February

It's already February. It seems just yesterday it was Dec. 31 and I was wondering how the new year would go. Now it seems it is flying by faster than I can keep up. Where does the time go? I know I can account for every day of the past month, but they all seem like one long day rather than 31 very short days. I guess that one reason the Scripture says our lives are like a vapor; here today and gone tomorrow. That's sort of a sobering thought. It makes me want to make sure my life counted for something in the time I was given on Earth. Too many times I find that I have wasted my time doing something that had absolutely no meaning or purpose and then I can't buy that time back. There is no way to go back in time and retreive the minutes or hours lost. The only solution is to learn from the mistake and then determine to live life on purpose, as I once heard someone say. Not merely passing through this world or simply existing until we cease to, but really living - experiencing everything God has for us, making the most of my time, even if it is only a short time.

*About Me: Around age 6 my dad started taking me to work with him on Saturdays. We would ride the bus everywhere we went and he would show me Tucson. We always had lunch together. It was so much fun. This is how I was first introduced to coffee. My father is an avid coffee drinker, downing several glasses in a day. Wanting to be like dad I tried the stuff. While he drank his black, I added several spoons of sugar and creamer. One day after my third cup of coffee, my dad followed me to the coffee pot to watch me refill my cup. As I was adding the "extras", I heard an "Aha! I knew there was something strange about all the coffee you were drinking." He then told me I could only drink the coffee if I drank it black. That quickly brought a halt to my coffee drinking days, at least until high school.

About Me

One can only form an opinion of someone with what they know of them. So, I've decided to post a little about myself each time I write a post. These "facts" will appear at the end of each post so that they don't interfere with anything I'm writing about, but hopefully it will give you a pretty good picture of who I am. For those of you wondering, no there will be no sordid details or amazing confessions of things I have experienced; but there will be summations of who I am and what makes me "me".
So, first "fact" to post is on my beginnings. It will be a bit long since it is a starting point, but it won't be that way for the other posts. I am from a family of eight. There were six girls and two boys (don't even bother feeling sorry for the guys, they managed just fine!). I was born in Tucson, Arizona and I have never lived anywhere else, nor do I desire to do so (at least not at this time). I would call my family's situation one step above poverty. While we weren't living on the streets, we definitely relied on charity and a wonderful church family to keep us going. "Hand me downs" were about the only clothes I owned until I was about 7 or 8. I have never known hunger, but I have known shame and humiliation at having too little or nothing at all. I do have some very fond memories of those first years of my life, though. I remember helping my dad make sack lunches for school when I was between 2 and 3. I can't imagine that I was much of a help, but the sheer joy of being with my dad and feeling like I was important to him is something I will always remember. I also remember waking up early in the morning to find my parents praying on the living room couch. I would crawl up on my dad's lap and stay there until they were finished and when mom got up to go, he would sit there with me and say a special prayer just for me, always reminding me how much he loved me and how important the Lord was in our lives. Yes, there certainly were good times in my young life.

Sunday Night

I know this post will probably have very little interest to most of you, but I'm going to post it anyway. I have just finished watching the American Idol auditions from L. A. and I have not laughed that hard in forever. I was actually crying I was laughing so hard. I'm still laughing about it. There were so many ridiculous things on that show. I know, it's reality TV but it is so funny!! I just can't get over how someone can actually get up in front of people who they know are going to critique them and do the things they do. It's not just bad singing, it is completely and utterly ridiculous behavior (not to mention dancing that should be outlawed). The parading these people do is outrageous, and what is even more incredulous is that they think they are really something. Did no one ever tell these people the truth or did they simply not care to listen? I can't even imagine that the most musically ignorant people would think that some of these people had any business auditioning for this show. Of course, I know that some of it is staged, but that only goes so far. They still had to find people willing to behave this way on national television. Oh, well. I'm getting a kick out of it. So, to all those who should never, but unfortunantely will audition, thanks for entertaining me!

Friday

It's been three days since I last posted and I decided I should probably write something. Life right now is busy, but there is hope it will slow down (at least for the next few weeks). Graduate applications are done, research is begun, and there are at least two months before the next major holiday. Ah, breathing room. Things of interest lately are the American Idol auditions, which make me laugh so hard I cry (where do they get these people from?), reading a biography of a Chinese preacher from the 1920's - 40's (amazing man, amazing insight), listening to music (I know it sounds weird but I hardly ever get to just sit and enjoy music), and writing (which I haven't done much of in the last three years). Things I'm working on include learning how to pray more (Lord knows I need it), learning to show the love of Christ rather than the judgment of Christ (a hard pill to swallow), and learning how to let Jesus live through me and manifest Himself so people can see Him in any circumstance I am in. Of course there are so many more thing I can work on, but as my grandmother always says, "Rome wasn't built in a day". So, that about sums up what I want to say. I hope you all have a great weekend and if anything interesting happens I'll be sure to post it.