I've Been Tagged
I’ve been tagged by my new web friend, Carmen,to extol the God-prints in my life. This is my first experience with being tagged so I’ll give it my best
1. A friend who has blessed me: Kailey – for teaching me a lot about being a friend; Marcia – for teaching me how two people different in some ways can still find common ground that is rich and fertile; Cari – for giving me "girlfriend" moments like you see in the movies – chocolate, movies, ice cream and boy-bashing if necessary
2. An unexpected gift: each day; my understanding of God today (meaning – God has gotten bigger, not smaller which is a beautiful thing)
3. A kind word shared with me recently: “Cause I’d like to know you better."; from Carmen in her post explaining why she tagged me. To know that someone desires to know you better is a very affirming and kind thought.
4. Something that makes me stop and praise God: when I’m aware that God has taught me something, it makes me praise God because when I’m taught, it reminds me that God is interacting with me. God-moments when you know you’ve interacted with the Creator of all and you’re overwhelmed with gratitude that God would even bother with you and you realize the only reason God would bother with you is because She loves you.
5. Something I’m looking forward to: new experiences and understandings from, with and of God as we journey together; the next day and the unknown possibilities that it brings; seeing my youth grow in wisdom; being content and at peace most of the time rather than being tossed by the waves of life
6. A particular part of me I’m pleased with: My empathy
7. Something in my life I wanted but never expected: Serving as a full-time, paid and licensed youth minister. Females weren’t too common in my Baptist world upbringing.
8. A place that moved/moves me: Windermere Conference Center (many wonderful childhood memories there and God-moment memories; a quiet beach in Fort Morgan during the early evening as the sun is setting; Hospital rooms on pastoral visits when congregants are facing amazing health challenges; Cold Stone Creamery – yum yum
9. One thing/person that always makes me smile: my nephew, Blake; Good in the world; underdog victories; my youth at many various times for many various reasons; Stephen Colbert
10. Most recent “love note” from God: Tonight when I was walking God reminding me that there is no need to worry or fear about the future. God’s got the lilies back; how much more does He have mine.
And now it’s my turn to tag:
- Kate – because you are me about ten years ago</li>
- Kailey – because I always love to hear your thoughts</li>
- Preston – because I know you lurk here religiously and even though you don’t have a blog (despite my insistance that you start one), you could post your thoughts in my comment area)
Thanks for the tag, Carmen.
2 Comments
Preston
I think lurking has a little too negative a connotation; perhaps loitering would be a better way to say it. I loiter here religiously. Ok, here goes:
1. A friend who has blessed me: This will be the obvious one, but – Melissa, for thinking of me with a tag and just generally being totally awesome. I love that you’re listening to KT Tunstall right now; that’s some great music. And yes, I realize that I’ve already used two semicolons in this post.
2. An unexpected gift: My fiancé, Amy, got me the Napoleon Dynamite DVD. And the Mad Libs. And the sticky notes (Vote for Pedro). She doesn’t even like the movie.
3. A kind word shared with me recently: I had the opportunity to play for a 50th anniversary reception the other day, and one little old lady came up to tell me how much she enjoyed the music. That blessed me for the whole rest of the day.
4. Something that makes me stop and praise God: Sometimes I realize that I get to be in His family even though I’m a total screw-up.
5. Something I’m looking forward to: Paying off my car in January. Yippee!
6. A particular part of me I’m pleased with: My hair. Ok, so it’s nothing special or anything, but I figure that if I keep expressing my undying gratitude to God for the wonderful blessing of hair, maybe He’ll let me keep it a little longer.
7. Something in my life I wanted but never expected: A girlfriend. I’m serious here – I was just sure this wasn’t going to happen. At some point, I came to terms with my singleness, and that was that. Then I went and played football last Labor Day, and now I’m getting married in December.
8. A place that moved/moves me: I love the sky. Stars, sunsets, cloud formations, storms – you name it, if it’s in the firmament, I’m all about it.
9. One thing/person that always makes me smile: I’m ripping you off here, Mel, but there’s just no way that I can have enough Jon Stewart in my life right now. Not possible.
10. Most recent “love note” from God: I was in Matthew yesterday, and there’s that part where the leprous man says to Jesus, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” And Jesus says, “I am willing. Be clean.” I felt like He was saying it to me.
carmen
Ooo, I like that: “God’s got the lilies’ back; how much more does He have mine.” That’s a great way to think of and remember that. For a couple of years now, I’ve worn a “fear not” ring and bracelet to remind me of the same thing, but I like your phrase beter. I may borrow it in my own walks.
Thanks for playing, Melissa! Blessings.