TAG! I'm It!

I've been tagged so many times, I think I'm an endangered species! LOL! I crack myself up. Okay, Edie, MyADHDMe, Greg and Heather to name a few have done the 15 things I'm not ashamed to admit. So here are mine....

1. I am a sinner saved by grace. But unfortunately I'm not too keen on admitting what my sins are. That is between me & God.

2. If your blog post is one long post with no paragraphs - I'm not reading it! It looks too long, so I hit the next blog.

3. I can't stand music on 95% of blogs. I do love Sharon's because the song always compliments her post and I think that is so cool! And if the song is quiet and slow I like it, but I don't want to get blasted out of my chair by contemporary music while blogging. And it's hard to read with music jangling in my head.

4. I am cynical and don't believe most things I read. ("Send this email to everyone you know.") That is why it is so amazing to me that I am a Christian, because I am a cynic! I check everything on http://www.snopes.com/ and most of it is false. But I do believe the bible 110%.

5. Only up to #5?!?!?! Hmmmm. Sometimes I don't like getting tagged, because it breaks the flow of my blog, but if I don't get tagged I feel rejected like "why didn't they tag me?" Goofy I know, but it's me.

6. I can be impatient. I have love, peace, joy, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and sometimes even gentleness and self-control. But not much patience. I am working on it - and am much better than I used to be!

7. My mom is an alcoholic! I used to be ashamed to admit this, but I'm not anymore, because IT IS NOT ABOUT ME! I didn't cause it, I can't fix it. Amen!

8. I hate entertaining. I get all worked up, nervous, type A, crazy. I'd much rather come to YOUR house.

9. Gracious, this is boring to even me? Do you really want to hear 6 more things? Umm, I am addicted to coffee - ALL coffee.

10. Okay, I watch American Idol. I pretend I don't and feel very superior to those who do and admit it, but I am a closet watcher. Okay! Deal with it. I even voted. (Oh, the humiliation).

11. I am obsessive with tooth hygiene. I floss twice a day or more. One of my Top 10 fears in having food stuck in my teeth in public.

12. I was an extra in a movie with Charlie Sheen and Linda Hamilton...but they re-shot the scene I was in, so I wasn't in the movie...and it went straight to DVD anyway.

13. I am not superstitious AT ALL. (Notice this is number 13!)

14. I have no desire to home school. I'm glad my kids go to school, because frankly I need the break. I'm a better mom because they go to school. (See #6 above).

15. I hope to write a devotional book that will be published one day. I don't want to admit it because if I fail... Well, there it is - I admitted it.

So 15 things about me. BORING!

Calvinism

I love Calvin. He is an amazing person and has great thoughts on religion. And Hobbes. Oh wait, you didn't think I meant the religious guy Calvin did you? The Presbyterian guy? No, I'm talking about the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes.

One of my favorite comics (below) is the one where the bully (Moe) says "Get of the swing Twinky" and Calvin says "Forget it Moe. Wait your turn." PUNCH. After getting punched, Calvin says "It's hard to be religious when certain people never get incinerated by bolts of lightening."

Isn't that the truth? As a Christian some of my hardest moments come when "other people" (you know the ones,) seemingly have no troubles. But I feel like Calvin, having been "beaten up" by life.

Unfortunately, I can sometimes see myself in Calvin. My all time favorite is autobiographical and reads like this: Calvin in the first frame is shouting, “I’m in a very crabby mood, so everybody just leave me alone! I hate everybody.” In the next two frames Calvin stomps off, then he stops and looks around. Finally in a small voice he says, “Nobody recognizes my hints to smother me with affection.” Like Calvin, sometimes I need to improve my communication skills. I'm thankful to have a God who can read my heart, even with my mouth is shouting something all together different.

Hobbes has learned the great biblical truth to be content in all circumstances. He could teach us a thing or two, in this age where we all WANT WANT WANT.

Calvin: "If you could have anything in the world right now, what would it be?"
Hobbes: "Hmmm..."
Calvin: "Anything at all! Whatever you want!"
Hobbes: "A sandwich.
"Calvin: "A SANDWICH?!? What kind of stupid wish is THAT?! Talk about a failure of imagination! I'd ask for a trillion billion dollars, my own space shuttle, and a private continent!"

In the next panel, Hobbes is standing in front of the kitchen counter, munching on a sandwich.
Hobbes: "I got my wish."

May we "wish" and pray responsibly so that we too may get what we ask for...and remain content even if we don't.

Philippians 4:11 -- I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

2 Corinthians 12:8,9 -- Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

Thankful Thursday 11/20

I am joining the Thankful Thursday meme from Truth4theJourney. I am supposed to list 5 things I am thankful for today, remembering even the smallest things.

1. My Cooking Co-op. Today is my day to cook, so I sometimes don't feel very thankful on Thursday as I make dinner for 20 people (4 families). But when my delicious meals are delivered to me every Monday, Tuesday and Friday, I am very thankful.

2. Coffee. Never has such a small thing brought such great joy to a person. Just mentioning it makes me smile. It's not the coffee, it the essence...a hot cup of coffee with a good friend and great conversation. Coffee Anyone?

3. Blog Friends. I have met so many wonderful, encouraging people on the blog! People who don't hesitate to pray for me and bless my soul. I would have never believed it.

4. My Chiropractor. Crunch, crunch. No more back pain or head aches. What is there not to be thankful about there?

5. Maid Service. Okay, it's true, every other Thursday I have cleaning people. I am SO thankful for that. It started when I had a high pressure, long houred job over 10 years ago...but I never cancelled them once I started being a stay at home mom. So I admit it, I'm spoiled. And since it's Thursday, I better go pick up the clutter so they can clean! (Yes, you really do have to clean up before the maid comes.)

So quick as that, five small things I'm thankful for today. If you want to play along, you can list them in the comments section, or do your own post and just let me know...and be sure and stop by the host Truth4theJourney and let her know too!

Be Ready for the Frost

Awhile back I posted a series called "Grow Where You Are Planted." I know you wouldn't want to go back here to read the post I'm referring to, so here is the Reader's Digest version.

I had some pink impatiens growing along my walk...but in the middle of the pink ones was one clump of white ones. It reminded me that God calls me to be different from the world. As a Christian I should be clothes in white and stand apart from the rest. People should be able to see something different in me. I need to be mindful not to fall in with "the crowd," but stand for Christ.

Well, we've had a little end times here on Chatty Kelly's walk way. The frost caused the plants to die. But look, while the pink flowers are gone, the white ones remained.

At the end times, God will have each of us stand in accountability of what we've believed and what we've done. At the Revelation the dead will be judged. The book of life will be opened and "The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.... If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire." (Revelations 20:13, 15)

Spring and summer last for awhile, but the day of frost will come. Are you ready?

Matthew 24:42-44 -- Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Saturday and The Three Legged Race

Saturday was my first non-home church speaking engagement. (Not gig, right Edie?). I was covered in prayer by my friends and bloggy friends alike. I was so peaceful! I still had the nervous edge that makes one achieve, but while I kept waiting for that nervous sick feeling I usually get, I never got it! I expected it but I was filled with peace.

The group was small, about 15 ladies. My talk was well received and the pastor's wife said after the lunch that she talked to many of the ladies and they were touched in different ways by different parts of my talk. I too was blessed, as I felt this time of preparation I had taken each step with God. I felt in communion with him during my preparation and talk.

Saturday night I attended my Christian Writers group annual dinner. I had a chance to share briefly about my publishing journey to the group of probably 40 or so folks and had everyone laughing with my false expectations of what the publishing world held. (Hint: They don't respond the next day to your emails.) It was fun. I had also entered the devotion writing contest. We had been told to send them to the co-director of the group, and I had assumed she'd be judging them. The prize was $20.

I won the contest! However, it was judged by the Editor of the Spirit Led Writer, and in addition to the $20, my devotion will also appear in the magazine. Another published piece! I was thrilled, needless to say. It was a great day. I'm so happy to share it with you all. And now today's devotional thoughts....

I've been thinking a lot about my relationship with the Lord lately. I've decided I want to be in a three-legged race with God. Really. Think about a three legged race.

I do not want to be able to take a step without God stepping with me. I want to stay arm and arm with him in each step I take. And if I stumble, I want God beside me holding me up. I want to run every step with God.

With God at my side, it isn't about whether I win or lose. It's how I play the game...of life. As I cross the "finish line" with God by my side, no matter what "place" I come, I'll still be a winner.

2 Timothy 4:7 -- I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Jeremiah 13:11 -- For as a belt is bound around a man's waist, so I bound the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah to me,' declares the LORD, 'to be my people for my renown and praise and honor.

2 Chronicles 15:10 -- Then they bound themselves in a covenant to seek God, the God of their fathers, wholeheartedly, holding nothing back. (The Message)

Through The Storm - Book Winner

The winner is (**Drum Roll please**) Melanie of BellaMella. Congrats!

I wish I could send everyone the book, but alas the drawing was random.

Melanie - I'll be mailing the book out one day next week. I hope you enjoy it.
Everyone go visit Melanie and tell her congrats and welcome her to our blog community. She is a newer blogger, but becoming a fast friend, and a wonderful encourager (not to mention a sister coffee-addict. Yup - she fits right in here!)