30 Day Photo Challenge: Day One

In the hustle and bustle of life, I have neglected the blog lately.  Lily is taking part in a thirty-day photo challenge on Facebook.  I thought it might be a fun way to get active with the blog again.

Day One:  A picture of yourself with ten facts.

1.  I love people. Red and yellow, black and white, I love them all.  I have friends with white collars, blue collars, and red necks.  I have dined with wealthy families in breathtaking homes, and I have had supper with a family while sitting on a five-gallon bucket turned upside down.  I have loved all those experiences, and I am richer for them.

2.  It hurts my heart when people make fun of any of these groups of people.  I just don't understand why people feel that is necessary.

3.  I have at least thirty children and counting.  I gave birth to two of them.  The others know me as "second mom."  They all make my life fulfilling and exciting.

4.  I am single.  After twenty-one years of marriage, it still feels so weird to say that.  But I can now say it and be content with where I am.  I am single, and my life is good.

5.  I have no idea where I will be in three years.  After my girls graduate, there is nothing holding me back.  I can go where the current takes me.  That is kind of exciting!

6.  I have a hate/love relationship with running.  I hate it when I am out there feeling as if I am about to die, but I love it when I finish and experience that amazing "runner's high."

7.  I want people to know that no matter what happens in your life and no matter what you lose or have taken from you, there is one thing that no one can take away from you:  hope.  No matter how dark the days seem, there is always hope for a better tomorrow.  The "better tomorrow" may be weeks, months or even years away, but do not let anyone tell you that it is not there.  Guard that knowledge with that hope deep inside you that is yours and cannot be taken away.

8.  If I had to choose a last meal, it would be my mother's fried chicken, Elizabeth's yeast rolls, my Granny's lane cake.  Of course, it would be topped off with an ice cold diet coke that had been placed in the freezer just long enough to be a little slushy!

9.  For fifteen years as a pastor's wife, I lived life in a fish bowl.  Looking back, it seemed as if the bowl kept getting smaller as the observers increased.  I am now out of that bowl and swimming in the ocean, and I never dreamed it could feel so good.  One of my favorite memories of 2010 was attending a Christmas Eve service with a special friend.  I was a face in the huge crowd, and it was an amazing experience.  It was just me, my friend, and God.  I was able to go and truly worship and prepare my heart for Christmas Day.

10. In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on.  I hope Robert Frost doesn't mind my borrowing his quote for my tenth fact.  I would like to add that not only does life go on, but with the healthy combination of faith, family, and friends, it can be better than it was before. Marilyn Monroe had a similar view to this.  She once said, "Sometimes things fall apart so that better things can fall together."  I don't quite agree with her.  I think it would be better said, "When things fall apart, if we lay the  broken pieces in God's Hands, He can cause better things to fall together!"