Strange, Sad, Weird, Funny or Wonderful

I love lists. Last night as Alec and I took turns trying to knock over his Lego guys with rubber bands, I started thinking about some of the strange, sad, or wonderful things that have happened in my/our lives over the years. So far, here's the run down of things remembered:

• One evening when Alec was about 8 we were sitting in our living room and he said, "I wish I could see a bat. I've never seen a bat. I'd love to see a bat!" Not 5 minutes later a bat swooped down out of the chimney and started circling the room.
• On one visit to the Dr. I happened to peek at my medical chart when the Dr. left the room. At the bottom of the chart were the words: Judy may need psychiatric care.
• Walking past our oldest son's room one morning I noticed his mattress was flipped upside down. His sheets and mattress pad were between the mattress and the box spring. I called him and asked him what on earth had happened to his bed. His reply: "I have no idea. I just woke up this morning and it was like that."
• I was asked out by 3 guys in 1 day in high school.
• I ran over my husband's dog and killed it.
• Twice, after much prayer, when there wasn't enough money to pay our bills and buy groceries we were anonymously given bags of groceries and some cash. The money equaled exactly, to the penny, what we needed to pay the bills.
• I had straight hair my entire life. For the last 6 years it's been getting more and more curly.
• One of our sons was born in a kiddie pool in the middle of our living room.
• I found an actual arrowhead in a creek.
• For 8 years we rented a house, a large pond, and 20 some acres. We were allowed to cut down the dead trees for firewood. One afternoon we were out cutting wood and the caretaker wandered by. He saw what we were doing and said, "You really shouldn't be doing that. The people who built this place are dead, but their spirits might wander by and they wouldn't like to see those trees coming down."
• Our oldest son has 1 key for his truck. One. Uno. This is a kid who loses stuff like there was no tomorrow. He's never had a copy made because it would cost too much and be too much of a hassle. (The key has one of those electronic thingies in it. I'm not sure what it does.) Anyway-one morning last year he couldn't find The Key. It didn't take long before the whole family was pulling the house apart trying to find it. After about a half hour of searching Benjamin suddenly, casually, grabbed a hanger. He straightened it out and scooped it under the dishwasher and pulled out his key. Then he sauntered out the door, acting like he'd known where the key was the whole time and had been testing the rest of the family to see how good we were at finding things.
• I worked in a nursing home when I was 19. One morning when I arrived at work I was told to go to "Leda's" room. As I walked in her door I saw that she was dying. I held her hand and talked to her until she passed away. I was then told to wash her body before "they" came and took it to the hospital. That was my first up-close experience with death and really made me see that earth is just a passing through place.

20. I got kicked out of youth group in high school.

Back to School

My introspective mood is lingering so I've been working on another list. This one is a list of things I either want to, or should, learn. Like my other list, I've tried to come up with 46 things
to post. Here goes:

• How to make a really good omlet
• be a better listener
• study the bible affectively
• style hair. I cut all the hair in our family but it would be great to actually style it!
• draw birds, flowers, some insects, vines, etc.
• be honest and humble in my relationship with Jesus
• try quilling
• clean our upholstry
• what makes each of our sons tick
• be an encourager
• press flowers without having them mold or fade in color
• pray without ceasing
• share my faith with anyone without fear and with wisdom, knowledge, and in love
• I want to try playing a Theramin
• how to get through menopause without any synthetic hormones
• speak in front of a group of people
• basic theology
• computer stuff-I'm not even sure what there is to learn so I can't be more specific
• see the flow of world history and God's hand in it all
• make scones as good as the ones you buy at Panera
• better wife-Mike will know what that means.
• how to obey God instantly
• basics in music appreciation
• how to retain details-I'm a BIG picture person
• to defend the gospel
• world geography
• give our youngest son a love of learning
• more of what it means to glorify God and enjoy Him forever
• understand the chronological flow of the bible
• use my camera without it being on "Automatic Everything"
• make cards
• quit comparing myself to others and accept myself the way I am
• make the ultimate chocolate chip cookies
• understand my husband and why he thinks the way he does. (Is that possible?!)
• scrapbook with ease
• have people over without breaking out in hives!
• apply make-up
• apologetics
• communicate with our sons
• refute wrong doctrine with wisdom
• learn more about basic worldviews
• make a pinecone wreath
• books of New Testament in order
• a brief summary of each book in the bible
• how to be a great mother-in-law (No, no wedding bells yet. Just thinking ahead....)
• live with Eternity in view