Some Things I've Never Done

I'm 40 years old and I've never...


1. Set foot in Australia.  

2. Had really short hair.


3. Eaten Caviar.


4. Been to Washington D.C.

5. Snow skied.


6. Planned a surprise party.


7. Seen Breakfast at Tiffany's.


8. Eaten breakfast at Tiffany's.


9. Ridden in a hot air balloon.

10. Had a bikini wax.


11. Been to Paris.

12. Been to Alaska.

13. Been to Rhode Island.

14. Been able to do a full split. 


15. Seen a Broadway play.


16. Fired a gun.


17. Ridden a unicorn bike.

18. Learned to use a sewing machine.


19. Worn a tiara.


20. Mowed grass. (Seriously...I don't know how I've escaped it)


21. Zip lined through the Jamaican forest...


22. I chose to kiss a dolphin instead.

*This post was written in response to Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop prompt 1.) Follow the template I copied from The Pioneer Woman without her permission and list 22 things you’ve never done.

Things I Heard A Lot When I Was Growing Up...

1. Hurry up!  You're not going to a fashion show! (I had to get that hair curled, teased and sprayed to perfection)


2. Put something on your feet before you catch pneumonia. (This one never took because I still go barefoot year round in the house and sometimes even outside to get the mail in the dead of winter.) 


3. What's the matter?  Cat got your tongue? (I never did figure out who this cat was or what he'd want with my tongue.)

4. I could ride to town on that lip, it's stuck out so far! (When I was pouting) 


5. Oh law, we better call the ambulance before she bleeds to death! (I tended to overreact a little..okay a lot...when I got hurt, especially if blood was spilling....or trickling )  


6. Gah!  Don't let that dog lick you in the face! 

7. If you don't let me clean those ears out, I'm going to have to take you to the doctor and let him clean them out.  You could grow potatoes in those things!  (I think I may have actually said this a time or two to the boys...I know, I know...Eww!)  


8. I hope you aren't swallowing any of those seeds because you know a watermelon vine will grow out of your belly button if you do, right?  (I was extremely gullible because I remember being really worried this was going to happen so I was extra careful not to swallow any of those seeds and if I did, I worried about it for days)


9. What are you doing?!  Don't you know it's bad luck to open an umbrella in the house?!


10. Be careful not to break that mirror.  You'll have seven years bad luck if you do. (I remember counting up the years every time I broke one to figure out what age I'd be when my bad luck would finally be over.)


11. Your hair is a rat's nest. Come here and let me brush those tangles out.


12. Why are these clothes all over the floor?!  I can't tell what's clean and what's dirty!  This place is a pigsty!


13. Don't ever let somebody sweep under your feet or you'll never get married.


14. You can't get back in that water yet.  It hasn't been an hour since you ate.  You'll get cramps.  (I really didn't want those, whatever they were, so I watched that clock until my hour was up!)


15. Don't eat those wild strawberries.  They're poisonous.

16. You're sitting way too close to that t.v.  Move back before you ruin your eyes!


17. You better be careful or your face is gonna freeze like that.


18. If you don't let me clip those toenails they're going to get ingrown and the doctor will have to cut them out.  (No wonder I had such a fear of doctors!)

19. You can't go outside with that wet head.  You'll catch your death of cold!


20. What do you say?  ("Thank you." I say, "Thank you.")  




What did you hear a lot of when you were growing up?

Above All Else...

I don't spend a lot of time talking about my religious or political views.  Not that I don't have plenty of views and opinions about such things but I do not enjoy confrontation.  Stirring the pot is just not in my nature and most of the time I just won't go there.  


Of course I talk about and am very open about my faith in Christ.  But Jesus didn't teach or preach on religion.  He taught us, above all else, to love one another.  He did not say to love only those who look like we do, dress like we do, wear their hair like we do, act like we do, live like we do, and believe everything that we believe.  No.  He taught us to love one another.  


Believe me, I understand this is not always easy to do. I have encountered many individuals in my life that I have a hard time even liking, much less loving. We all have and do on a pretty regular basis.  And he knew this would happen...knew it wouldn't be easy just as he knew how much we would all screw it up.  Big time.  


But this didn't make him love us any less then or any less now.  


We are sinners.  All of us.  Each and every one of us. And that is why he came....why he allowed himself to be tortured and nailed to a cross to suffer and die.  He did it for us.  For me. For you.  For ALL of us.  To save us from ourselves.  To give us another shot at eternal life.  And another.  And another.  And yet another.


Because he knew we were all imperfect and that we'd make mistakes and screw things up.  A lot.  All that he asked of us though was to put him first, ask forgiveness when we mess up and to love one another.  Keep on striving to love one another as he first loved us.


Since 1997 I have been an official member of the United Methodist Church.  The Methodists do things a little differently than the Baptists and the Baptists do things a little differently than the Presbyterians and the Presbyterians do things quite a bit differently than the Catholics and so on and so on and so on...


There's a line from Steel Magnolias by Dolly Parton's character, Truvy, that I just love and believe to be oh so true...


"Oh honey, God don't care which church you go to, long as you show up!"


I'm a member of the United Methodist Church because I married into it. Plain and simple.  I attended a Baptist Church as a kid but had not attended church on a regular basis for years until I met Darin and started going with him to the church I still belong to, the one he was born into. But I always believed in Jesus, even when I didn't put him first and he never loved me any less when I wasn't going to church on Sunday.  


In 2001 the United Methodist Church adopted a slogan that made me proud to be a member..


"Open Hearts. Open Minds. Open Doors."  


What that says to me is that we will embrace one another with open arms, no matter where we've been, what we've done, or what type of lifestyle we live.  We may not agree on everything and we may not always see eye to eye but at the end of the day, we are still going to accept one another with open arms...without judgement or condemnation.  


Because we were not given that right or that commandment.  Jesus didn't come to teach us how to judge.  


He came to teach us how to love...