Facebook--25 Random Things.

Fun on Facebook! 25 Random Things about myself as found on Facebook.


1. I am addicted to my i-pod and i-phone.
2. Fried eggs make me gag.
3. Three kids, three grandchildren, three dogs, one husband.
4. I am an author of four books.
5. I also have enough book rejections to wallpaper my home.
6. I like to take four hour bubble baths.
7. I do not have a middle name.
8. Sad to say, I slept through the tour of Cana where Jesus turned the water into wine.
9. With both my pregnancies, my feet grew ½ size and stayed that way.
10. I adore music by Billie Holliday.
11. I once bought a car on a credit card.
12. My mother, my father, and my mother-in-law all passed away on August 11th of different years.
13. I have had the same dentist for 30 years.
14. Decongestants make my skin peel for days.
15. I have requested to be the official librarian in heaven.
16. My son, Jeremy, was born in Okinawa, Japan.
17. I make delicious Oreo cheesecake.
18. There is a family of raccoons who visit me when I am in Utah.
19. I love my daughter-in-laws’ moms.
20. I once walked 18 miles in a March of Dimes fund raiser.
21. I flunked out of Girls Scouts, guitar lessons, dance lessons, and knitting lessons.
22. I wear one contact lens.
23. In high school my best friend and I would get “depressed” for fun.
24. I watch rodeo and bull riding. I should live in Colorado.
25. My favorite footwear is cowboy boots.

Sing, Dance, Love

I like quotes and inspirational sayings. They spur me into creativity, especially when I hit a writers’ block. Recently, I found one that I liked on a small wall plaque. I bought it and hung it by my computer. Then I wondered about who said it originally. So I searched online and discovered it was written by Mark Twain.

"Sing as though no one can hear you.
Dance as though no one is watching you.
Love as though you have never been hurt."

The more I looked at my new wall hanging I decided that perhaps it could be phrased in a much better way.

How about this instead?

Sing—because God hears you.

Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds-- his name is the LORD-- and rejoice before him. Psalms 68:4 (NIV)

Dance because He’s watching.

Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp. For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.
Psalms 149:3-4 (NIV)

Love because the Lord’s love for us endures forever.

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever.
Psalms 136:1 (NIV)


Will you sing, dance and love today?

Stolen Identity

The other night my home phone rang late in the evening. I did not answer because I did not recognize the number assuming it was a telemarketer. Immediately my cell phone rang—same number. I now know that it is actually someone trying to reach me.

“Hello?” I say.

“Hello, this is American Express. We are calling in regard to your credit card. We feel that it may have been compromised.”


Then they ask me some security questions which I pass. But then they ask me the big question.

“Have you purchased $1700.00 for Air France tickets?”

“No,” I answer.

However, wistfully I wish I had been the one to purchase them. Paris sounds wonderful to me. A vacation in France would be a dream come true. I want to go far away from my mundane life and its garden variety of troubles.


Back to reality—someone has stolen a part of my identity. They purchased shoes from Zappos and the tickets for travel. I wondered how they would get by the TSA at the airport. But that is not my problem or concern. But yet, I think that whoever did these fraudulent transactions is someone’s child--a child that has strayed into crime. I wonder if there is a praying parent out there somewhere.

“We have cancelled this card and will Fed-Ex you a new card,” the American Express representative states.

“Thank you,” I answer.

Then I go to my office cut up my old credit card, and then I shoot up a prayer for the person who stole my identity.

“Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.” 1 Peter 2:10 (NLT)

***This is copies from Susanne’s blog Divine Prayers found at: http://divineprayers.wordpress.com/

Miracle on the Hudson

My husband watches the news every night. It seems as if all we hear is doom and gloom. What a refreshing story and media coverage of the U.S. Airway airliner that ditched into the Hudson River. Every one safe! The pilot a hero!

I could have watched the story for 24 hours and not tired of it. Hooray!

The Apple of My Eye

Today I realized that the apple truly does not fall far from the tree. If you have read my Bible study Perplexing Proverbs or have heard me speak this TRUE story will be familiar.

A couple of years, I determined that I would exercise more. (Hmmm, my New Year’s resolution this year, too.) A nice long walk each day became my goal. I like to walk with my two tiny Shih Tzu dogs, but they both have arthritis in their hind legs. I brainstormed a solution. I owned an old twin baby stroller. So, I plopped them in and off we went. I grabbed my sunglasses, and squinting at the bright sun, I quickly put on them on.

Another woman was walking her dog this particular morning. She stared at me a bit strangely. I grinned and said, “I know it looks ridiculous pushing these dogs in a baby stroller, but they can’t walk very far.” She nodded and then snatched her tiny Maltese dog. She strode away without another word.

After a three-mile walk, I came home quite pleased with my ingenuity. I lifted the dogs out of the twin stroller. I took off my sunglasses and placed them on the kitchen counter. To my surprise and horror, one of the dark lenses had fallen out. I realized how foolish I must have looked. Strolling two dogs in a baby stroller and staring out of sunglasses missing a lens. No wonder the woman grabbed her dog and high tailed it away from me.

I laughed until my sides ached. Now I see that my “peculiarities” run in the family. This is a picture of my grandson, Michael.

The apple of my eye fell near this his grandmaother, wouldn't you say?

Contact

Email me at: SusanneaWriter@me.com

I Would Never . . .

A few years ago, my girlfriend and I snickered behind our Bible study leader's back. It was the middle of January and she had just admitted she still had her Christmas tree standing in her living room. We couldn't believe it. How could anyone still have their Christmas decorations up in the middle of January--ridiculous.

Now I am eating my laughter and my words. It is January 10th and we are just taking down our tree. (Thankfully it's artificial.) The miscellaneous decorations have been piled on our game table for days. I am embarrassed, depressed and humbled the mess.

However, I hear my Jesus whisper to my heart, "Hmmmm, judge not." I had judged her as unorganized and lazy. Now, here I sit in the exact same situation. All those years ago, I should have known this would happen to me, too. It's like when you say, "My child will never do that!" Then your child not only does whatever it is that you so disapprove and does an even better job at it.


So, I am putting way my boxes and trying learn the lesson--again. Never say, "Never."

Doggy Dental and Life

Yesterday, I was supposed to go to my Bible study group. It would have been the first time back, since before Christmas. But life happened, I didn't make it there. It was a bad day to miss, since they were celebrating my birthday that fell during the Christmas break.

Here's what happened. I took my little dog, Jasmine, to the vet for a "dental check-up." I thought I would pick her back up around 4:00 in the afternoon, take her home and go to my small group.

She shivered and shook as I carried her in to the doctor/dentist. I mentioned that her breath smelled BAD. The vet literally stuck his nose in her mouth, breathed deeply, and then murmured. Hmmm. He asked me several questions. Sniffed some more and announced that she had the beginnings of kidney failure. He could diagnose this by smelling my dog's breath?

By three in the afternoon, sure enough two different tests proved his diagnosis. My little old dog is in the beginning of kidney disease. Because of the delay for diagnostics she wasn't ready to go home until 6:00. My study starts at 6:00, so there was no way I was going to make it in time. I drove home with a groggy dog with a sore mouth, kidney disease and three different medications to give her each day.

Isn't life like that? You expect something simple and it turns into something much more complicated. So my day ended up by picking up my dog with first stage kidney failure and eight pulled teeth. I missed Bible study and the birthday cake.

It wasn't a horrible day, just a day when life happened differently than I expected.

Old Times, Old Friends

Right before New Year's Eve, I chatted with a dear friend.It was one of those conversations that when I hung up the phone I knew I had left so much unsaid. I wanted her to know how much I loved her. That she has been one of the biggest blessings in my life, but yet, I couldn't find words that didn't sound trite.

Although I write for vocation and ministry, I was at a loss to convey the deepest feelings of my heart. I wanted to talk about the heartache in our lives. I held back afraid that I was misunderstanding or reading something between the lines of our conversation that was not there. I was afraid to ask. I was frightened for myself and what the future held for both of us.

Oddly that same night Mark and I went to dinner with some new neighbors. We talked and shared information about each others lives. We ended up visiting for almost four hours without running out of things to say. We didn't share deep things. We didn't speak of our lives heartaches, but spoke lightly of our past and current goals for 2009.

What was the difference between these two conversations? The first is a deep relationship that weaves through many areas of my life. It's too important to me to misspeak. it is a forever friendship filled with many of life's unknowns. The second new friendship was just that--new. It was surface and not important to me if I said or did something that they might consider ignorant or silly. It was a beginning friendship, important yes, but not a my heart's core.

As we start 2009, hug your friends. And consider this quote by C.S. Lewis,"
Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art ... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival."

One last thing, here is a great trivia topic. It comes from a excerpt from my Bible study, Perplexing Proverbs. When give your friends that big bear hug them, ask them about meaning of the New Year's song. "Auld Lang Syne"

"Auld Lang Syne" is an ancient Scottish song. It was sung for hundreds of years before the lyrics were actually written down in the 1700s. A close translation of the words “auld lang syne” is “times gone by.” So on New Year’s Eve we sing to friends and friends of the past.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.