Why I am the worst of sinners

I am the worst of sinners. I am not worthy to come before God's throne and bow at his feet. Yet he has allowed me. Such beautiful amazing grace!

When I was oh say, 16, I made it my primary concern in life to hate Christ and all things Christian. A lot of my family didn't realize it or refused to acknowledge it was so, but I repeatedly told them and all my friends how I despised Christianity, even to the faces of those who called themselves Christians. Yet, God, in His mercy, scooped my undeserving self into his loving arms anyway.

I am a criminal.

I am a criminal who's been redeemed.
He has saved me.
He has set me free.
Thank you Jesus,
for rescuing me.

A Whole N'other Area Code

A different zip code. A different area code. A different church. A different apartment. A different set of college campuses. A different bank. A different river. A different set of friends. A different landscape. A different grocery store. A different coffeeshop. At least I'll still be able to use "a whole n'other."

If I knew then what I know now. Part I

Learning to think for yourself.

I wish I had known the value of thinking for myself like 10 years ago. Growing up, I kinda just let myself believe whatever my teachers and my family told me to think. There were no political or scientific debates around the dinner table at my house. There were no consequences for thinking one way or another and nobody questioned any of it.
Then God wrecked my life.
I became a Christian in high school, but I didn't become a thinker until college. When I came to college, I realized I would have to defend my faith on an intellectual level. Suddenly, my entire way of thinking about others, about God, and about the world didn't work anymore, and I felt attacked by most of my professors and thier curriculum.
Also in my life at this time, I was spending a lot of time with Ivan. He is someone who grew up experiencing "thinking for yourself" in a very different way. His family would have big discussions over the dinner table about all sorts of things. And Ivan grew always questioning everything...always curious about everything (its one of the things that makes him so charming). Every time he is confronted with a viewpoint different than his, he examines it carefully from all sides before making a decision about it, rather than following one way blindly.
I am eternally grateful to Ivan for causing my to have to step outside of my box a lot more often than I would like to. Things are always interesting when he's around.
Still, I am just a beginner at thinking for myself, and that's sad. I am determined that my kids won't have that same struggle.

Irish people are neato

The United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland are at the top of my list for countries I want to visit as a tourist. I hung out with an Irish couple when I was in Turkey and they were a ton of fun. I want everyone that reads this to reply as to where they'd most like to visit and why.

I Get By with a Little Help...

So, I just realized that I start out most of my blogs with "so."

My faith in humanity was restored recently. Yesterday I received $40 and a note of encouragement in the mail from a friend who knew I was in need of help.

Today my backdoor neighbor (whom I have never met before today) helped push my car when he saw that I was stuck.

At the grocery store, more than one person stopped to help me pick up items that had fallen out of my arms. Thank you to the people of the Cedar Valley for going out of your way : )

So, I have decided that, with the aging baby-boomer population, this country is ready for another baby-boom. And I think my husband and I should be the ones to start it. ;)

DESIGN<<>>

http://www.branchhome.com/index.php?main_page=index

My uncle's friend started this business to sell products that are manufactured in a way that uses less energy and/or are made from renewable resources. Pretty, shiny things that save the planet.

Cookies and Eczema

So, I am trying to decide which one I prefer: baking or cooking. I like cooking, because it makes my husband happy and I like to experiment with different spices or different combinations of vegetables. Baking on the other hand, well let's just say I learned the hard way that I pretty much gotta stick to the recipe to the letter. There's a lot of tricky chemistry involved in baking. But, the results are much more satisfying. I love sweet things. Period. I would live off of cookies and brownies alone if that were safe. Ivan on the other hand takes those things in moderation. He would much rather eat "real food." As I type this, he is in the kitchen making butterfly chops on the George Foreman.


So, I have eczema. Or at least the doctor told me its eczema. And we aren't talking your garden-variety eczema in a few patches here and there. We're talking itchy bumps from my ears down to my toes--even the palms of my hands are way itchy. Nearly every surface on my body itches--constantly. And its been like this for weeks. It feels better in the morning but I wake up in the middle of every night in excruciating itchiness. My only comfort is the fact that the drug the Dr. gave me (which is running out) makes me way drowsy and sleepy. If anyone knows what I can do to find relief, please, for the love of God, tell me.

Once again, two COMPLETELY unrelated topics in one post

So, I want to take a minute to talk about the serious impact that alcohol has on one's decision-making skills. Even though I am someone who has one or two drinks once in a while, I think I just realized the impact that alcohol has had on my life today.
One of my cousins almost had his son taken away from him by the courts because of something that happened during a drunken rage. (Fortunately, he recently reported to me that he's been sober 3 months.) Another cousin of mine was killed by a drunk driver. And yet another cousin of mine drove his car through two backyards into mine, hitting a tree. The car exploded and the tree caught fire (and nearly caught my house on fire). One in seven college women have been raped (admittedly not all alcohol-related). Why do so many college students have no respect for what the bottle can do to make them lose all their inhibitions? No, really, why? I'd like to hear from you guys if you have an answer.


In other news, I am going to miss sleeping in on Saturdays...someday. As many of you may or may not know, my dream is to have as many children as the Good Lord would bless us with. We talk about 12, but I will take as many or as few as He will give us. If you know anything about kids, some of my 12 children will undoubtedly be early risers. I am going to miss those Saturday mornings when I get to snuggle with under the warm covers and drift back to sleep. But, it will surely be worth it.