Quirks

When I drink coffee or tea, my cup has to match either my outfit or my room.

When mom sends my doll—Felicity—to me so I have something for my friends’ little girls to play with, I have to give the doll a hug and kiss!

I have to rearrange something in my apartment once a week.

I love flowers of every kind….but I don’t like red roses.

I don’t like new things…I feel much more comfortable in a house full of vintage stuff than in one full of new stuff.

I would rather eat dirt than go to the grocery store.

It doesn’t matter that I’m in desperate need of some new clothes and that I just got my tax return, I’d still rather wear old ones than actually find out where the mall is.

I’d rather keep my hair long and have my boyfriend think I look beautiful than have the cutest “Meg Ryan” haircut in the world.

Every time I’m motivated enough to put on eyeliner or mascara…I end up wiping it off within a half hour.

When I’m happy, I can chatter to no end…but when something upsets me, I can’t seem to find the right words to explain it.

One sweet compliment from a child is worth ten from an adult.

I have the memory of a 90 year old.

Heels taller than two inches make me feel like I’m walking on stilts.

Sometimes I enjoy not combing my hair.

I’ve never grown out of the glitter makeup stage…I still like to sparkle (makes me feel like a fairy or elf or something).

Don’t ask me what color someone was wearing, whether I liked their shirt, whether they had blue or brown eyes, or whether they were short or tall….I rarely notice!

Music that is too loud makes me hyperventilate.

Popping balloons make me hyperventilate.

I like driving the Gator at my grandparents even though there is nowhere to go.

Things I’m deathly scared of but still want/love to do: ride motorcycles, horseback riding, boating, swimming, playing outside in storms, fishing, watch intense movies, fry chicken (the oil pops), climb tall things like scaffolding and barns…I could go on!

Let me cry for ten minutes, and I can be happy as a lark in fifteen.

I love to read out loud. If I’m ever pregnant, I’m gonna read to my baby (yeah…that’s right…the one in my tummy—perfect captive audience!).

I don’t like attending graduations or weddings.

I like watching kids’ movies and reading kids’ books (I love their innocence).

If I’m mad, just make me laugh.

In the funniest, most intimate, most scary, most ridiculous, most boring, etc. moments in my life—I always picture God looking through a hole to earth and watching me as if I were a reality show (and quite an amusing one).

Rainy days actually motivate me!

My brain flows through my hands to my pen…it rarely flows through my mouth! (If you didn’t get that….I can write well but can’t talk well).

I NEVER cook just for myself.

When I bake cookies, I end up throwing at least half of them away.

It takes me all night to think of a “come-back”.

Confession...

I really miss book reports. I know that sounds crazy...who in their right mind would miss writing papers? I miss describing a book in organized detail and having a sound-board for all the new things I'm reading. I'm tempted to write a book report on my blog!!! If I do...I apologize to all you torchured readers ahead of time.

Newest Find:

Succulent Wild Woman has been on my "to-read" list...I finally decided to take a stab at it! I do not agree with everything SARK says (due to a difference in world-views), but I feel a strong connection with this unique piece of literature. She catches the beauty, creativity, and innate sensibilities of a woman--and she does it with flare!

Tea With Gramma

Saturday: 70 degrees. Blue sky and light breeze! The birds are singing and Gramma and I are drinking "Ancient Happiness" green tea on the deck.

By: Valarie

Honestly, Luke, I did NOT put her up to this!

Psalm 84

1How lovely are Your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts!
2My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
3The bird also has found a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even Your altars, O LORD of hosts, My King and my God.
4How blessed are those who dwell in Your house! They are ever praising You. Selah.
5How blessed is the man whose strength is in You, In whose heart are the highways to Zion!
6Passing through the valley of Baca they make it a spring; The early rain also covers it with blessings.
7They go from strength to strength, Every one of them appears before God in Zion.
8O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; Give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah.
9Behold our shield, O God, And look upon the face of Your anointed.
10For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside. I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
12O LORD of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in You!

Redneck Luke and Hillbilly Beth

"Paw said...don' go shootin' no possum, so I used m' shoelace an got me some Coon for dinna"



"Jis' like ol' Davie Crocky"



"Now don' you go aleavin Frodo, Samwise Gamgee. I ain' gonna put up wi' no black riders whuppin yer hides"



"Aint that jis like the fella t' get a big head and stand ataller than the woman"



"A gal's gotta grow livin' things, ain' no smell in plastic flowers"



"Life's a soberin factuality, we gots us some soberin faces to match"

Poor Mousy

BRAINSTORM

I think computers should have "SCRATCH and SNIFF" options. For example, wouldn't it be fun to scratch that picture of lilies of the valley and be able to smell them?

Wish I could smell them...

To Lilies of the Valley

This hand is bitterness
We want to taste it and
Let the hatred numb our sorrows
The wise hand opens slowly
To lilies of the valley and tomorrow

All it takes is a little word, a facial expression, an emotion...and it can lead one down a road that is like a spider web: connecting to all one's past. It is so easy to burn with an anger or hurt or fear that is no longer viable...and yet some little incident brings it back to life. It's easy to forget that those things are done--are no longer worth the emotions they stir up. I love this chorus to a song by Natalie Grant. Opening one's hand to Lilies of the Valley and tomorrow sounds so simple, yet it is so difficult. One has to turn her back on the past. And those who love her must also turn their back to her past.

And Lily of the Valley is my favorite flower.

I'm Smiling, Luke!

I just looked at the weather forecast and it is supposed to be in the 70's all week! I'm so excited I could cry. (Actually, I think I'm just excited because someone makes me smile...and the weather's an excuse).

To Be Made New

I’ve asked so many times why God allowed me to hurt so bad, to cry so hard, to struggle so deeply…. Just the thought of the pain still makes me cringe—the wounds are so intense. And yet, I finally see something beautiful emerging from my life. I’m beginning to truly understand a refining process that is so much more extreme than I thought possible. I just didn’t expect God to do that to me, and I’m honored He saw something so much better than I was. Even when I thought I couldn’t survive another night, God knew I would come through and be more beautiful and more like Christ, and would experience greater joy and peace because of the “fire”.

I’ve been to the end of myself. I’ve come to a place where I saw my own depravity, my weakness, my insignificance and my finiteness. I’ve come to a place where everything I thought I knew was shattered—where the only Truth I was sure of was to cling to God as if the very air to my lungs depended on it. I can relate to Eustace when Aslan tore layer after layer of the dragon’s scales from his body. Finally I just stood naked but ready to be re-made by Him.

I’m blessed to be loved by someone so much better than anyone I ever dreamed of. He has cried with me over my hurts. He has cried because he wanted to take them away. But the thing that amazes me (I don’t know if he realizes this) is that it is because of those wounds that he loves me the way he does. Those layers torn off left me new and able to love in a way that I couldn’t before. I didn’t see how much God had changed me until last night, as I sat in complete awe of the love that’s been offered to me and realized how much I have to offer back.

I see so many of you, my dear friends, going through that same fire right now. You are hurting and wondering if life is good. It doesn’t seem good. In fact, heaven has never looked better. You wonder why God would promise good things to you, and yet your life is just one painful experience after another. You don’t feel like you have much meaning, and you don’t feel like you’re getting any stronger or more beautiful. All you really feel, is like you are stretching thinner and thinner. You think eventually you’ll just break (I literally felt like I was drowning). But I want to tell you, that one of these days, you’re going to become a beautiful treasure. The trials you face now (even if they are just internal ones) will refine you and remake you. And once that happens, I promise you—you will see amazing gifts of love from God. They will be better than you can imagine, and you’ll be able to savor them like you’ve never “tasted good things” before…because you will be able to experience them without the “dragon scales” smothering you!

Something I Just Realized

I make faces when I draw! Jessie and I are having this "drawing contest" to draw the best "Humbug" (grump). So...as I was sitting here drawing a very grumpy man, I realized I was scowling as I drew his scowl! I have a feeling that I always make the facial expression that I am drawing. This could be embarrassing some day!

Here is Love

I love this old hymn!

Here is love, vast as the ocean
Loving kindness as a flood
When the prince of life our ransom
Shed for us His precious blood
Who His love will not remember
Who can cease to sing His praise
He will never be forgotten
Throughout heaven’s eternal days

On the mount of crucifixion
Fountains opened deep and wide
From the floodgates of God’s mercy
Flowed a vast and gracious tide
Grace and love like mighty rivers
Flowed incessant from above
Heaven’s peace and perfect justice
Kissed a guilty world in love

Thoughts on Women of the Bible

I think so often about the women mentioned in the Bible. I realize that they were just “human”. They struggled through life just like I do. Yet, there were things about them that were special enough to be included in God’s Word. That’s pretty incredible!

I think about the bitterness that Sara must have experienced when her body became old and unable to have children, and God’s promise had not been fulfilled.

Then there was Rahab. Can you imagine being accepted as one of God’s chosen ones…out of a life of heathenism and prostitution? And more than that, she was included in the line that brought us the Messiah!

How about Hannah, who was given a prophet/judge for a son because of her prayers and her vow to give her one great desire to God. Her prayer was so intense that the priest thought she was drunk!

And I absolutely love Ruth. She may perhaps be my favorite. I love that Boaz fell in love with her (okay…so that might be stretching it—but I like to think that’s what happened) because of her willingness to stay with her mother-in-law and serve God rather than remarry in her home town. I’ve moved around enough to know how frightening it is to live far away from everything familiar. She was so brave!

I’m in awe of Mary’s humility before God. I sometimes wonder if I would have the courage to face gossip and judgment to be pregnant with the Messiah. It would be terrifying and would hurt the instinctive pride that women have in being “perceived” as pure. And I love how she cherished things in her heart.

I often hear sermons on how we should be like Mary—who sat at Jesus’ feet. But I must admit, wouldn’t it be pretty special to cook for Jesus as Martha did? And it was Martha who showed great faith when Lazarus died.

But I would also like to have been Mary, Martha’s sister. She did not consider other “tasks” as important as just being near Jesus and hearing what He had to say. Jesus saw the beauty and love in Mary’s anointing his feet with oil and using her hair as a towel—He didn’t scorn her for wasting something that could’ve been sold for money to give the poor. And it was when Jesus’ saw Mary’s tears that He wept. Wow.

It was Timothy’s mother and grandmother who brought him up to love God and to be a faithful Christian.

Out of love, Tabitha made beautiful clothes for the poor widows. And the people loved her so much, that God actually raised her from the dead.

I know there are others as well. Sometimes I wonder, if God was still writing His Word (don’t get me wrong…I’m not suggesting that He is), would I be one of the faithful ones mentioned? Would my life have some small story of God’s work to be told to generations? And then I get excited because I realize that I have the choice to live a great life! I don’t have to be mediocre—but can be the kind of woman who makes clothes for the widows and pours perfume on Jesus’ feet (figuratively speaking) and gives God everything!

Check Out This Link!

This article just reminds me how important it was to verify the canonicity of Scripture. It is interesting to compare what the Gnostics believed with what Scripture says. And how huge a reminder that even the littlest thing...if it contradicts Scripture in any way, can turn into deep lies that could lead us away from Christ. At the same time, I have to admit...Judas has to be one of the most mysterious characters in the Bible. Do you ever wonder about him?

My Little Friends

These are my dear little friends. Nate is five and Gracie is two. The things they say always make me smile.

Nate: "Hey Beth, is Luke gonna marry you? Are you gonna have a house? Can I come play in Luke's and your house? Will you babysit me?" (Nate's mom swears that she hasn't said anything to him...but I don't know...)

Gracie: "Beth!" (Gracie's language is for the most part non-verbal, but she can say my name quite loud in the middle of church : )

Philippians 4:4-9

4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Here's My Hero!