November Happenings

Who wants to go with me?

Mental Health Break

50 Random Questions

1. Where were you 3 hours ago?

Holding the crying mom of my patient while she processed some devastating news. It was a bad day.

2. Who are you in love with?

Whoever invented ice cream.

3. Have you ever eaten a crayon?

Not that I remember, but I have had cow's tongue.

4. Is there anything pink within 10 feet of you?

Definitely not.

5. When is the last time you went to the mall?

Probably two months ago.

6. Are you wearing socks right now?

No.

7. Do you have a car worth over $2,000?

Yes, got to love the Honda.

8. When was the last time you drove out of town?

I went to Houston, MN last weekend for a bluegrass festival.

9. Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days?

Probably not the last five months.

10. Are you hot?

Yes, it has to be about 80 degrees in this room.

11. What was the last thing you had to drink?

Water.

12. What are you wearing right now?

Charlie Brown scrub top and blue scrub pants.

13. Do you wash your car or let the car wash do it?

I like to wash it if I have time and cash.

14. Last food that you ate?

Muffins cooked by Amy

15. Where were you last week at this time?

At the bluegrass festival in Houston, MN.

16. Have you bought any clothing items in the last week?

No.

17. When is the last time you ran?

Yesterday.

18. What's the last sporting event you watched?

Olympic basketball today

19. What is your favorite animal?

White tiger

20. Your dream vacation?

A survey trip in Rwanda

21. Last person's house you were in?

the B.A.J.A house

22. Worst injury you've ever had?

Couple of broken fingers

23. Have you been in love?

I think so

24. Do you miss anyone right now?

Too many people to count

25. Last play you saw?

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.....I don't recommend it.

26. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex?

I am just ornery enough to be fun.

27. What are your plans for tonight?

Sleeping

28. Who is the last person you sent a Facebook message or comment?

Jenel

29. Next trip you are going to take?

Louisville, KY for a medical missions conference in November

30. Ever go to camp?

I suppose you could call it that.

31. Were you an honor roll student in school?

Yes, and proud of it.

32. What do you want to know about the future?

I would take anything about now.

33. Are you wearing any perfume or cologne?

I probably smell like hospital or baby lotion.

34. Are you due sometime this year for a doctor's visit?

If I have to

35. Where is your best friend?

Somewhere in Arkansas.

36. How is your best friend?

Much shorter than me.

37. Do you have a tan?

No, I'm trying to be a real Minnesotan.

38. What are you listening to right now?

The rain.

39. Do you collect anything?

Projects, lately.

40. Who is the biggest gossiper you know?

My neighbor Jane.

41. Last time you got stopped by a cop or pulled over?

Sophomore year of college, I think.

42. Have you ever drank your soda from a straw?

Yes

43. What does your last text message say?

Kristy asked if I could do breakfast in the morning.

44. Do you like hot sauce?

Yes.

45. Last time you took a shower?

Last night.

46. Do you need to do laundry?

Nope, did it yesterday.

47. What is your heritage?

My dad says he doesn't know. I apparently have no identity.

48. Are you someone's best friend?

I think so.

49. Are you rich?

In more ways than I deserve.

50. What were you doing at 12AM last night?

Heading towards bed.

Credit Repair Companies

Surveys and Quizzes for MySpace

Community

Last night was so good and so powerful I'm not quite sure it happened. But I'll come back to that.

For those of you around Rochester, you've probably been aware of or are a part of this "community" here. For a brief reference to the girls in this group, see this post . It all started last fall when four girls, including myself, started meeting with the intent on doing a Bible study about Daniel. We did that for about 1.5 weeks, then decided we needed something different. We needed to get real.

So we did. The four of us, who barely knew each other, started sharing our lives with each other. The good and the bad, the hurts and the triumphs, the profound and the mundane. We prayed for each other. By that, I mean more than a few tired words spoken almost by repetition. We prayed for each other. We cried together almost as much as we laughed. This weekly meeting became a mainstay for all of us, a must-have that profoundly impacted our relationship with God. Not that we are the first people in the world to do this, but we realized we had stumbled upon a gold mine, something that had to be shared. Everyone needed to experience this relationship, this true community. And so we grew.

More ladies started coming. Finding a place to meet became an issue. We needed places big enough to handle us, but cozy enough so we could converse. We bounced around all sorts of restaurants and houses. We made it work. We shared ideas of living together, serving together, being a constant support for each other. Our core group of four grew to eight.

Our guy friends became jealous. They got tired of hearing so much about this "girls' meeting" that they started their own. Pretty soon, you couldn't see another friend without hearing the buzzword "community." We had a goal, a common vision, a unified purpose.

The guys and girls started meeting together. It came to settle on Wednesday nights, and now it is a standing date. We eat together, usually share communion, then often having a time of sharing and prayer for each other. We all come from various backgrounds and different faith traditions, but all built on Christ. Several of us bought houses and live together, opening our doors to each other at any time of day. We share many things, and if it is in your fridge, you better consider it fair game to be eaten. The community has grown by leaps and bounds, and now you can expect several dozen people every time we get together. It has blessed my life in immeasurable ways.

The girls continue to meet on their own at a different part of the week, though it has been hard to coordinate that the last month or two. We have become a little distant, disconnected from each other and left to struggle through life more or less on our own. Though God is always there and is always helping us, without the constant support of our Christian sisters, we were hurting, and it came to our attention that we needed each other. So we scheduled a girls' night with the core group of eight, which was last night.

We were (are? it has only been one night) a complete mess. A complete mess. Every single one of us has been struggling with some major thing, be it loneliness, fear, sin, temptation. We were antsy at the beginning, knowing this was going to be a rough night, so we started out stating praises. It went from praises about happenings in our life to praises for the good things in each other, building each other up in love. It was good.

Then we took turns sharing what we had been struggling with. Every single one of us cried when talking. Life has been too hard. We have not been there for each other. We confessed many shortcomings, many sins--some almost unbelievably, shockingly bad--some of us so far from the Lord.

And we loved on each other. We loved on each other. We cried out to God to heal each person, specifically, passionately. We spoke strong words against the work of Satan and how he had taken hold of us. We sobbed together. Maybe it is so significant to me that we cried together because I am not typically a crier. But there were no walls last night as we mourned for each other and sought out the guidance of God. And it was very good.

How we need each other. How we need the Lord. May His Name be praised for breaking us and building us back up. I have a feeling for the next good while us girls are going to be attached at the hip. May we never fall apart like that again. And may every one get a taste of this community, this fellowship, based on Christ with a foundation of love. Let me know if you want to join. We'd love to have you.

Small Joys in Life

I have a nice, big red dumpster in my driveway right now, and it is one of the most fun things I've ever experienced. A sampling of today's accomplishments:

Nastiness carpet from the living room and bedrooms---gone.
Three layers of carpet and one layer of plastic unknown thing from the stairs---gone.
Sneakers, gnarled tennis balls, random pieces of wood, empty sticky bottles from the basement---gone.
Dead branches and bushes that haven't been trimmed this millennium--gone.
Yucky green tile covering perfectly good hardwood---gone.
Gooey, greasy non-functional stove vent---gone.

It is liberating, exhilarating goodness that gave me quite a high. I love that feeling of declutterizing. Absolutely love it. And right now, it is incredibly convenient. All for one flat price.

(P.S. Are you tired of hearing about this house renovation yet?)