Presently in List Format

Things I love:
*the obvious transforming power of Christ reflected in someone's life
*quiet time with a little coffee on the side
*fellowship with Believers. (As one charismatic pastor on TBN put it, "There's no ship like fellowship." hehehe)
*words, wonderful words
*watching my children grow and learn
*garage sales and thrift shopping
*a good competition
*proofreading
*authenticity
*floating in my pool by myself

Things I hate:
*coffee aftertaste
*the obvious sexualiztion of TV commercials (and I'm not just talking beer commercials here. pay attention the next time your TV is on. it's disgusting what we are allowing society to feed us.)
*cleaning up my own messes
*making an error
*a dirty kitchen floor
*not being able to sleep
*unreliability

Things I wish i did more:
*write
*exercise
*read my Bible and pray
*see my Bff
*spend quality time with my sisters

Things I wish I did less:
*pee
*eat and drink junk
*get annoyed at my kids and husband
*complain

Things that interest me/make me think:
*Unprotected, the book I just read.
*Psalm 51:16-17 God just keeps bringin' me back to brokenness
*This poem I discovered in high school. why? because it speaks truth. and it hurts.
*the role of hormones in our being
*personalities and contemplating how they form

Things I wish I could do:
*sing
*play the guitar
*write a novel
*run a marathon
*become Dr. Summer (lol, but really)
*be in a play
*wait tables part time

Things that make me cry:
*abortion & all of its effects on our world
*so many children growing up without stable homes
*the Olympics (the elation of winning mixed with the sorrow of loss)
*the thought of losing someone I love

Things that make me laugh:
*seeing the janitor from my junior high school at Dollar Store and him greeting me by name
*the conversations I have with my children. recently Season was pretending that Grayson was her boyfriend. I told her she couldn't marry her brother because he was family. She looked confused, but said, "Yeah, he's too short."
*my diary from elementary school (in the fourth grade I was "allergic" to Mrs. Applegate, and I couple skated for the first time with a boy, lol)
*my sister's stories
*Grayson's little hiney in his underwear & and hearing him talk

Work it out

Are you daily challenged to take it to the Word? To take what you hear and compare it to the Truth, as the Bereans did? Or are you standing so firmly on church doctrine or momma’s faith that you have yet to really work out your own salvation? As my Dedad would say when he preached, “Do you know that you know that you know?” If you haven’t been pushed to this point in your life where you really have to seek out the Truth for yourself, I challenge you to dig a little deeper.
I grew up in church, surrounded by family who have served God for years. I had no choice but to know who He is. My truth was passed down to me, spoon-fed to me. Obviously this was a blessing, but it was also comfortable and easy to take for granted. I can understand how easy it would be to just believe in another religion if I was raised up that way, because just as Christianity was a way of life for me growing up, so is Islam or Hinduism for others. I think there has to be a point in your life where you question what you believe and why you believe it. I think it is often much easier for someone who is not in the church as such to come to this point, because we churched people just take for granted that we know the truth and may become self-righteous in doing so. We somehow miss the desperation for knowing Him and become secure in the façade of knowing Him because “well, I go to church or I am Baptist or my daddy is a preacher.” There is nothing we can bring to Him that is worthy, except for Christ crucified. And if we don’t get how broken we are before Him, we are very likely to uphold our checklist of rules or passed down "beliefs" above His Word and who He is.
I am naturally skeptical, so I have always questioned. And I had an awesome Sunday school teacher who always met my questions with Scripture. She never tried to get me to believe what she believed, she gave me the Word and let me work it out myself. But not until a few years ago did I really know that I know. I was desperate for change and questioned Him. And He basically asked me, “Do you know that I am real? Do you know what you believe? How do you know that I am Truth? Because if you truly believe in me, then you have to believe every single ounce of my Word. If you doubt my Word, you doubt me.” I had to lay every bit of my unbelief at His feet and ask for forgiveness. I realized I either had to be all in or I was out, that I was either completely, unabashedly for Him or I was against Him. He does not tolerate half-heartedness or indifference. Only then did I really begin to see the power of His Word and really stand on it and not my background or feelings or church doctrines. I really began to search and find the Truth, and my life has not been the same since. My personalization and analysis of who He is came at a time when I was not in “church” really, which I find interesting, just as an aside. People will fail you, churches will fail you, but He and His word do not waiver. Stand firm but never stop working out your salvation. Never stop searching His word. When I hear somebody say something I am not sure about, it is exciting to take it to the Bible and determine the Truth and where I stand in light of that. Graham and I find it interesting (and honestly confusing) how we all read the same scriptures but can come to different conclusions. Some truths or principles we will never really know until we see Him face to face, ( drinking, free will vs. predestination, the spiritual world, for example) and then it won’t matter anyway.
Be confident that you know that you know Him. On the other hand, do not be prideful. Be willing to be challenged and learn from other Christians, aware that you do not know it all. But, do not be pushed around in your beliefs. The Bible tells us to Stand Firm. All I am saying is that I don’t think we can stand firm on truth if we do not know it personally and intimately. Own the Truth. Be possessive of it and obsessive about it. (RAGE!) Pursue Him relentlessly. Let the Word be your backbone.

Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths;
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:4-5