Light...

"I cannot cause light;

the most I can do is try to put myself

in the path of its beam."

(Annie Dillard, Pilgrim At Tinker Creek)

"Pray for peace people everywhere

Listen to what I say
The child, the child
Sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness and light"

(Noël Regney)

"This Little Babe"

• This little Babe so few days old,
• is come to rifle Satan's fold;
• All hell doth at his presence quake,
• though he himself for cold do shake;
• For in this weak unarmed wise
• the gates of hell he will surprise.
• With tears he fights and wins the field,
• His naked breast stands for a shield;
• His battering shot are babish cries,
• His arrows looks of weeping eyes,
• His martial ensigns Cold and Need,
• and feeble Flesh his warrior's steed.
• His camp is pitched in a stall,
• His bulwark but a broken wall;
• The crib his trench, haystalks his stakes;
• of shepherds he his muster makes;
• And thus, as sure his foe to wound,
• the angels' trumps alarum sound.
• My soul, with Christ join thou in fight;
• stick to the tents that he hath pight.
• Within his crib is surest ward;
• this little Babe will be thy guard.
• If thou wilt foil thy foes with joy,
• then flit not from this heavenly Boy.

Yesterday, we sang this piece in my Christmas Choral Concert. (we did all of Benjamin Britten's "Ceremony of Carols".) It was very fun to sing and a choir favorite! (You can listen to it on youtube or something...it's sung by lots of choirs.) I've loved the text all semester as we've learned it. I found it so moving! It's just so gripping and powerful and convicting and beautifully pictures Christ's coming and conquering sin in our lives and in this world. (yes, that's a run-on sentence, and can you tell that i really, really liked it?!:) this morning when i googled around for the text, i came across so much info. about this work and the composers. Apparently, choral directors sometimes experience controversy when choosing this song. Not surprising, really, since there's no way around it's religiosity. It was interesting to read the many, many defenses of why this particular song and this entire work should still be used in a scholastic setting. Of course it should! Anyway, we sang it yesterday and (to my knowledge) there was no controversy. But i've wondered if the college kids i sing with were really getting what they were singing. Sure, they loved it...but were they understanding the truths about evil & justice and the foundational truths of Christianity. I hope they were impacted even if they didn't quite understand it.

Here's some history: "Benjamin Britten composed the Ceremony of Carols while returning to England from America on board a ship during World War II. The text for “This Little Babe" was written by Robert Southwell in the middle ages using Middle English, otherwise know as the English language in the time before writers like Shakespeare. The middle ages were times of great uncertainty and violence, to be sure, very much like the times we live in. Southwell was persecuted and eventually executed by (I believe) Queen Elizabeth I. The text uses allegory as a literary device to describe this babe's victory over Satan. The paradox of the text is that the Prince of Peace will use his human-ness (babish cries,shivering in the cold, etc.) to conquer the evil of sin and death. As a Christian, this is a profound concept, that something so weak and earthy can confront all evil. In the last verses, the listener is encouraged to seek safety within this frailty, and thus find eternal life."

Lessons in Loving...

~it's been a Sara Groves kind of year for me. I received her newest cd as a Christmas gift last year and then rediscovered the cd i already owned, then bought a couple more older cd's, then actually got to see her in concert. So...yes, it's been a Sara Groves kind of year. (and maybe there's a bit of the obsessive in me!:) I've been stretched and grown with her music. So, i was startled recently when i was reading in my Madeleine L'Engle devotional book by how very much one of her writings so perfectly matched one of my favorite Sara Groves songs. Both the devotional and the lyrics are gripping ~ transparent and without pretend. i don't think i need to fully explain why these words speak so loudly to me : but they do! And i think somewhere in the great big internet world they should be paired ~ so i'm doing it on this blog!

"Love Lessons" (Madeleine L'Engle)

~"I know that when i am at my most monstrous, I am most in need of love. When my temper flares out of bounds it is usually set off by something unimportant which is on top of a series of events over which i have no control, which have made me helpless, and thus caused me anguish and frustration. I am not lovable when i am enraged, although it is when i most need love. ~One of our children when he was 2 or 3 years old used to rush at me when he was naughty, and beat against me, and what he wanted by this monstrous behavior was an affirmation of love. And I would put my arms around him and hold him very tight until the dragon was gone and the loving small boy had returned. ~ So God does with me. I strike against Him in pain and fear and He holds me under the shadow of His wings. Sometimes He appears to me to be so unreasonable that i think I cannot live with him, but i know that I cannot live without Him. He is my lover, father, mother, sister, brother, friend, paramour, companion, my love, my all."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Loving A Person"

(by Sara Groves and Gordon Kennedy)

Loving a person just the way they are, it's no small thing

It takes some time to see things through

Sometimes things change, sometimes we're waiting

We need grace either way

Hold on to me

I'll hold on to you

Let's find out the beauty of seeing things through

There's a lot of pain in reaching out and trying

It's a vulnerable place to be

Love and pride can't occupy the same spaces baby

Only one makes you free

Hold on to me

I'll hold on to you

Let's find out the beauty of seeing things through

If we go looking for offense

We're going to find it

If we go looking for real love

We're going to find it

~The Run-in with the Cricket~

-It was a chilly, beautiful night in South La.

-the girl was innocently on her way to Choir practice...anticipating a calm ride (well, a calm as possible ride with the girl herself at the wheel) across town to the University where the choir practice is held. (with a small stop to pick up a coffee on the way...the girl does so love her coffee and finds that it enhances her singing skills...granted, it doesn't take much to do that!:)

-as she entered her trusted carriage Maizy, the girl noticed a strange sensation on her foot...startled, she leapt out of Maizy...looking all around for some offending insect or other. Only a few crumbly leaves were to be found on the floor-mat. So, shrugging her shoulders, the girl (thinking her mind must be playing tricks on her) commenced upon her choir-bound journey...(let it be said, that from here on...the girl will trust her initial gut feelings of impending doom!)

-while half-way on her little trip, the girl happened to glance to her left at Maizy's door and glimpsed some sort of ALIVE object!! was it a lizard, a mouse, a roach, who could say in the darkness?!?! Semi-frantically, the girl rolled down her windows and opened the car-door. (In retrospect, she realizes what an unsafe move this was : but, secretly, she feels a strong, healthy sense of pride at her amazing ability to skillfully drive a vehicle and hold open a car-door; all while carefully observing the laws of travel and the driving actions/reactions of the other drivers around her...)

-breathing a hesitant sigh of relief, the girl hoped the unwelcome visitor had left her presence...THEN in her trusty, rear-view mirror...she spied some sort of flying object in the very back of the car...

-since she was in an inopportune place to pull over, the girl began gripping the stirring wheel and fervently praying...and considering the next plan of action...

-Ahhh....up ahead the girl saw the huge, glowing Race-Track sign...

-she wheeled Maizy into the pumping area and jumped out....

-a nice, upper middle-aged man was strolling back to his car after paying for his gas...

-"Please, could you do me a favor?! would you please get this thing out of my car?!" the girl asked the nice, upper middle-aged man.

-so (after assessing the situation) the nice, upper middle-aged man identified the offender as a cricket....and shooed it out of the car..."Now, you'd better close all your windows!" he said to the girl.

-so the girl thanked the nice, upper middle-aged man, got back into Maizy, closed all the windows, stopped to get herself a cup of coffee (now even more needed!), and continued on her journey to Choir. She arrived there safely. The End.

*this story is true...it occurred last night (11-9-10), and there was some small consideration of mentioning it on fb, which was not done. thanks to Dani's example, the decision was made to chronicle the terrible event in a blog post!:)*

"Listening"

My mind is filled with lots of thoughts this week...i am trying to get myself organized and started on some Holiday projects that must soon be completed. I feel myself slipping behind before i've even gotten started and i do not like that feeling!!

The holidays overwhelm me....they just do. So many things to love....but so much troubling stuff. I am so not a Scrooge...i realize these thoughts might come across as such! ...but i truly am not! i know my musings come from my own situation...if i had a more "picture-perfect" life, some things likely wouldn't even occur to me! but what's the point of us having different sorts of lives if we're not each learning something unique from our own individual stories?...

Here's my observation: at many levels, we have bought into the "Spectacle" of Christmas. i don't just mean the lights and decorations and commercialization of it all.....but also to aspirations of "perfectness". Perfectness: in our family dynamics, our full-time Christmas music listening, our home decor, our Food Network worthy meals, and in our perfectly glowing Christmas letters. We're creating....reveling....even making sacred...the fantasy of it all. Now let me be clear: i love every element that i just listed off (family, decor, music, food, and letters!!) but more and more, i see a focus on (even a glorification of!) these things...a focus on Self...and how these things define how very privileged we are. So many of us Are privileged...Are blessed...I am, no doubt about it! but still...i wonder: Is this how Christmas is supposed to be. Wasn't the 1st Christmas pretty messy....pretty unplanned...pretty imperfect in a perfect sort of way?! Advent highlights this phenomenom: the waiting, the wondering, the doubting, the beauty in the mysterious plan of God.

In my ponderings, i did a little googling and came upon this wonderful article: "Listening for the Whisper" (How to Break the Addiction to Spectacle.) by Mark Galli. Here's the link. (i have a book by Mark Galli and so appreciate his skill in writing and truth-telling. His article is not fully about the Christmas season but i think this quote really applies:

"Why does God come in the whisper, in the darkness, through a wayward Middle Eastern nation, in the vulnerability of a Bethlehem baby, and the lonely groan of a crucified rabbi? So that we will abandon all our preconceived notions of divinity, so that we will be left possessing nothing but our ignorance, so that we won't confuse God with cultural idols, so that we will be ready to meet the true God."

"Cultural Idols": that's one phrase that stands out to me. It's so, so easy to be buying in to the culture's ideals...it's system of power, personality, and pride...without even realizing it! OR it's so easy to create our own sub-culture of traditions that we equate with righteousness and which cocoon us from the larger culture. That may or may not have anything to do with how we celebrate the holidays, but it certainly has something to do with how we honor Jesus all year long.

I know these ideas are a bit far-fetched...be that as it may:)...it's what's on my mind as i gear up for how the Holidays work in my life. I'm already knee-deep in Holiday planning, preparation, and practicing!! And i hope to enjoy the true gifts of Christmas-time. But i am determined to Listen Better in this season. I want to hear His voice better in the daily-grind as well as in glorious, celebratory moments. I want to get it right...not because i can in any way make myself better....but because i want my life to better honor the one true God.

Italian Hot Fudge Sauce ~ & other 'important' things:

Ingredients:

2/3 cups whipping cream (i used half and half)
1/3 cup freshly brewed espresso (i just used strong coffee)
12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Bring 2/3 cup of cream and espresso to a simmer in a heavy medium saucepan. Remove from the heat. Add the chocolate and stir until the chocolate melts and the sauce is smooth. (this is a Giada De Laurentiis recipe)

i made this sauce again this afternoon...it lived up to the success of the 1st time i made it...in other words, it was spectacular!! We needed a little spoiling....what a 2 weeks it has been!!...sickness & stress all over the place. I've been reminded yet again how very tenuous and fragile our lives are. And of how very, very much prayers of friends matter. And there are so, so many people who are needing prayer. I'm in a place where not all that much impresses me much...but prayer does, faithful friends do, and good hot fudge sauce definitely does:) (this fragmented post definitely does not!! but yet, i feel like sharing it:)

My brain is a bit fuddled by fudge sauce, coffee, cold medicine, and too little & very strange, dreamed-filled nights of sleep. I learned again that i can not take any medicine with the dreaded "D" in it's title....it makes me completely nutty. i read a whole book the night i dared sip a little Nyquil with that stuff in it....it was an interesting but predictable Christian love story set in Homestead, Iowa among the Amana people...who knew about them? like i said, interesting. But the book did not need to be read in one night!!

Holding onto sanity and even holding onto Faith can be difficult in trying times. In his Book Prayer, Philip Yancey describes two kinds of faith: 1) bold, child-like faith....that's the kind we love to hear about...it's sweet, trusting, and certainly contains characteristics to which we should all aspire. Then there's 2) fidelity...Yancey describes this as "a hang-on-by-the-fingernails-faith against all odds, no matter the cost." At this very moment, i believe that better describes where i'm living...

Faith and Grace: my foundations....in times filled with generous blessings; and in foggy times.

"We get by on Grace, just not the kind that makes us look good." (Jenell Williams Paris)

i've not been "feeling" all that spiritual lately...i know my faults all too well. But God has been using the beautiful and convicting and comforting words of the following Scriptures to speak right into my heart ~ He is so faithful:

"Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God."(Phil. 1:9-11 Msg.)

"Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean,scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing.Don't look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don't throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails! Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home. Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. Unbutton my lips, dear God; I'll let loose with your praise. Going through the motions doesn't please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don't for a moment escape God's notice." (Psalm 51:7-15 Msg)

"He knows us inside and out, keeps in mind that we're made of mud." (Psalm 103:14 Msg.)

tonight i'm thinking about music...

about how it affects our lives and how it can matter more in different life seasons...

i've just had the incredible blessing of getting to see Sara Groves in person...all the way up in Green Bay, Wisconsin of all places! it was such a worthwhile event...such a beautiful, talent-filled night of non-flashy but so very rich music. And the night and weekend was made sweeter by getting to share it with my dear friend Jenny.

This year, especially, i believe Sara's music has sung truth into my life....has made me more open to living honestly in my own skin...and has made me want to at least try to stay open to a future of sweet possibilities. Her music has helped me trust God more....in a realistic way that doesn't demand all the answers.

Traveling itself and attending this concert where experience lived up to expectations have put me in a reflective mood ~ so here's some simple thoughts:

~ it's good to be with all types of Christians who share a love of music...drawn together from different places to a common ground of worship.

~ i know there are all sorts of things wrong with the world....but when i encounter others of likemind and likefaith it encourages me....things might not be as bad as some think....if we get out of our little boxes just a little, maybe we'll find there's plenty of good things happening around us...people love God....and are not as unthinking and uncaring as devisive voices might say. Good music enlightens us, i think...(whether that's Sara Groves, Mozart, Sondheim, Fanny Crosby, or Johnny Cash:)...opens ours eyes a little to the wonder in humanity...helps us focus on the good and the bad...but not always the negative.

~and just to clarify: "likemind and likefaith" doesn't mean that everyone seemed exactly the same... & that's a good thing....

~ i so appreciate Sara's focus on the little things... amidst the bigger truths...her recognition that it all matters. that's tough for me to explain unless you've listened to her music...but it's there. And i think that full focus is often missing from our lives...we so often get it all out of whack...often overly self-focused or super-spiritual.

~ as someone who "does music" so much but certainly knows my own limitations, i'm always astounded when i observe the writing and creativity of true artists...what a gift! i've spent so much time enjoying and perfecting music myself...and thankfully, it's currently serving as a little source of income...and sometimes i wish i had pursued even more musical training...but my eyes and mind and heart are always so impressed by those few individuals who possess true creativity and musical grace as well as musical skill.

~ i know a lot of musical thinking boils down to "taste"...preference. i try hard to not be judgmental and honestly, that's not very hard...i like a lot of things. But what i don't like is the shallow, the gaudy, the "cheap" sorts of music that tickle emotions....but say...N O T H I N G...or next to it. again, i know that's mostly a matter of opinion.....and that's why it's important to not knowingly insult the musical loves of another person. but i do have opinions:) The Sara Groves concert was so very, very refreshing in it's lack of pretentiousness and showiness.....and in it's abundance of genuine warmth and sincerity. I believe God was honored.

before the concert in downtown Green Bay...there was a statue so i had to take a pic:)

the concert....(not a great pic)...

Mostly i'm just rambling tonight...processing what was for me a truly fun and uplifting time....and also just writing out some thoughts about life that are floating through my mind. This is certainly not an exhaustive thesis on music! And i hope i do not seem overly starstruck or stalker-like!:)...that's not how i feel! i could write much more about the whole good weekend of observing the beautiful family life of Jenny & Tom and their precious children....and of the blessing of longtime friends who know me and love me anyway...but writing more about those things feels more private....

so i'll close with some words from another song from another writer that's been on my mind...

tonight it's my prayer....

"Make my life a prayer to you

I want to do what you want me to

No empty words and no white lies

No token prayers no compromise...

I want to shine the Light you gave

Through your Son you sent to save us

From ourselves and our despair

It comforts me to know you're really there"

(Keith Green)

seeking....

~my beautiful little candle holder i found in Va.~

(cheap...and it makes me happy...)

"I want to be where Jesus Is

Dwell in His Holy Premises

Where all of our petty differences

Will simply Disappear

I want to be where Love abounds

Feast on the good things to be found

Find myself gaining higher ground

Where Jesus Is Near...."

(Brent Vernon)

this song has been very much on my mind the last few days...as i've listened to my sweet old friends' cd. It's good to live seeking the Presence of Jesus....He helps us, convicts us, guides us, dwells with us. His Graciousness is overwhelming. Above all.....I want to be where He is.

i know there are some differences that are not "petty". What we think about all sorts of important and even unimportant things are based in our life philosophies....and how we believe Christlikeness applies to the nitty-gritty of living. But...i'm learning that i can learn a whole lot from even the people that i may fundamentally disagree with on some things. I'm observing that people who often seem to have a great deal of conflict often are way more alike than they are different....if the present points of crisis can be trudged through.

in on our own strength, it's easy to let our identities be shaped by very trivial things. we need His guidance on how to respond and just plain live in a worthy manner. it's not a foolproof endeavor, at least for me! but i'm trusting and believing that His Love and Presence really do Light the way as we climb towards higher grounds....

Wishes...

"Moon Over The Sea" (Caspar David Friedrich)

I have no mind-blowing thoughts to share tonight....I just really wanted to replace that "Tears" quote with something a little less melancholy!:) and that got me thinking about things i wish for...things i wish would happen....things i wish would not have happened.

Thinking on wishing made me remember this line from Sondheim's musical "Into the Woods" (prologue to Act II, i think) : "i wish more than anything...more than life....more than the moon..."

and that made me google around a bit looking at Moon paintings...until i found this one by a Casper David Friedrich...isn't it just gorgeous?!

so: there you have it...a glimpse into the loop-de-loops of my mind!!

but...back to Wishes:

at the beginning of the summer season i wished happy things upon us all. i hope there have been many happy summer moments for you, my fair reader! There have been some for me. I have followed the relaxing looking travels of some.....and the exciting looking trips of others. (somewhat enviously!) It at least Looks as if y'all are having good summers...

i've had some joyful travel fun myself this summer....and some good days inbetween, too.....but as always, my trips are kinda short lived...and that's pretty ok...really....

• ~but i can wish for some long walks on a beach....
• ~some exploring of places not hemmed in by a time-schedule...
• ~several weeks or maybe a couple of months of driving through Europe...totally away from responsibility...

These are surface wishes...i know that. And truly, the wishes my heart is carrying most closely are far more weighty and far more important than these 'easy to share' ones......I am reminded that Grace makes it possible for us to carry more than we ever thought possible. i know it to be true for myself....and i see it in the persevering hearts of friends....despite the difficult times this summer has brought. While i might Wish Life would be a little kinder sometimes..... i see hearts shining brightly even in moonlit times. His Grace is Sufficient.

“Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.” (Zelda Fitzgerald)

There is a sacredness in tears.

They are not the mark of weakness,

but of power.

They speak more eloquently

than ten thousand tongues.

They are the messengers

of overwhelming grief,

of deep contrition,

and of unspeakable love.

(Washington Irving)

i saw this poem this morning on one of my favoritest blogs Quiet Life. Mz. Booshay has been through a real time of sadness...although we're strangers, my heart has hurt with hers. Hurting with others.....that's sometimes a decision, i think. When your own plate of "hurts" and stress feels very full!!, it can be tough to have the energy to truly care. But i do think we're called to care...always....past ourselves, our own needs, our own stuff....it's called "bearing one another's burdens". And, looking around, there is no lack of things & people who elicit concern....So Many Huge problems facing people i either kinda know or really love.

Lord, Give me the patience and hope to

keep loving and keep caring in these troubled times.

...Then, when it seems we we will never smile again, Life comes back...

I've loved this card's photo and saying for years.....I had it framed in my office when i was doing therapy. Maybe i'm posting it for me...maybe for someone else who might read this, i don't know. i do know that i think it's true...even when it's raining showers, there is usually some reason to smile. I've had some reasons to smile through tears even as i've been typing this quick post.

And maybe that combination (tears + smiles) lends enough strength to keep carrying on.....

"Love is not a victory march

It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah"

(Leonard Cohen)

~The following passage has stayed on my mind for days...and i LOVE The Message version...it convicts and challenges and moves me...and frankly i can't get over it...and i want to record it somewhere~

"But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified. Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original." (Galatians 5: 22-26)

20 Summer Questions:

there are always many thoughts running through my head...but it's definitely not always wise to blog about them:)...but i DO miss blogging...and miss the blogging "community". I saw these questions on a couple of blogs today, and thought this might be an easy, bloggable sort of thing to do:)

i'm enjoying Summer 2010 so far. Despite the sad occurrences of a big family funeral weekend and the terrible, terrible BP oil spill in the Gulf...life around here has been going pretty well. i feel level-headed...fairly hopeful....excited over some future plans. Yes, there are plenty of things to be apprehensive about...but lots of joy surrounds me, too.

Wishing all of my friends a happy summer...with as many blue skies & sunny days and as much laughter as you can possibly handle♥.....

20 questions...
(you're invited to do this, too...if you want...i think it's fun!:)

1. when you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
How old i'm looking!

2. do you miss anyone right now?
friends....days when my Mom was able to "spoil" me...

3. if you could move anywhere else, would you?
YES! and no:)

4. if you could choose, what would your last meal be?
i hope i never have to consider that question...i'm pretty much too indecisive to answer it properly! probably such a meal would include some kind of seafood and would end with something chocolate and coffee!

5. what famous person, dead or alive, would you want to have lunch with?
another tough choice...but i would love to visit with my grandparents...and lunch with Madeleine L'Engle or Henri Nouwen would be nice (Chris Botti could provide the music:)

6. what was the last book you read?
i've just finished reading Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert (very good and interesting...much better than Eat, Pray, Love) and i've also just picked back up Prayer by Philip Yancey. (i have much to learn on both subjects: prayer...and marriage:)

7. what was the last movie you watched?
i think the last DVD i watched was "Emma"...i love it so very much!

8. what was the last song you heard?
the new Point of Grace song "There is Nothing Greater than Grace." it is wonderful! i have to get that cd...

9. what is your dream vacation?
Europe again...currently so wanting to visit Italy again...i wish i was brave enough to rent a car and drive all over Tuscany and/or Switzerland...but i think i need a man to do that for me (not holding my breath for that and pretty satisfied to take European trains if i have to:)

10. what is the next trip you will take?
in 2 weeks, my cousins, Aunt Rosemary, and i will visit my cousin Rhonda in Colorado Springs...i'm so excited to be with them and to see that beautiful place...

11. Did you ever go to camp?
i went to Pell City Youth Camp and that had an important impact on my life. We were not much involved in family camps but went some...(and then there was my short career stint as a campmeeting song evangelist...my, my.....developed some pretty strong opinions about all of that...)

12. have you ever been in love?
if so, unsuccessfully:)

13. what do you want to know about the future?
i don't want to know the future....

14. where is your best friend?
in Florida...

15. how is your best friend?
she is lovely...and kind....and trustworthy.

16. who is the biggest gossiper you know?
that would be a very unwise question to answer!...i think we all fall into that hole a little too much...or at least i am wont to!

17. what does your last text message say?
i'm not sure...i think it might have been from Janet...i'm a very bad textor...

18. what are 3 things you've always wanted to do, that you still plan to accomplish?
lose a little weight, have a more disciplined prayer life, maybe write a book...

19. what is one thing you learned from your parents?
to value myself and others.

20. what is one thing you hope to teach to children?
to value themselves and others.