guy) can ice skate with Nancy Kerrigan than I should be able to learn guitar in my lifetime!!!! I WILL DO IT! Here's an observation I made about myself from my reading today...
A couple of things I noticed in this about Jesus and realized about myself in turn. 1 - Jesus stopped and called them: how often do I actually STOP when people call on me for help? How do I show people that I give them attention and care about them? 2 - "What do you want me to do for you?" He asked. : Jesus knows their needs, but he gives them the opportunity to identify it for themselves and ASK Him for it. He doesn't assume and he gives them the opportunity to really see it and call it out for themselves - and hear themselves call on Him. I think God wants for me to do that myself with Him. I call out "Lord, Lord, help me... change me..." but I think sometimes I'm not brave and BROKEN enough to say what. AND I think sometimes I don't ask people, "What do you want me to do for you?" I don't always give people the opportunity to say what they think they need and I just act on what I think they need - I assume I know. I think there is value in "knowing/seeing people" and being able to identify and meet people's needs without them asking for it; I believe that the Holy Spirit leads and directs us in being able to do this. But, I think if Jesus (who knew their need) took time to ask these men, then I probably should do that more often than I do. If anything, to encourage others to express their need for themselves. Mommy and Daddy are home from the Philippines. Glad they are home safe and that they had a good time. Well...that's all for tonight... |
) - so WHOEVER (if ANYONE reads this!) wants to do this and if you have a blog...let me know and I'll tag you!
The good, the bad and the ugly of January 18, 2006
- Woke up at 7:00 am this morning when I was supposed to wake up at the latest by 6:30 am (bad…)
- Meetings back-to-back all day long today (pretty much bad…just because it was tiring)
- All the meetings I was in today were pretty productive and the day went pretty quickly as a result (so… good)
- Bought a box of legos for a meeting and didn’t use them (bad…)
- I have a box of legos to play with … and use as a footstool (good…)
- South Beach frozen dinner (surprisingly good…)
- "LOST" (good… the show is basically all about character development which is so lacking in so many movies and shows)
- The smell and the squishiness of play-doh (good…)
- My newly manicured nails got messed up cleaning the white board for our meeting (bad and UGLY…)
- 100 portraits (???) CD that Peggy lent me (soooooo good!!!)
- that “Wild Thing” Hallmark commercial (hahaha funny good)
- Sonicare - really...fresh, clean teeth - incomparable feeling... (good)
I know...those are all totally random... 
Later!
Currently ReadingCultivating a Life of Character: Judges/Ruth (Woman After God's Own Heart Series)
By Elizabeth George
Okay, not reading it yet...but soon.
Home group got together tonight to decide on the study we'll be doing next. Looking forward to this study. Character... challenging thought to me lately.
See... told you it would be short 
Helps that I still have a meeting to prep for for tomorrow and I'm already very, very sleepy! (Bought legos, colored pencils and play-doh for the meeting...hopefully it will not only be a "fun" meeting, but productive as well).
Currently Listening
Bethany Dillon: "Beautiful"
By Bethany Dillon
Work tomorrow.
Been spending the afternoon/evening "preparing" for meetings that I have this week. The time spent today has been pretty unproductive.
Had a fun/busy weekend with Ellen. We've been friends since high school - back in the day when we were in Langhorne United Methodist Church's youth group. Fun times 
This weekend we spent time at my house, went to SAK Comedy Lab, went to church, explored Downtown Disney, saw Last Holiday with Queen Latifah, rode the Disney monorail to check out a couple of resorts, rented Fever Pitch, got a pedicure and manicure... fun weekend. Hopefully it was more relaxing than it sounds - sorry if I wore you out LN! 
I'm pooped. 
It's been a great couple of months catching up with family and friends - so many of whom I've not really been able to spend much quality time with in a while. I get to see Hoberta (Amanda Hobert) in a couple of weeks - which will also be great! It has been such great fun and I hope that it's been enjoyable for others too. Feeling in need for some down time though - time to replenish... renew. 
Reminds me of stuff I want to share...I'm reading a great book (thanks, Joanna!!!) titled Captivating. I've been pretty much just reading through the book - not taking much time to really process or really think about how it all applies to my life. So much of the book just instantly hits a chord and I think "Wow! I can really relate to that!" BUT that's pretty much as deep as I've gone in terms of personal application. I think I want to do another read-through marking the book up and journaling through it. But, for now, I think I've just been reading through it because I feel a connection and just want to experience THAT. Anyway... point of this... been really challenged with the idea of being a woman of BEAUTY and what that really means...
Excerpts: (Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge // "Chapter 2: What Eve Alone Can Tell" - page 38-40)
"Think of what it is like to be caught in traffic for more than an hour. Horns blaring, people shouting obscenities. Exhaust pouring in your windows, suffocating you. Then remember what it's like to come into a beautiful place, a garden or a meadow or a quiet beach. There is room for your soul. It expands. You can breathe again. You can rest. It is good. All is well. ... That is what beauty says, All shall be well.
And this is what it's like to be with a woman at rest, a woman comfortable in her feminine beauty. She is enjoyable to be with. She is lovely. In her presence your heart stops holding its breath. You relax and believe once again that all will be well. And this is also why a woman who is striving is so disturbing, for a woman who is not at rest in her heart says to the world, 'all is not well. things are not going to turn out all right. ... We need what Beauty speaks. What it says is hard to put into words, But part of its message is that all is well. All will be well.Beauty also invites....Beauty nourishes....Beauty comforts....Beauty inspires...
(Captivating by John and Stasi Eldredge // "Chapter 8: Beauty to Unveil" - page 134)
"A woman in her glory, a woman of beauty, is a woman who is not striving to become beautiful or worthy or enough. She knows in her quiet center where God dwells that he finds her beautiful, has deemed her worthy, and in him, she is enough. In fact, the only thing getting in the way of our being fully captivating and enjoyed is our striving.
'He will quiet you with his love' (Zeph. 3:17). A woman of true beauty is a woman who in the depths of her soul is AT REST, trusting God because she has come to know him to be worthy of her trust. She EXUDES a sense of calm, a sense of rest, and invites those around her to rest as well. She speaks comfort; she knows that we live in a world at war, that we have a vicious enemy, and our journey is through a broken world. But she also knows that because of God all is well, that all will be well. A woman of true beauty offers others grace to be and the room to become. In her presence, we can release the tension and the pressure that so often grip our hearts. We can also breathe in the truth that God loves us and he is good."
Don't feel so much that I am a woman whose soul is AT REST. And I certainly don't feel like I've been able to really INVITE others to truly believe "all is well" either. That is who I want to be... for myself, for others, for His glory.
Interesting...I found this in an old notebook (from when I was 25...)
"I have never seen myself as beautiful - or even pretty for that matter. You'd think after 25 years of living I'd be comfortable and confident in "me." But, I'm realizing that inside, part of me is very much that little girl looking up (I've always been short) at everyone else -- wishing I was just a little bit different, or a lot.
I KNOW the Bible verses that remind me of the meaining of true beauty -- I know the Word that assures me of God creating me "wonderfully and fearfully." I know it, but sometimes in this world, it's hard for those truths to sink all the way in.
I see the girls I work with and there is no doubt at all that they are beautiful. With the perfect hair, perfect smiles, perfect complexion, perfect figures, perfect wardrobe -- THEY are the picture perfect ladies that cover magazines. As they walk in and out of rooms, eyes follow them - literally - and I've actually heard and seen gasps in awe of their beauty. Maybe if their personalities were flawed I'd feel some sense of "fairness" over this, but these girls aren't just pretty faces; they're smart, kind, friendly women.
I don't know. I know in my mind that my identity is not in my outward appearance. Our looks always change. Our bodies change shape and form. Who I am isn't determined by what I look like, but who God has created me to be -- who I am in Him. I do know this in my mind and in my heart -- somewhere DEEP down there. Only that it would be more deeply understood and believed. "
Interesting... 4 years later -- I still struggle with the desire to be seen as "beautiful." But, so much lately I've been challenged with thinking about who I really am, what I really give to others through my life, what I really bring before Him. I'd so much rather have the beauty the Eldredges have described... this true beauty... beauty of soul. I'd much rather exude beauty from within me (through Him) that brings comfort, assurance, peace, hope, joy and REST to others.
"Beauty also invites....Beauty nourishes....Beauty comforts....Beauty inspires..."
Yes, I still want to be SEEN as pretty - turn heads and all. 
But what is that if that's all there is? RIGHT?
enough...
PS - I always intend to write SHORT entries... how they get so long, I don't know. NEXT TIME...I promise....short entry!
Currently Watching
Shadowlands
Leu Gardens was in bloom and beautiful today... every flower petal declaring His wonderful works! I so much love going there. Whenever I walk through the door of the main building and step into the gardens I feel a sense of calm and peace just come over me. I feel like the Wizard of Oz when everything goes from black and white to technicolor.
There happened to be a wedding in the Rose Garden so I walked over to see the bridal party taking their after-the-ceremony pictures. This is going to be the year-o-weddings for my family... 3 cousins getting married (1 FL, 1 TX, 1 Philippines). I'm thankful for the appreciation of marriage that the Lord has been putting on my heart lately. I'd think it would be easy when single and around wedding stuff to get incredibly discontent and feel negative about weddings and marriage. Thankful that He's taking care of me. Hey - I was even able to watch the bride and groom taking pictures and be okay with it. It's been fun... looking forward to my cousins' weddings.
The Rose Garden isn't my favorite spot at the Gardens. For some reason roses have never been a favorite flower of mine. I've kind of looked on them like the "snotty, stuck up" variety of flower. But today... they were sooo beautiful - their colors, their petals - soft and clean, the smell!
"Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name." - Psalm 96.
Had Pei Wei for lunch today and had two fortune cookies. One said that I would travel far and wide. I hope that's true. Mommy and Daddy are going home to the Philippines next week for 2 weeks. Wish I could go too. 
The other cookie said to make a budget - which served as a reminder that I needed to work one of my goals for the weekend. I started it and well... have to look at it some more 
There are 2 things I need to consider - cancelling my land line (the only people who call it are the sales people from Direct TV, people who call to say I'm doing great paying my mortgage (what mortgage??!!) and University High School saying that my daughter skipped school again (NO... I have no daughter... some girl is getting away with a WHOLE lot!) and if I can rejoin LA Fitness or not (how much can I negotiate with them and how much will I REALLY use it??)
Can't believe the weekend is over. AND...that tomorrow will begin a FULL five-day work week. Will I survive??
