25 Things...

Several people have tagged me on Facebook to do this list, but I thought I'd post it here instead.

25 Random Things You May or May Not Know about Me

1. I love to play "Rock Band" with my nephews and can score a perfect 100% singing "Wanted Dead or Alive." I'm that good.
2. I am obsessed with celebrities and talk about their lives like I know them personally. I subscribe to both "People" and "Us Weekly" so that I can keep up with how many kids Brangelina have this week.
3. I once ate an entire box of Krispy Kreme donuts in two days. By myself.
4. When I look in the mirror after a shower and see the hail damage on my thighs, it makes me want to throw up.
5. I would have married 5 or so of my ex-boyfriends if they would've asked. Thankfully God protects the stupid from themselves.
6. When I got my first portable cell phone, I talked to my mom and my niece every day after work. I really, really miss talking to both of them.
7. My musical taste is so varied that I have everything from Miley Cyrus to Ozzy Osborne to George Jones on my iPod.
8. I love to read. I own hundreds of books and re-read books all the time. Not the classics... romance novels.
9. I watch way too much TV. I own two DVRs and have 29 shows on my series record list.
10. I cannot get a pedicure or go to the doctor without first shaving my legs.
11. I drove the getaway car in college for what could be legally construed as criminal mischief.
12. There are 5,172 songs in my iTunes library.
13. I used to have a crush on my friend the lawyer, but I'm kinda over it. And I realize he wasn't that good of a friend.
14. I never thought I'd be 36 and unmarried, but it's not as bad as I thought it would be.
15. If I had my life to live over again, I would have chosen a career as a sideline reporter for the NFL.
16. I need to buy new pants because mine are too big and that makes me really, really happy.
17. They posted and mailed my diploma before I rewrote my master's thesis, so I never fixed it or put a copy in the library.
18. I drink way too much Diet Coke... 8-12 cans a day most days.
19. I can watch football non-stop for days on end, but I don't like baseball at all. Or pro basketball.
20. I don't like Oprah. Or any of the books she recommends.
21. I have never owned a car for more than four years with the exception of my last vehicle, the TrailBlazer that I had for 5.5 years. (which is why)
22. There have only been six months in the past 20 years that I, or my parents, didn't have a car payment on my vehicle.
23. My three dream dinner guests, living or dead, are George Bush (#41), Tom Brady, and the Apostle Paul.
24. I am a very good cook, working my way to great.
25. I own every episode of "Friends" on DVD and I kick butt on the trivia game.

I'm not tagging any of you, but feel free to post your list on your blog... or on mine.

Stay warm, peeps!

Yet I will hope in Him

Lately, it seems that bad things keep happening to good people. The world is full of unfairness and suffering, and it's easy to wonder where God is in all of it. How can He allow these things to happen?

I'm reminded of Job, one of God's most faithful servants, who lost everything. Yet he remained faithful. I envy Job his faithfulness, because my first reaction is seldom to trust God, to know He's in control, but rather to question Him and to feel very distant from Him.

God allowed Satan to do everything he wanted to Job except kill him, and Job responded, “Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him” (Job 13:15). Job surely didn’t understand why God had allowed bad things to happen, but he knew that God was good and continued to trust in Him.

How I pray for faith like Job. Or to be like Paul and Silas, shackled in jail, singing God's praises. Because when things seem the worst, that's when we should praise Him most.

To know Him, to make Him known

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
~ Phllippians 3:7-11

I've always felt a kinship with the Apostle Paul. Not so much with his zeal for missions, but more so with his impatience and stubbornness. God had to strike him down to get him under control; and Paul never took that gift of grace for granted.

Just as Paul is my spiritual hero, Philippians is my favorite book of the Bible, and the verses above are my favorite passage. I love that Paul considered himself a bondservant of Christ. I admire how committed he was to spreading the gospel. Whenever I feel discouraged in my walk with God, all I have to do is re-read the book of Philippians, and I remember my calling.

Today was my first opportunity to attend chapel at work, and oh, how I needed that. Sometimes it's so easy to get bogged down in stress and forget why we do what we do. How fortunate I am to work at an institution whose motto is "Christ over all."

Last night I was sitting in my living room, feeling sorry for myself and wondering if I'd made the right decision in changing jobs. And man, did God ever speak to me during chapel today. For months, I've been asking Him for the same thing. My daily prayer to Him was, "I want to know You." How very lucky I am that He's led me to this job. This place where I not only can worship Him in the open, but get to know Him better. We open every meeting in prayer; I can assure you that helps to put issues in perspective.

I often forget that some of God's lessons are best learned through adversity. Paul and Silas found a reason to sing while shackled in jail; I can certainly find a reason to sing while faced with feeling overwhelmed and stressed.

I do want to know Him, even if that means sharing in His sufferings. But what a reward waits for us. I can't wait. How about you?