the thursday thirty, issue ten.

30 more blog posts that have provoked giggles, tears, and prayer:

• when taylor and i teach conversation labs... // the roomie [if you've ever wondered what kelly and i's classes with the international students look like, here is a small taste. :D]
• looking into the eyes of bondage // pete wilson [pete, anne jackson, and melissa from living proof ministries are among the bloggers on a compassion international trip to india this week. many of their beautiful posts from their time in calcutta will appear on this list.]
• pramanik // anne jackson
• five things i love about being a mom // bethany
• but sunday's coming // amy beth
• in the middle of the night // the noreaster
• things even the bible says are a mystery! // natalie witcher
• how easy is it to make homemade vanilla? // bethany
• near to the brokenhearted // anne jackson
• covered // tam
• dear church with the corny marquee sign: // anne jackson
• eyes to see and ears to hear // alece
• God, You know // many meadows
• gummin' it will never do // natalie witcher
• removing easter's candy shell // radiant magazine
• speak my language // amy beth
• how do you like my house? // the lpm blog
• lakshmi // anne jackson
• my take on swine flu // natalie witcher [such a humorous but timely take!]
• spiritual visine // alece
• what susan boyle teaches us about greatness // jeff goins [ah! i love this woman!]
• why youth ministry? // kyle [one of my best friend's first blog posts!]
• what we expect in missions // radiant magazine [on. the. dot.]
• letters of love // anne jackson
• thinking about death and healing // the lpm blog
• susan boyle taught me an important lesson // pete wilson
• when dreams come true // amy beth
• transformation // anne jackson
• i packed hope // alece
• transformation // anne jackson

immediate freedom.

from today's passage in oswald chambers' my utmost for His highest:
have I been with you so long, yet you have not known Me, philip? // john 14:9
philip expected the future revelation of a tremendous mystery, but not in Jesus, the person he thought he already knew. the mystery of God is not in what is going to be - it is now, though we look for it to be revealed in the future in some overwhelming, momentous event...
let your heart not be troubled - am i then hurting Jesus by allowing my heart to be troubled? if i believe in Jesus and His attributes, am i living up to my belief? am i allowing anything to disturb my heart, or am i allowing questions to come in which are unsound and unbalanced? i have to get to the point of the absolute and unquestionable relationship that takes everything exactly as it comes from Him. God never guides us at some time in the future, but always here and now. realize that the Lord is here now, and the freedom you receive is immediate.

twenty years in twenty lines.

i often want to kick myself for having so many "list" entries, but i just couldn't pass this one up! mandy got the ball rolling with her 30 years in 30 lines a couple of days ago, and i figure it's a good investment of a few minutes' time. :)
in twenty years of life, i have:

• learned that i'm never too old to be tucked in by my mama
• shot many a' bulls-eye with my dad & our .22's
• caught my fair share of fish from farm ponds & lakes
• been crowned prom queen
• said farewell to a few heroes & loves
• set foot on foreign soil twice before graduating high school
• represented oklahoma at a world leaders summit in washington, d.c.
• touched the liberty bell
• played countless rounds of phase ten
• spent many sweet hours cuddling with my nieces
• learned how easy i really have it
• been inside the oval office
• figured out what i will live & die for
• broken hearts
• been published
• nearly lost my accent after living in seattle for one month
• busted my forehead wide open at a grocery store
• had my heart broken
• poured life into youth at lifechurch.tv
• remained a loyal hanson fan :D

the thursday thirty, issue nine.

30 quirks/facts about me:

• i hate styrofoam. hate it, hate it, hate it. the noise it makes when it rubs against another piece of styrofoam is horrifyingggg. when mom drags out the nativity figurines at christmas... let's just say i have to leave the house.
• school supplies, how i love thee. pens, notebooks, folders, and mechanical pencils are my vices. heck, i'd go to school the rest of my life if it meant getting to purchase new goodies each semester. look under my bed and you'll find a small, rubbermaid crate full of knick knacks just waiting to be used - but they'll probably end up getting donated before i ever get around to using them all. :]
• my three nieces - and the fourth one that's on the way! - mean absolutely everything to me. kaitlyn, sydni, zoey, and the-soon-to-be ari jade give me such hope for the days and years to come.
• i take pride [gasp! the p-word!] in my knack for frugality. i love to clip coupons, i adore bargain hunting, and generic brands are my dearest friends at the grocery store. that's right, i dream big.
• part of my heart is left in istanbul. hopefully i'll return there one day to retrieve it - or give more of it away. =)
• when i was little, i carried around a 99 cent pocket dictionary with me everrryyyywhere. ask my mama why, 'cause i still haven't a clue!
• speaking of childhood antics, my parents taught me to answer "how old are you?" with my complete date of birth, rather than just holding up a few fingers. so i ran together "februaryseventhnineteeneightynine" very quickly for my replies. dad still swears this is the only reason he remembers my birthdate. :)
• i take notes of every sermon, chapel service, or speaking engagement i go to. my sermon book is filled with hints of wisdom and truth that i never want to forget. as kandi newton taught me, a dull pencil will one day be better than a sharp mind.- i had never set foot in a taco bell until i came to college. who knew?!
• my nieces, and even my siblings at times, call me peanut. the story of how this nickname originated is heavily disputed [i just don't remember it happening!], but it does a bit like this: after making a trip to purchase some world famous honey roasted peanuts from the goober house in carnegie, oklahoma, i [allegedly] began telling a very detailed story about something extremely important. as i regaled my sister, brother-in-law, and mama with my tale, a peanut husk [supposedly] was covering my two front teeth the entire time. combined with my thick accent at the time, i was a sure-fire candidate for the next beverly hillbillies production.
• the first time i ever "fouled out" of a basketball game, i cried. how embarassing.
• my brother was in the movie 'twister.' sure, it's more of just his shadow moving across the screen during the scene that the tornado hits wakita, but it's still probably the closest hollywood claim-to-fame i'll ever have!
• i really can't say this enough, but i am so so proud of my older siblings. my sister, while she lived in seattle, was consistently rated as one of the top ten radiologist mammographers in the nation. my brother guards the governor as an oklahoma highway patrol trooper. and they're also two of the best parents i've ever had the privilege to learn from.
• as if you wouldn't know from any of my earlier posts, i absolutely adore the fact that i grew up in a small town. if i could, i would raise my future kiddos in a country atmosphere.- i probably should give up sweet tea for lent next year. it has an absolute hold over me.
• this might be odd, but my brother and i both eat our cereal in those big plastic drinking cups from eskimo joe's. does anyone else do that?
• one of my favorite pastimes when i go home is to retrieve my old journals and flip through them. i often get a good chuckle out of it. :D
• like most little girls, i aspired to be an olympic gymnast. shannon miller, an oklahoma girl herself, was my idol. i sincerely wanted to wear a leotard of red, white, and blue, and strut my stuff on the balance beam or floor routine. those goals clearly have not come to pass, but every four years i make a point of tuning into every round of gymnastics of the olympic games. and it still makes me want to do cartwheels in the living room. :)
• my hippie name is tigerlily. mmhmm.
• my parents met at college, where my father was on the football team and my mom was a cheerleader. so classic. :)
• among many deeper attributes i desire my future husband to have, i've determined he will also need a healthy appreciation for red dirt music, an ability to mow the yard in diagonal lines, and should jovially accept requests from my nieces to sit down for tea parties. a girl can dream, right?
• i have to great dreams for my career - to teach english to immigrants at community centers and such, and to work for a missionary sending agency and facilitate others' going.
• hearing people crack their knuckles or any other joint makes me absolutely sick inside. i just can't handle it! every once in awhile, i'll get crazy and pop my own ankles - but knuckles and my neck or back are off-limits.
• the first time i met my favorite meteorologist [yes, in oklahoma we pick our faves] at the age of 2 or so, i sneezed all over his suit. what an impression i make. :-/ luckily, i redeemed myself about 13 years later - when i was a foot taller than him. oh, dainty gary england.
• making my bed each morning is such ritual for me. having my bed tidy sets such a tone for the rest of my day!
• i have always wanted to assemble a time capsule. always. any pointers?
• when i was 6 or 7, i shut both of my thumbs in the car door - on separate occasions, of course, but still within a few weeks of one another. for a young girl who prided herself on having awesome nails, watching both thumbnails fall off was somewhat of a traumatic experience.
• before coming to college, i had never set foot inside of a taco bell, nor had i ever eaten captain crunch cereal. obu has done so much for my physique. =)
• reading has always been one of my dearest pastimes. now that i'm in college, reading for pleasure only finds its way into my schedule during breaks. still, i treasure a good book and am so thankful i learned the value of words at such a young age.
• i love peanuts in a bottle of coca-cola. doesn't that sound gross in theory? don't worry, it's pretty awesome if you drink the coke before the saltiness makes it flat. i'm fairly certain this family recipe originates from the days of my parents owning and running two mobile service stations in town, when vending machine goods were the goods. mmhmm, this is what i look for at every gas station on every road trip.
• if i could handle all of the following courses, my proverbial last meal would surely consist of these extremely health-ridden dishes: pinto beans and cornbread with chow chow, fried potatoes, macaroni and tomatoes, and blackberry cobbler. yummo!

a hundredfold.

and anyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return... // matthew 19:29
one of my most precious friends from back home will be spending two weeks in india next month, may 2nd through the 17th. few words could explain how proud of and thrilled for lindsey i am! i beg you to join me in prayer for the hearts of lindsey, the rest of her team, and the sweet faces of india to be prepared for how He will move among them. pray for divine opportunities to make themselves starkly known, for focus and safety, for flexibility and a cohesive team, and for the love of Christ to be made beautifully clear.
i am so excited. =)

a bitter root.

being the middle-aged woman at heart that i am, i caught this profound tidbit on dr. phil a week or two ago. i've been meaning to write it down or preserve it somehow, 'cause i just don't think that being reminded of how quickly bitter roots can spring up will ever go out of style. he told a teary-eyed woman that we often believe we can keep our anger toward someone simply contained and directed to them only. but it's a pretty lie; that bitterness will eventually affect our relationships with everyone else we do love and cast such a dark shadow on our hearts. my cynicism and bitterness toward him or love or just about anything else will always seep into the very cracks i try to seal. is it worth it? i think not.

the thursday thirty, issue eight.

with a very heavy heart, i learned earlier this week that a girl i paged at the state capital with in high school was killed by a drunk driver. erin was a beautiful, outgoing, and kind individual whose impact continues to be far-reaching. knowing His plan for her life was carried out in the most perfect way still seems so difficult, and thinking of all the things she will now never get to experience is almost inescapable. but i do know one thing she's up to right now that she wouldn't trade for anything, and that's sitting at His feet. today's thursday thirty consists of 30 things i hope He allows me to do before my time is up. erin accomplished so much in her twenty years here, and i desperately want to start doing the same.

• graduate from obu with honors.. and summa cum laude :D
• spread the Gospel in the 10/40 window
• teach english as a second language, both in the u.s. & abroad
• be the best aunt i can be
• climb the eiffel tower... or ride the elevator :)
• live debt free [*ahem* as soon as student loans are through.]
• write a book
• ride in a hot air balloon
• fall in love & seal the deal
• visit an alpaca farm :D
• memorize more scripture
• fill my passport with many journeys
• minister to those hurt by human trafficking
• see a shooting star
• have babies!
• provide a loving & warm home for the ones i love
• live a healthy life
• master another language
• learn to listen more & talk less
• backback [somewhat!] through europe
• go to iceland with kelly =)
• serve at an orphanage
• go on the amazing race, baby
• plant a garden
• build a home near granny & papa's farm
• work for a sending agency that facilitates missionary work
• learn to paint
• keep a handwritten journal for my kids
• take up photography
• give up wasteful complaining