• I'm a Christian, a mom, stepmom and wife first and foremost.

    I try to be durned great at all of those roles.

    I have trouble being a "submissive" wife.

    I tend to be goofier than my kids - at times.

    I have books on every flat (and not so flat surface) in the house.

    I am an absolute geek and nerd.

    I am a master of sarcasm.

    I am very reserved.

    I enjoy wine a bit much

    I read more than most people brush their teeth.

    I like my solitude a bit too much for many.

    I have an incredible repertoire of mean/confused/aggravated expressions.

    I don't like sweets.

    I love horror - movies, books, personal stories, whatever.

    I will fight for my kiddo to the end - try me.

    I would be a life long student if I didn't have to work for a living.

    I can kick your butt in trivial pursuit!

    I hate drama.

    I love the smell of books.

    I have a strong desire to take books and hug them and even consider kissing them when I get a new one! (geek alert)

    I blog about nothing ness, randomness, mommy ness and books.

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  • Quote:

    "Read me a book and I’ll be entertained for a day, teach me to read and I’ll have a nervous breakdown when I realize I can’t read every book I see.”
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  • 101 Things About Me

    I decided to do this ‘101 Things About Me’ thing because I read some others and I felt like I was having wine with the folks who wrote them. And durn it, do I love wine. 1. I am blessed.
    2. I am the oldest of 3 children.
    3. I am the only girl.
    4. I have 3 step brothers and 1 half brother in addition to my birth brothers.
    5. Because I grew up with so many boys, I received boy toys as gifts.
    6. I didn’t have a birthday cake until I was in my twenties.
    7. Prior to that, I had had two birthday parties.
    8. I started cooking the family meal at 12. All of it. Every day.
    9. My mother used to take in foster kids.
    10. Edited due to my new found love of people.
    11. I love my family something fierce.
    12. I am pro-choice and have experienced the horror of an abortion.
    13. I have experienced the horror of a rape.
    14. I have battled a bi-polar disorder for at least 12 years.
    15. I have been depressed severely enough to seriously contemplate suicide.
    16. I imagined my funeral, and the sadness of my family members and decided I couldn’t do that to them. I lived for them for a few years.
    17. I am a natural redhead. I dye my hair various shades of red because I bore easily.
    18. There are angels. I do not doubt that one bit.
    19. And ghosts. I know this.
    20. My Mom's Mom and I have a very special bond.
    21. I also have a very special bond with my stepmom.
    22. Marriage is not all sunshine and flowers. In fact, I would say it was freaking hard work.
    23. I have never seen my husband cry. Edited to add: Until seeing The Time Traveler's Wife. And then it was more of a I Heard Him Crying incident.
    24. I don't think I'll ever be too old to hear my Dad say he's proud of me.
    25. My husband is my #1 fan. And I am his.
    26. I had a loooooooong life before marriage came along. Sometimes I’m cool with that. Sometimes I'm not.
    27. I didn’t become a Christian till my late twenties.
    28. I loved to climb trees when I was a kid.
    29. My best friends growing up taught me to kiss – on a tree.
    30. My right foot is bigger than my left by a size. Both my second toes are longer than any of the others.
    31. I won 3rd place in a spelling bee in 6th grade without studying.
    32. I like the smell of gasoline.
    33. I have a scar in my right eyebrow. I tried to fly off the table and busted my eye open.
    34. I don't plan ahead very well. Actually, that's not true. I plan ahead just fine. It's the execution of the plan that is often the problem.
    35. I have a crush on Joaquin Phoenix. My husband thinks he is ugly. Obviously, I do not.
    36. I take physical, spiritual and emotional comfort from the presence of books. 37. I prefer eye glasses to contact lenses.
    38. If I could afford it, I would spend the rest of my life in school.
    39. I watch very little TV, and yet will still pay for digital cable so I can watch The Tudors. Edited to add: we no longer have cable but I do Netflix The Tudors and True Blood
    40. I have a hard time comprehending the fact that some people don't read for pleasure.
    41. I don't write as often as I should.
    42. I can hold a grudge for way too long.
    43. It is tremendously easy to annoy me. Some people do it by merely existing
    44. I am cynical and suspicious by nature.
    45. Halloween is my favorite holiday.
    46. I dislike being asked to provide the name of my favorite song, film, book, etc - because I find these things change moment to moment.
    47. I prefer to be barefoot.
    48. When a film based on a book comes out, or a movie remake is released, I feel the need to read the book and/or see the original film version, regardless of whether or not I plan to see the remake.
    49. My brain is my own worst enemy; especially when I'm asleep.
    50. Someday I'd like to open my own bookstore.
    51. I readily admit to being a geek. Also a dork, and possibly a nerd - although somehow I fear being bad with numbers precludes me from being a nerd.
    52. I can become bored with a job very easily.
    53. I prefer to be continually challenged.
    54. I am fan of horror fiction (books, film etc) - and my tastes run the gamut from classic suspense to full-on, gorey slasher stuff.
    55. I always have a thing for vampire fiction.
    56. I have a fairly dark sense of humor.
    57. I am a caffeine fiend. Pass the Diet Coke please.
    58. I hate getting gifts. Its very awkward for me.
    59. I have been stalked – in real life, not just online.
    60. I’m messy but not dirty.
    61. If left alone, I can read an entire book in a day.
    62. I constantly re-read books.
    63. I have never lived by myself.
    64. I love Diet Cherry Coke more than any other type of soft drink.
    65. I am Cherokee on my mother's side and Cherokee-Irish on my father's. All told, I am ¼ Cherokee.
    66. I think most dolls are incredibly creepy.
    67. I have four holes in my left ear, five in my right, one in each nipple and one Monroe piercing.
    68. I have three tattoos.
    69. I have plans for at least four more.
    70. I can’t drive a standard.
    71. I can blow bubbles inside of bubbles with bubble gum.
    72. I have long, complicated, vivid dreams nearly every night.
    73. Like Scout from “To Kill a Mockingbird”, I don’t remember ever not knowing how to read. (According to my mom, I actually started to read when I was three years old.)
    74. I hate driving in the rain, especially at night.
    75. I am very impatient.
    76. I have always believed I will die before my 35th birthday
    77. I detest having my picture taken.
    78. I am a dedicated mother.
    79. I can be a good liar.
    80. I cry too easily – but not about my own situations.
    81. I wish with every fiber of my being that I lived next to the ocean.
    82. When I was in elementary school, I made a daily trip to the HS via short bus to take part in a gifted class and learned French.
    83. I can’t speak any foreign language today.
    84. I quit the gifted class because the teachers treated me funny.
    85. I secretly wish I could sew my own clothes.
    86. I puke when cleaning up a child’s puke. Or hearing someone puke. Or thinking about it.
    87. I don’t understand Monty Python movies.
    88. I despise shopping.
    89. I despise malls and crowds.
    90. I have sleep apnea and sleep about 12 hours a day.
    91. I did inhale.
    92. I dislike girlie things.
    93. But I used to want to be a ballerina.
    94. Much to my daughter’s amazement, I can do a cartwheel that ends in the splits.
    95. My gym teacher urged me to take gymnastics. My mom refused.
    96. I talk to myself in my head.
    97. I am not very observant.
    98. I want to be a contestant on Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.
    99. I love red wines.
    100. I wish I were crafty.
    101. I take medication. I hate it.

Arizona Smith and the Search for True Christianity

Posted on November 10, 2009 by sarcasticredheadedgeek

Keith is taking over the keyboard for a change of pace…

It seems to me and my highly opinionated self that Christianity has become a mystery. Rather than follow the simple, yet profoundly powerful message of the Gospel, we’ve let our faith become a set of moral and political standards. Christians everywhere search for this shadowy thing called “abundant life” or – depending on your translation – “life to the full.”

The hang-up is that most of us realize that there’s more to life. We intrinsically KNOW that on some major level we’re missing out. We don’t know what it is we’re missing out on, but we know that 9 -5, talking sports and being stressed out all the time is NOT what God was offering. So we stress more, struggle some and then quit. Repeat as needed.

And our lives look just like THEIR lives. No wonder the church is faltering! We’ve lost our power because we don’t even know what it is. We default to the party line, whether that line is “No DRINKING” or “Be a GOOD person” or “PRAY and read your Bible”. So we struggle, fail, and sit wondering why things aren’t better than they are. Worse than that, those outside the church see that and want nothing to do with it. What’s attractive about a bunch of people who preach rules and sow discord and misery?

But I will now reveal the secret. I will give you the golden ticket and answer all your questions. But be warned: the answer is so simple you will likely not hear it.

In Mark 12:30, 31 Jesus just lays it out there for us to ignore: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”

Did you catch it? Re-read it. Go back to it. Pray over that. Struggle with it. Bring that to God and wrestle with Him over what that means.

That is the truth that sums up all truth. If you were to take your entire life and boil it down to the lowest common denominator, and then apply the equation you come up with to every aspect of your life it would look like this: LOVE GOD. LOVE PEOPLE. IT’S THAT SIMPLE.

Here’s the hard part: you CANNOT do that. It is impossible for you. You cannot love God. You cannot love your neighbor as you do yourself. You can – and should – try to do those things, but you WILL fail. Only God can do that.

So what do you do? If the secret to success is that simple, but you are incapable of following that basic truth, what hope is there? I have good news for you. God will do it for you. In fact, He wants to. He cannot wait to do such a work in your life and fill you with such power that you will feel like a superhero. Don’t go buy colorful tights though – you’ll just further the misconception that Christians are weirdoes.

Paul tells us in Romans 1: 5, 7 that “For in Him you have been enriched in every way – in all your speaking and in all your knowledge… Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.” Lets recap, shall we? Hitting the highlights: IN HIM YOU HAVE BEEN ENRICHED and YOU DO NOT LACK ANY SPIRITUAL GIFT. God will work in you and enable you with the tools you need to live the life He calls you to. What you do is RECOGNIZE the truth, then BRING your questions and struggles and thoughts to Him, and then ASK for Him to reach into your life and fulfill His word.

I’ll offer you another warning as well: Do NOT chase after God unless you really want Him to really catch hold of you. It will mess your life up. Once God catches on to you (you’re not really capable of catching on to Him. He’s too big.) it will turn your life upside down. It will disrupt your norm.

The reason behind that is simple – almost as simple as the truth that will change your life. You can’t chase the things YOU want once God calls you for His purpose. Matthew 6:24 tells us pretty clearly what Jesus thinks about duplicity. “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”

James says that “…friendship with the world is hatred towards God” (James 4:4a). He may tell you the same thing He told the Rich Young Ruler – go sell all the Wal-Mart crap you’ve collected and give that money to people who need it to just to survive (Mark 10:21 – my paraphrase). Maybe He’ll ask you to give up Saturday afternoon college football so you have time to volunteer somewhere. He could tell you to move to Africa or reconcile with an enemy. The list of what God might request (or require) is long. But I bet on two things: It’ll be something that turns your life upside down and that He’ll make it possible – and worthwhile.

After all, God doesn’t lie. He can’t say that He’ll give you life more abundantly if it’s going to be as dull and stressful as how you live right now!

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