Ringing Like a Bell

What do you want? Has anyone ever asked you that question? If you've ever gone to a restaurant in the mall food court, you've surely been asked the same question by a bored fast food employee with a mouth full of gum and an attitude. Usually the answer is as simple as, "Fries and a coke." You should see me in a new restaurant. I nearly fly into a panic when I'm handed the menu because I want it all. In my heart I want to taste every new, good, delicious thing, so much so that it's a problem for me. Sometimes I take forever making up my mind or order quickly and experience a strange regret later that I didn't try the "special funky chicken." Most of the time it leads me to overeat. I think, "Just one more bite!" or "Of course, I'll have dessert." There's nothing inherently wrong with enjoying good food. In fact, it's one of the delights of this life, but, for me, the unhealthy relationship I have with food h

Have you ever read The Shack by Wm. Paul Young? When it came out a few years ago, it caused a little stir among my group of friends, partly because Young portrays God as a sassy black woman. There are a few other things in the book that raised my eyebrow, but on the whole I really loved the book. It made me cry -- in a good way. Mr. Young does a good job tearing away the religious layers we've placed around God, Jesus, and The Holy Spirit. I also think he has a way of explaining difficult and abstract things in a really accessible way. The Shack is an allegory after all. Anyway, I was reminded of a passage from the book a few days ago when I saw this Hallmark commercial. Here's the passage from the book: "Consider our little friend here," she [God] began. "Most birds were created to fly. Being grounded for them is a limitation within their ability to fly, not the other way around." She paused to let Mack think about her statement. "You, on the

If there's ever a Lifetime movie made about my life, I'm convinced it will amount to nothing more than a chubby actress bumbling through life enduring a series of clumsy, self-inflicted accidents. Scene one : she falls off her tricycle and skins her knees. Scene two : she loses her grip on the merry-go-round and is launched into a huge puddle of red mud. Scene three : an entire montage of bike wrecks. Scene four : she knocks down an entire row of tables at McDonald's. Scene five : an entire montage of horrendous athletic accidents -- tripping, bobbling the ball, getting smacked in the face... Scene six : she falls, head first, down the bleachers. Scene seven : she loses her balance and rolls down a hill on her college campus. Scene eight : she tumbles off her stool while her students are testing. Scene nine : she slips while trout fishing and nearly breaks her arm. Last night I added a new one to the list; I fell out of the church van while Christmas caroling.

Do you ever think about what your younger self would think about you now? I do that sometimes. Usually the younger self I envision is my nine-year-old self. There are reasons for that -- my ninth year was a big one. I was put on my first diet then; something that has been an ongoing struggle ever since. I got baptized and committed my life to Jesus that year, still the best decision I ever made . When I think back, that was the year right before I waded out into the choppy waters of being a teen. As best I can tell, that year was the end of my childhood. I understood for the first time that I was responsible for this life of mine and that I had decisions to make. I also spent a lot of time then imagining my grown-up self. My friend Joey and I talked about it all the time. We discussed important things: whether or not we'd move away from our home town and what we thought middle school would be like.  I imagine my nine-year-old self would be happy about some things and disappointed

I decided today to write a little update about my dessert fast. If you'll recall, I explained it all four months ago in my post called Confessions of a Sugar Addict . So that means I haven't had any cake, ice cream, or candy for a while now. At first it was really hard. In fact, I dreamed about it -- a lot. Every dream went something like this -- I'd be in a store walking around shopping. Then I'd look down at a package of candy in my hand, usually chocolate, and I would start eating it. About the time I was really enjoying it, taste and all, I would remember that I was supposed to be doing this dessert fast. I'd spit the candy out and feel terribly guilty for forgetting about God and the commitment I've made. I had that dream several times for the first two months. Now, I haven't had a dream like that in a several weeks, thankfully. I don't feel like the longing for sugar is constantly nagging at the back of my mind anymore. I've also managed

One Christmas when I was in high school the adult ladies Bible class at my church, The Hamilton Church of Christ , decided to host a special dinner for the teen girls in our congregation. Each of us was paired up with a lady from the class as our 'buddy' for the evening. My buddy was Ms. Fayrene. When she came to pick me up, I gave her the Christmas pot holder set I'd picked out for her a few days before. She acted like I'd just given her a check for a million dollars, and right away she started talking about how much she loved the Christmas season, exclaiming that the gift was perfect. I'd always known her in a general way, but until I sat down in the front seat of her car, we'd never really talked one on one. She was wonderful. She asked me about my life and listened intently to what I had to say. The twenty minute ride to nearby Winfield was over in the blink of an eye. At The Boar's Butt (yes, it had a drive through), we stepped into a fabulously d