A song of thanksgiving

As I watch Mystery Diagnosis, (a factual show about difficult to diagnose diseases), I recall how blessed I am to have been so easily diagnosed. I remember a good friend saying to me, "Yay! A diagnosis. We must celebrate." "Celebrating the fact that I have an incurable disease??!? Are you kidding??!!?!" Now I see how much a definite, easy, final, diagnosis calls for celebration. I have always believed that God created me . . . and you. Now that I know that part of my brain has developed abnormally, I still believe wholeheartedly that God created me, AND that He created me just as I am for a purpose. I give all thanks to Him, for I know that He created me fearfully and wonderfully. I repeat David's words from Psalm 139, and the words of Isaiah the prophet in chapter 45, "Shall the clay say to the potter, 'What are you doing?'" I close with the beautifully true words of Job found in chapter 2 of his book, his reaction to tragic circumstances: "Shall we accept good from the Lord, and not adversity?" God has given me much good in my life, in the form of salvation, life, family, friends, and even this adversity that He is using for my good. Thank God for all the good He's given you. Again I quote the great King David. In Psalm 86, he declares God to be "a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth." I will proudly stand with Ethan the Ezrahite and repeat with him the words he wrote in Psalm 86, "I will sing of the lovingkindness of the Lord forever; to all generations I will make known Your faithfulness."

17.02 - By Unknown 0

"Be nice to Joey."

In my younger days, I was a bilingual substitute teacher's aide. There was a five month stretch in which I worked in a 5th grade classroom. I spent most of my time with the Spanish speaking students, but I occasionally helped out with the rest of the class. One of these times was during a spelling test. To set up this story, I must first tell you about Joey. Joey was the unfortunate scapegoat of that class, the butt of all those 5th grade jokes. No reason for that, I think every class has one of those kids . . . the kid who on whom all the other little 5th graders take out all their aggresion and stupid little 5th grade jokes. (Hence, the oft-used phrase, "Be nice to Joey.") Now I will tell you about Johnny. Johnny was a good kid, a really neat kid, bright, clever, and well-dressed. He mostly hung around other bright, clever, and well-dressed kids. (Interestingly, that group of bright, clever and well-dressed kids were all Mormons.) They were my favorite bunch of kids, kids who really made me laugh with their wit, and surprised me with their maturity.
I was helping the class at large with a spelling test, and the word was "brainstorm". Joey asked what that meant, and the teacher explained that it was like having a storm in your brain, but instead of raindrops falling down, ideas fell down. Johnny added that when Joey has a brainstorm, "it only sprinkles." Clever for a 5th grader. Clever for a college graduate. It still makes me laugh.



Another story I remember from those days happened when I was helping out in a special ed. class. (Again, the players were Mormons.) There was a very cute and sweet little boy named Nathan. It was lunchtime on this particularly rainy day, and Nathan opened his lunchbag. A nice sandwich, an apple, a juicebox and a note. "Rain, rain, go away, little Nathan wants to play." I asked Nathan who wrote the little note. His brother had written it for him. It was so sweet!


All these Mormon kid stories remind me that I wanted to share with you all that my friend and I went to see Blades of Glory last night. Funny, but rather crude.

10.21 - By Unknown 0

This "Jesus freak" is getting old

Well, Mr. M. and I were talking last night, and wondering if the current social climate (where it's "cool" to go to church and talk about God), as evidenced in the many mega-churches, and the many, mini, Emergent churches, and the media and financial empires centered on one person teaching (sometimes Biblical) morality, is similar to the big Jesus Movement of the 1970s. Makes you wonder. AND it makes you wonder how hard it will be to discern if someone's really a Christian if everyone goes to church and talks about God. Hmmm . . . something to read up on. How will Christians stand out and be different if the majority is moral and church-going?

On a separate note, for the past year, I've been realizing that I'm getting older . . . and I'm glad. Almost nothing embarrasses me now; forgetting names and other facts, not being able to see or hear too well, is expected from me. This comes in handy when I forget a name, or answer to someone who is saying hello to their friend Sean. Also, no one snickers if I'm afraid of loosing my balance on a skateboard, or if I'm afraid of doing some crazy dive off a diving board like all the teenagers. I get to stay at home and read, and be quiet, without anyone accusing me of being a party-pooper. I get to drink tea. I get to knit without being labelled a nerd. I'm allowed to be scared of driving, and I get to say things like, "No wonder the young 'uns' heads are all scrambled."

14.26 - By Unknown 0

My little-known life

Dear Friends,
I am overwhelmed with regret to the point of sleep deprivation on account of the information of my youthful days I have so deceptively been hiding from you throughout all the time of our intimate acquaintance via blog. My failure to share this information was in part due to my own selfish desire to put this all in the past and begin a new life. I am deeply sorry if the true facts of my birth and infancy hurt anyone. I have truly loved you all and considered you genuine friends.
The first confession regards the truth behind my birth. I have neglected to disclose these facts to anyone. The fact previously known only to my parents and myself is that I was born wearing a leotard and carrying a pickle. This unusual circumstance made me a natural for the circus, so in my younger days, I was sent off to the traveling circus to have my skills assessed and perfected. I regret to have withheld from all of my friends that I currently hold the world championship in hog-calling, and have been touring with the circus for the last 8 years. This is where I met Mr.M, who travels with the same circus performing his act which consists of walking, telling jokes, jump-roping, and editing audio and visual recordings, all while standing on his hands.
It is my sincere wish that you will not judge me, or any other circus performer, or any baby born wearing a leotard.

Thank you for providing a safe harbor for my secrets.
Sincerely, j.otis merster (A.K.A. “Sue E.”)



I would like to take this opportunity to put to an end the rumors that I was obtained in a trade with some Gypsies. (It has been speculated that I was obtained in trade for a tire pump.)

12.31 - By Unknown 0

Faraway friends, spontaneous and impractical friends

So, I came up with a way to go up north and see some faraway friends. Other than being completely ridiculous and impractical, it was perfect!!! I would just need an equally ridiculous and impractical friend to drive me. So I immediately thought of my very best M friend. I wasn't completely sure I could talk even her into this insane road trip; however, not only did she heartily agree to all the north-bound destinations, she added on that we also go south-east, and then more south, extending my 8-day foray on the west coast to a 2 week sojourn into the interior of America! What a friend!
I was speaking, (via blog), to a faraway friend who mentioned the distance between us--specifically, that she didn't like it. I beg to differ, as I have enjoyed communicating with like-minded people who happen to live far away. I've enjoyed expanding my mind and my heart and learning that there are people like me (and people not like me), all over. Women my age in other countries face the same joys and trials I do. People all the world over hold to the same Christian beliefs I do. My prayer life has grown by leaps and bounds as I pray for these unseen saints. My world atlas has never been opened so often as it has been recently. It is good to see the reality of this life, to know some of your present earth-companions.

09.49 - By Unknown 0

Crazy? Funny? Crazy funny???

Alright, alright, I can't hold out anymore. I must say, I am disappointed in thegracegirl's lack of comment, but I must go on for the sake of the more faithful commenters. (Not really.)
I am currently listening to a CD that my best friend put together for me. I was so touched at the amount of time she put into it, making it look like, (if not better than), a CD you'd buy at the store. AND it has my most favorite songs on it!!! Plus a few I was not previously familiar with. It's so good to have a friend who knows what I like, plus what I WILL like-like R&B/Soul. It is because of this short friend that I bought Corinne Bailey Rae's album. Buy it. It's so good. If you don't like it, you should just stop reading now, as we have little in common; then again, my dearest husband of 11 years said it "wasn't his cup of tea", so I suppose we can work it out.
Several songs were in my head this gray day here in L.A. as I walked Rufus. So I sang them . . . loud. And I danced. And I'm the worst singer I have ever heard. I realized just how many things I do regardless of being just horrible at them-like sing. And dance. And play baseball. Run. Swim. Kayak. But mostly sing. I love to sing. It's a weird thing, having friends with amazing, amazing voices. I don't like to sing with them. The best-and yet unseen-singing friend I have who I always sing with is Gloria Estefan. I admire her to the moon--to infinity and beyond! Not only does she let me sing with her, she writes amazing songs (many in Spanish, which is extra special), and she's had a great marriage-to the same man-for many years. How many celebrities can you say that about?

11.18 - By Unknown 0

Bed, Bath, Beyond, and more, Plus Etcetera.

This post will cover several topics because I believe it is morally wrong to post more than one article a day--but maybe that's just me. My topics are varied, and generally unrelated except for this one commonality--it all has to do with me, what's going on in my head, home, and body.
First for my head. I've recently read a great quote from Os Guinness, from the book Fool's Gold. Speaking particularly on the new Revolve Bible-zine for teenage girls, he asks, "Are Christians trying to redefine ourselves in ways that are more compelling to the modern world than are faithful to Christ?" This question applies to so many societal issues. I for one would much rather be considered weird and be faithful to Christ, than to be cool and compromise my relationship with Him.
Now for something from my heart. I need only God. He is the One who will love me always, unconditionally. Mercifully, God has adopted me into His family, along with others who love Him. These are my spiritual brothers and sisters. I love to spend time with like-minded brothers and sisters. I also enjoy spending time with Christian saints who think differently than I. I'm glad God wants-even commands!-all of His children to love each other. He actually requires me to do what I most enjoy doing, and probably couldn't not do if I tried.
Along these same lines, more from my head. I am reading,The Ten Commandments by Dr. Laura Schlessinger and Rabbi Stewart Vogel. Very, very good. I was reading on idolatry, specifically idolizing celebrities. I think we all know people who know many, many facts about the lives of their favorite celebrities. Do we know that much about our friends? Do we know about God? We read about the latest American Idols. THEY ARE IDOLS!! (Could it be more clear? It's in the TITLE!!) Are we reading about God??? Are we seeking to know Him and His kingdom?
Before I make myself mad, I will share something lighthearted about my body. I really don't have any access to my free weights right now, with all the construction and all, so I took my Tae-Bo workout to the pool. Yep, I was doing kickboxing and shadowboxing in the Jacuzzi. Even if it wasn't good for my health, it sure is a lot of fun, and a great stress reliever, punching and kicking the water with all my might!

11.16 - By Unknown 0