I AM A WEIRDO

Yeah, I admit it, I am a puzzle, even to myself.

Kinda like this quote from Winston Churchill:

"It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma."

For instance, I sorta have a *rough-and-tumble* side to me.

Though I wasn't really a tomboy growing up, I did indeed have less-than-girly moments.

I still do.

Wanna know some?

(You are saying yes, right?) 


I am terribly proud of the fact that my dad taught me the *proper* way to throw a baseball, shoot a basket, and pass a football in a perfect spiral.


My brother and I used to play *army* all the time.  I liked his G.I. Joe action figures, his Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars, and his Tonka trucks.


I love that my very first car was a stick shift – a Mercury Capri.  (A four-on-the-floor variety, not three-in-a-tree).


I once drove that Mercury Capri, with the awesome stick shift, at 109 mph. Stupid, yes, but I was racing a guy, in another Capri, and wanted to prove my mettle.


I once rode on the back of a motorcycle in the desert at about 95 mph. Also stupid, but very exhilarating.


I loved driving my dad's Firebird and later, his Corvette.  I now love driving my sons' Challenger or Ford 150 truck.  Oh, and "The Hub's" Jeep Wrangler, with the stick shift.


I used to play handball and racquetball against my guy-friends…and WIN.


I really liked showing off my sports injuries – like jammed fingers.  Once, when my brother and I were playing catch, I missed the baseball and it hit me in the eye.  I was rather excited about having my first black eye – except it never materialized past a little purple shading on my eyelid that looked like eyeshadow.  Grr.


I once played football with my brother, my cousin, and a neighbor – all boys – TACKLE football – and scored, both passing and rushing.


I LOVE watching sports of all kinds, but my favorites are football and hockey. The more contact, the better.


I use men's deodorant – it smells better to me, and works better.


I have been known to wear boxer shorts because THEY. ARE. COMFORTABLE.


I have one favorite piece of lounging attire – my husband's sweatpants and a flannel shirt.


I enjoy, really enjoy, camping – in a tent – roughing it.  I am not particularly upset by dirty hair or a smelly body – (after all, that's what men's deodorant is for!)


I have my very own bag of camping gear – my own flashlight, Swiss army knife, Leatherman tool, rock pick – would love to add my own hatchet and shovel.


I also have my own hammer, screwdrivers, and measuring tape.  Don't use them much – but I like having them around.


I am intrigued by the idea of wilderness survival.


I like snakes - (the non-venomous, in-captivity, small variety).


I love off-road four-wheeling exploration.


I prefer leather furniture, dark woods, earth tones, straight and traditional lines.  I'm not real big on patterns.  Our living room looks like an old English library – and our house is an effort to replicate an old hunting lodge/cabin – just the way I like it.



I've got lots more.  But you get the idea.  However, sometimes I'm a paradox to myself.  Yeah, I have these *rugged* parts of me, but then at other times, I act like such a girl.

But isn't that what makes humans so wonderful?  We're all so different, so distinctive – such an interesting mixture of traits and qualities, such an eclectic brew of likes and dislikes.  We're full of consistency and contradiction.

And, at the end of the day, we are exactly who God created us to be.

(Well, not the sin part – but you know what I mean).


And we are meant to be here.

Planned and loved before the creation of the earth.  Woven in the womb. Intricately and wonderfully made.

One-of-a-kind.

Placed on this earth by our Creator.  Purposefully placed. Intentionally placed.  Meaningfully placed.

For just such a time as this.


I'm sure you are familiar with the story of Esther.  And though the name of God isn't specifically mentioned in this Old Testament book, His Presence leaps off every page.

There can be no question of God's hand in Esther's entire life.  Her background, her experiences, her placement at just the right places at just the right times, her courage, her wisdom.

The way that God invited her to be part of His Master Plan.


It is no different with us.

We are unique to this lifetime, this decade, this year, this day.

And God intends to use each one of us – through the way He created us.  Every mixed and mysterious and multi-faceted way that He put us together.


So, let's let Him do that.

Let's embrace the uniqueness that is called ME.  The things that make sense, and the things that don't.

The consistencies and the contradictions.

And let us be continually open to the leading of God in our lives, our unique lives, just like Esther was.


For we are here, at just such a time as this.

The Camping Couple - Roughing It

"Who knows if perhaps you – YOU, just you, uniquely you, only you – were made for just such a time as this?" (My paraphrase of Esther 4:14)


"LORD, you have examined my heart

and know everything about me.

You know when I sit down or stand up.

You know my thoughts even when I'm far away.

You see me when I travel

and when I rest at home.

You know everything I do.

You know what I am going to say

even before I say it, LORD.

You go before me and follow me.

You place your hand of blessing on my head.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too great for me to understand!

I can never escape from your Spirit!

I can never get away from your presence!

If I go up to heaven, you are there;

if I go down to the grave, you are there.

If I ride the wings of the morning,

if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

even there your hand will guide me,

and your strength will support me.

I could ask the darkness to hide me

and the light around me to become night—

but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body

and knit me together in my mother's womb.

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,

as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

You saw me before I was born.

Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out

before a single day had passed.

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.

They cannot be numbered!

I can't even count them;

they outnumber the grains of sand!" 

(From Psalm 139, NLT)

Might I encourage you to join me in this prayer:

Lord, sometimes I don't understand myself.  I'm complicated.  I am a crazy mixture of things.  A product of my background, my nature, my experiences. But, I want to embrace myself as the person that You created me to be. There's lots of work to do, yes, but You made me to be exactly that – ME. Thank You for making me in Your image, and for making me unique.  Please take all that I am, and make me useful for Your purposes.  I am no accident. I am where I am, just at this time, because You have brought me here.  You had this planned, long before I opened my eyes to the world.  Guide me, transform me, infuse me with Your Spirit.  May I ever continue to look more and more like You…

What are some unique things about your personality? 

(SIDENOTE: Might I just add another contradiction about me?  My lunch today: Slim-Fast and Cheetos.  Don't judge me...)

Linked today with:

Joan at SHARING HIS BEAUTY
Michelle at HEAR IT ON SUNDAY, USE IT ON MONDAY
Laura at PLAYDATES WITH GOD
Hazel at TELL ME A TRUE STORY
Jen at UNITE
Darlene at TITUS 2SDAYS
Jen at SOLI DEO GLORIA
Rachel at WHIMSICAL WEDNESDAYS
Tracy at WINSOME WEDNESDAY
Judith at WHOLEHEARTED WEDNESDAYS
Kasey at WALKING REDEEMED
Beth at THREE WORD WEDNESDAY
Jenifer at WORD FILLED WEDNESDAY
Lyli at THOUGHT-PROVOKING THURSDAY
Bonnie at FAITH BARISTA JAM
Laura at FAITH FILLED FRIDAY
Mel at ESSENTIAL FRIDAYS
Charlotte at SPIRITUAL SUNDAYS
Sandy at STILL SATURDAY
Barbie at WEEKEND BREW
Janis at SUNDAY STILLNESS

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