Hey, Siestas! We will do our random drawing later today as promised and, if you don’t mind a little delay, post our biography winners within the next forty-eight hours so we can leave time for you to respond to this post. I learned something new about you over the previous post: YOU ARE READERS. And I love that. Get a load of the number of comments to that post! Of course, it makes sense when you think about it. Blog readers usually are…well…readers. I have already ordered several books from your recommendations and others of you mentioned titles that stirred up great memories of biographies past.I am a dyed in the wool book nerd so this totally spoke my love language.
I’ve been thinking about something since AJ’s recent post about stepping back from her LPM job for the sake of her family. In that post and in the one that followed, we hashed over the painful truth that, actually, no one can do everything and, unless our all is Jesus, no one can have everything. We have limited resources of time, energy, and ability. But, I thought it would be fun to list a few things (dreams, if you will) that we’d each do…if only we could. If only we were not limited by time, energy, and ability, or money, for heaven’s sake. How would you complete the sentence, “If I could, I would…?” Here are the ground rules: YOU CAN ONLY NAME THREE THINGS. You have to choose. Keep in mind, these aren’t regrets. (i.e. “If I could, I would…live my whole life again without making that stupid choice.” We all have plenty of those and they’re not likely to encourage others much.) The things we’re listing on this post are wishes! Dreams can say a lot about a person and reshape how we picture one another. For instance, maybe I’ll find out today that Moose Mama secretly wishes she could sky dive, or katiegfromtennessee has a long standing dream of being a zookeeper, or Sister Lynn has always wanted to take tuba lessons. You see, this could change everything. OK, well not everything. Not even much. But, for crying out loud, wouldn’t it at least be a little fun in a grueling week? Here are three of mine:
If I could, I would…
1) Travel to every country on earth.
2) Teach elementary school Sunday School.
3) Learn sign language fluently.
OK, how about you?
Awww… just 3, Mamabeth?!!?!
1. Own a bed and breakfast with my daughter (the chef) and my cousins (decorators par excellence!) so we could share God’s love with travelers and especially provide a place for missionaries & preachers & Bible teachers to be refreshed 🙂
2. Learn to play the harp
3. Live & minister in Europe & travel to other historic & beautiful places to meet as many of God’s special people as I could this side of heaven!
Actually there is such a place in Kingston, Tennessee. Pastor’s rate is half price. And missionaries home on furlough stay free. It’s called Whitestone Country Inn.
Stayed there on our honeymoon 5 years ago. It is beautiful!!!
http://www.whitestoneinn.com/
Holy hugs!
I know that I am going against the rules, but I just have to share what just happened. Too put it simply, things have been especially trying the past few weeks and when I saw “if I could, I would…” I finished with “go back to July, 2007 before we found out that my late husband had a brain tumor. I want my old life back.” I started thinking about how good things were with our home and ministry and then it dawned on me that my baby girl was away from the Lord at that time. I instantly thought, “NO, I would rather my baby girl be back walking with the Lord and my husband home with the Lord, than to have my husband with me and my daughter astray.” Both events were painful, but only one was ordained of God, and that I could accept. Psa. 18:2, 30
My daughter just passed her three year anniversary of being drug free and will be getting married in a few weeks. Praise him! I will live in the present and in what he has for me now.
Wow, SIster. You’ve had HUGE things happen in your life. I am so sorry for your loss and so happy for your gain. Praise God for His sovereignty and wisdom and for the grace He’s applying to your lives.
Amen! Beth, I want to thank you for allowing God to use you as he does. You have had an enormous impact on my life.
In 1999 I did the study, “A Woman’s Heart, God’s Dwelling Place”. At one point you asked a question along these lines; how do you feel when you think about how precious you are to God? I thought, well I never have. I started thinking about my relationship with God. “I know that I love him” I thought to myself. “I do what I do because I love him.” But my relationship was like a work relationship, not an intimate one and I wanted an intimate one. I wanted to have feelings of love for God and wanted to feel his love towards me. That started my journey to intimacy with God. And that is what has enabled me to live victoriously despite adversity in my life.
Your honesty and transparency has also encouraged me to be honest and transparent about my past. My circumstances are different than yours but in the past couple of years God has freed me to share my past with others so that they may also be free. Praise him!
I could go on about all the things that God has shown me through you and about of your Bible studies that I’ve done and facilitated here and overseas, but I really want to just say thank you. I love you, my dear sister.
If I could I would:
1. Write children’s books.
2. Rent a home each summer in a wonderful place (different each year) that my entire family could gather in.
3. Travel all over the world.
If I could, I would…
1. Invent things… love to problem solve
2. Be a CNN anchor
3. Run many miles a day…with no knee pain
If I could I would:
1.Drive a 1959 Porsche roadster convertible
2.Love my kids/spouse/parents more perfectly
3.Figure out what I really theologically believe
1. Own a small shop
2. Visit Italy with my family for at least 3 months and immerse myself in the language, food, customs and beautiful surroundings.
3. Bring joy to someone everyday.
1.) be the voice of a character in an animated movie
2.) open a safe haven house for children in the US who are victims of sex trafficking
3.) run a marathon
*I’ll converse with you when you learn sign language! I studied to be a sign language interpreter!*
Ok my wishes:
1) To travel the world over the course of a year
2) To record a country album
3) To write a biography of my great-grandmother’s life. She was an extraordinary woman with an amazing life story.
If I could I would:
1. Write a bestseller. Something that even Oprah wants to read!
2. Teach and share God’s Word with women around the country.
3. Own enough houses and property for all my kids and family!
1. Sing beautifully
2. Live where creation shows itself off – mountains, river, countryside, — and it would have to be near my parents and sisters
3. Return to being a stay-at-home mom/wife (I miss flexibility and freedom and getting to go to lunch occasionally) (of course, earning money helps)
If I could, I would:
1) Study the Bible, one on one, & from cover to cover, under a mentor who truly loves God and is excited to share that love. (A strong hint to have one on one study of the entire Bible with Beth Moore)
2) Learn to play the piano.
3) Give my entire family hearts that love God and desire to serve him.
1. Vacation every year in the mountains of MO, WY or CO OR on any gulfside beach in FL…or at least vacation to each of those ONCE so my husband and daughter could experience their beauty like I have.
2. Become a professional (or at least semi-pro) photographer.
3. Learn to play the guitar…acoustic preferably.
If I could I would (I wish I was going to give really spiritual answers here):
1. Go to Israel
2. Go on that cookie diet…like the one on tv…but only chocolate chip soft baked.
3. Raise my new phone (that just broke) from the dead since Jesus didn’t see fit yet to resurrect it (still believing Him if He wants to)…
If I could, I would:
1. Buy a cow. (I have an obsession!)
2. Travel the world with my Man
3. Live closer to my family when we finally settle.
1. Have that one more talk with my Dad and as him Why. My Father betrayed my love and trust in him and died before I had a chance to talk to him again.
2. Council every hurting person and tell them that Jesus never fails.
3. Find a cure for depression and mental illnes so millions would no longer suufer.
If I could, I would . . .
1) Have a home on the shores of Lake Michigan
2) Visit missionaries in our retirement years in an effort to help and encourage them
3) Live to see my 3 daughters marry godly men and live happily ever after just like their dad and me 🙂
1. Own my home free and clear
2. Spend a day with my loved ones on leave from heaven
3. Eat all I want without gaining weight.
1. Start a charitable foundation.
2. Give my brother the money he needs to fund his business and send my parents on trips to Washington D.C. and the Holy Land.
3. Travel with my husband to parts of the U.S. and to Europe.
If I could, I would:
1) learn to play the guitar or bass
2) cruise around the world (however long that would take)
3) love without reserve (its hard breaking down walls)
1. I would write in-depth bible study just like beth’s, but for youth. There is nothing deep for them!
2. I would quit my job and stay at home.
3. I would buy a bed and breakfast and enjoythe slower pace!!
If I could, I would…
1. Hand select my oldest daughter’s (future) husband. (I know, it’s terrible of me.) It’s just that I have the perfect one already picked out for her.
2. Spend every single solitary day of my life on a boat out in the lake.
3. Minister alongside my children & grandchildren once my kiddos are all married with families!
If I could I would….
1. Be a United Nations Interpreter
2. Live in Hawaii
3. Go back in time to the Victorian Era
If I could I would:
1.) Marry the man I’m dating- within the next year.
2.) Travel the world- and really spend time in each place.
3.) Take my family and friends with me where ever I go.
If I could, I would…
1. Visit the Holy Land.
2. Work at a Christian Summer Camp
3. Visit our Compassion-Sponsored Child in Togo
1. rescue my daughter
2. play concert piano
3. write a book about my granmom
1. Be a world class musician
2. Live in the Netherlands
3. Get my Ph d
I’ve spent the last hour reading these and have had a blast…and feel like the most blessed girl in the world because God has given me most of the things everyone else wants…such as…
1. Stay at home, homeschooling mom to 4 with the 5th due in March.
2. We own a farm with a new home my hubby built (work in progress) BUT he builds pipelines so each year we travel to a new state for a few months…right now we’re in WY.
3. I had the privilege of piano lessons and got to go to school to study piano and church music…so all you siestas look me up and I’ll teach you!
Just to clarify, this is not meant to be a prideful post! I’m 11 wks pregnant and so sick and reading these posts was very humbling and made it necessary for me to praise Him publicly for my blessings. Thought I better get it done before these Wyoming rocks took my place. Thanks for letting me testify.
1. Be a full-time nouthetic counselor
2. Live on the beach
3. Change all the prideful hearts around me into ones that humbly love Jesus.
Just Dreaming lIst:
1. Captain a tugboat
2. Do math
3. Play the drums
1.) buy a huge RV, load up the kids and the dog and of course husband and spend a year touring the country.
2. Use same RV to go out on Friday nights and minister to the hookers and homeless not far from my door.
3. Go to medical school and become a pediatric cardiologist.
1- sleep for 24 hours straight (I have a 6 month old)
2- live on my husband’s family farm in a house with wood floors.
3- eat as much ice cream as i want without gaining a pound.
1. be a lead singer/actress in Broadway musicals
2. live in Europe…a different country every time I wanted to change places
3. live in a big farm house with lots of trees and flower gardens
If I could, I would:
1. move to Ethiopia with my family for whatever time God allows to serve the people who live in poverty like we just do not see here, or at least travel there 2x or so a year so I could see the people I love so much there–this is really the only thing I TRULY want right now, but since we can gave 3….
2. hire a cleaning person-seriously. That would be AMAZING. oooooh just the thought of it….
3, lose about 25 lbs-I am not a “dieter” and while I am not huge, I’d like to have clothes shopping not be so difficult b/c of things just not fitting well. But, I don’t like to exercise so hmmm, guess that is why this is a dream haha 🙂
I’m so where you are on #3 – and I hate to sweat! 😉
I would
1. be debt free
2. move to s.w china
3. build amazing houses
I love to stop and day dream like this.
1. Visit Israel.
2. Speak Spanish fluently.
3. Sing well
1. Condition my stomach to win an eating competition (not a hot dog competition- more like a burrito or hamburger competition)
2. Be part of the pit crew in the Baja 1000
3. Go on a mission trip to an orphanage so I could hold and pray over each and every precious child there.
If I could, I would…
1. Travel 6 months out of the year with my husband and kids.
2. Hire a housekeeper that also cooks and occasionally does childcare.
3. become an FBI agent.
I wrote the first three that came time and didn’t read anyone else’s first so that I wouldn’t be swayed on my ideas LOL! Picking JUST three was very hard 😉
If I could:
1 – I would donate obscene amounts of money to friends and charities in need.
2 – I would try every adventure out there at least once, like kite surfing and rock climbing.
3 – I would figure out the path God has set out for me, and then take it.
If I could, I would…
1. Speak French and Spanish fluently.
2. Spend a summer in Europe with my husband.
3. Significantly and anonymously help EVERY person in need that I come in contact with.
If I could I would;
1. Learn Spanish as second language
2. Play the piano
3. Take Ballroom Dance Lessons
If I could I would:
#1 – Feed the hungry
#2 – Take my kids on a much needed vacation
#3 – Sing in a Christian Rock Band
If I could I would . . .
1) learn to play the fiddle
2) go on an archeological dig
3) write a christian “cozy” mystery
1. Have a job where I travel all the time.
2. Write a book.
3. Work for Living Proof Ministries.
Wait! Wait! I take back one! I’m not sure which one, but one! I would absolutely want to work in Disneyland or DisneyWorld. That’s like one of my biggest dreams EVER!!! Can’t believe I forgot. It’s been a long day.
If I could, I would….
1) adopt children so they can experience a loving home… specifically special needs kids… even more specifically, Deaf children….
2) travel the world, even to antarctica,
3) marry a man who is willing to do the above, and more.
Beth,
I taught deaf children for 16 years and I would love to see your DVD sessions interpreted for them. It is difficult to interpret on the fly. . . something about the umm speed with which you talk and the copious amounts of information. A really good interpreter could do it. . . I am not one of those. Interpreting and speaking for ones self is totally different. Your teaching is soooo rich and so good, it would be wonderful for them to have access in their homes and churches too.
I love to catch glimpses of the wonderful ladies you have interpreting at your live sessions. They seem to do a fantastic job. It would be great if they could tape them and then somehow mesh the two of you together. I know the sessions are closed captioned but not everyone can read all that. Some might truly benefit from seeing it in their “native language”.
BTW did you know they have an American Sign Language version of the New Testament now? They have been working on translating it for the past 30 years from the original languages. This is not a translation from English but from the original Greek and Aramaic. How cool is that? It was produced and is provided through Deaf Missions. They are located in Council Bluffs Iowa. Any Deaf friends out there??? You may want to check this out. They have parts of the Old Testament done now as well and continue to work on the rest.
1. Have a lovely singing voice that would help lift others up in Praise and Worship.
2. I would love to write a book, I know I have a book inside me and I believe the lessons God has taught me and the love He has shown me could be used to bless other women. I know from years in Women’s Bible Study classes that my life story isn’t so different from that of many others, but they are often silent and need someone to encourage them and speak for them.
3. To be in fulltime ministry,I was blessed to spend three years on our church staff before we moved. I would LOVE to serve Him fulltime again.
Have loved reading all the answers…
Travel for a year with my husband and visit every state with no schedule….
Be able to attend every Living Proof Live
Banish fear forever…and live free of it…preferably between the beach and Disney World
I wish I could play piano
I would like travel to Alaska, Hawaii with my husband
Travel to the beach whenever I wanted
1)Sing with Travis Cottrell’s worship team
2) Work at LPM ministering to mom’s with children still at home
3)Be able to sew and design clothing
But being a wife to my hubby and mama to my 3 healthy, wonderful children and teaching them at home is a dream come true, too!!
1. eat oreos or chocolate chip cookies EVERY day, and not get fat.
2. never need sleep, or be tired, so that I could get all my chores done and still have time to read at night while everyone else sleeps.
3. watch a video made by God that shows the events of the Bible from start to finish.