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?
Hmmmmm,
1. Run a marathon and know I have time to myself every day while training
2. Speak Spanish fluently to be more effective on mission trips
3. Travel to Canada every other month to spend time with family
1) Write
2) Take cooking classes (b/c I need to)
3) Travel anywhere and everywhere
1. Perform in a Broadway show ( I did musical theater all through college and still have a love and passion for it)
2. Go on a dream vacation
3. Run a marathon
1. Get an RV and visit every state and national park over the course of a few years while I homeschool our son. Sound like a familiar TV show?
2. Play the harp. Not sure where I would put the harp in the RV.
3. I’m getting ready to do my 3rd one – finish my 1st ever sprint distance triathlon next weekend. Prayers are welcome!
1.) Study Turkish full time and become fluent.
2.) Take dance lessons – Tap, Ballet, and Jazz
3.) Go home for the weekend.
1) be in Christian rock band.
2) learn how to say Jesus loves you in every language.
3) meet and serve alongside every sister serving in Southeast Asia.
1. If I could I would go on a second honeymoon to Greece
2. If I could I would put every penny I earned toward student loans so I could be debt free in a year.
3. If I could I would be a best selling author.
1. Sing.
2. Speak another language.
3. Go to Israel. (Long plane rides freak me out!)
If I could, I would:
1) buy a vacation home in Friday Harbor, WA
2)quit work & open a Christian retirement home for the elderly who are neglected and feel unloved.
3) Finish the Climb to Kaiser bicycle ride in CA.
Thanks for the fun post!
1. Travel the world (too many places to name)
2. Be physically healthy
3. Be able to give millions to help to end poverty and sickness around the world
Man, it was hard narrowing it down to only 3 things!!
1) Write a mystery
2) Become a doctor
3) Write a praise song (I was a music major!)
1) Perform in a Broadway show also.
2) Spend a few years on the coast of France.
3) Take a dance class that taught ALL types of dance, I love them all.
1) own a cottage at the beach.
2) visit all 50 states before I turn 50.
3) see all my children saved and living for Christ
1) Travel America in an RV and go to each and every state.
2) Own horses.
3) Have time to read all the books I want to read.
1- go on an around the world cruise with my husband- combining our love of travel, with rest and water
2- teach a combo gospel/life course class to young, poor women – modifying their street smarts, adding Christ and providing guidance and support and life skills.
3- to fix-up my home so it can be open for meals and overnight guests – I want my home to be a warm haven of hope and love to people outside the family
I always really struggle with this question. I have a hard time getting past an “I can’t” mentality to “but God can” faith. So that would have to be number 1.
1. Faith that can move mountains.
2. Freedom from financial and physical limitations.
3. Be a learner.
I am super late in commenting, but I have to say that this idea of 3 wishes has had me thinking! So, after much consideration, here are my 3:
1. I wish I could dance the Tango
2. I wish I could be a secret agent in a ear bud/hidden microphone/wear a disguise kind of way
3. I wish I could have all my friends together in one place under one roof in order to tell them all how much their love has impacted my life
Thank you for making me think outside of what is normal in my life right now! It is fun to dream……
If I could I would;
-learn Italian then go to Italy so I could talk to the natives(does that count as two?)
-take “fiddle” lessons and play Bluegrass music to my hearts content
-travel to Scotland and see Guthrie castle where my ancestors supposedly lived.
I don’t think this post will ever end. If only we could get all the marathoners in one race cheering and encouraging each other, carrying each other to the finish! If only we could get all the authors into a critique group reading each others manuscripts and laughing and celebrating each insight and publishing! If only the airlines and hotels could make travel affordable for all these wanderlusters! But truly it is time that roots us…responsibilities.
Please, Miss Beth, unleash a statistician on these comments and tell us the true state of the Christian economy. How many mission trips, orphanages, safe-houses, etc are ready to burst forth and change the world? How can we get these people together to support each other and make it happen?!
ME? 1. Become a hermit totally dedicated to the needs of the AIDS Orphans at the Christ Church Christian Care Centre in Johannesburg South Africa.
2. Finish my novel and share it with like minded people. Anyone up for a critique group?
3.Learn to play the keyboard for worship. It’s a totally different genre from the classical piano I teach.
If I could, I would play the piano wonderfully, gloriously, magnificently (for myself and God) and not necessarily in front of people.
If I could, I would travel all over the world.
If I could, I would share every last moment I have to read all the great books of the world.
If I could, I would…
1. adopt Rachel
2. be rid of this pesky shyness for once and for all!
3. fly!
1. Travel the world – mostly on a motorcycle.
2. Speak multiple languages (including sign language, I know it is not spoken)
3. Perform surgery
If I could, I would:
1. Adopt all the children who don’t have a loving mom to cover them in kisses every day!
2. Buy a farm and buy all the animals my mom wouldn’t let me have when I was little and let all my adopted kids learn to love all of God’s creatures!
3. Give my 2 girls a world-class education by taking an “international” summer vacation every year.
Courtney
Hi Courtney,
Wow! your dreams are so similiar to mine. I will be praying for your dreams, remember, NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD!
I hope you had a great holiday weekend!
Sis in Christ
Tina
If I could I’d spend a month in Italy touring every nook and cranny
If I could I’d be a housewife.
If I could I’d give more and live on less
1) Get my pilot’s license…
2) Decorate homes built for the homeless…
3) Speak Portuguese fluently…
Chiming in late. Here’s my 3 wishes. I wish I could…
1. Run a marathon
2. Have enough money and time to go out every day and take a needy person out to lunch or buy them groceries.
3. Have an amazing singing voice. I would belt out some beautiful songs every day.
Hey Siestas
If I could, I would..
1. Speak and write Italian, French, Spanish and German
2. Have a cup of coffee in every country
3. miantain a fabulous rose garden in the backyard
Shannon in Kissimmee, Florida
1. Cover the walls of my home with art work done by me and others.
2. Always have enough good simple foods in my fridge and plenty of wonderful conversation available for the random person knocking at the door.
3. Be continually aware of the current ideas and fads that captivate the minds of our young people so that I could interact with them in meaningful ways.
1. learn to clog (my husband won dozen of awards as a child in competitive clogging)
2. ball room dance with my husband
3. be a ‘fly girl’ backup dancer for hip hop
If I could I would….
~ Be Debt Free!!
~ Learn to Listen more and talk less!!
~ Invest in a home at the beach!!
Beth, Oh my goodness, I’ve had way too much fun with this this weekend and Lord knows I needed some fun this weekend! It’s been a rough one! But after a conversation I had with my mom and my girls on speaker phone today, I have to add one more. I want to own a real live giraffe! You know since we can dream. I came up with this idea after my daughter Angela told her about what WebKinz she wants. Those are stuffed animals, but more importantly you can regiser them on the WebKinz website and build this whole world for your WebKinz. My girls love it and have a whole bunch of them. Angela usually gives me the stuffed animals, because she really doesn’t care about them. She just wants the code for the animal on her WebKinz account. She told my mom she wants a dolphin (my mom’s making birthday and Christmas lists) and I objected, “I thought you wanted a giraffe. Mom, she wants a giraffe.” Angela laughed and explained to my mom that I love giraffes and that she promised she’d give me the giraffe if she gets one or I buy her one. My mom said it sounded like she needed to just buy me a giraffe. After we humg up, I thought, “A real one! Oh, whouldn’t that be fun!” Of course, I knew that’s not what she meant, but I love the thought!
1. Adopt a sibling group through foster care
2. Start the orphan care ministry that I’d dreaming of in Orlando…
3. Go to New York City for a week of Broadway shows!
If I could I would…
1) be a stay-at-home mom/writer
2) learn to read, write and speak Russian and Italian, then spend a month or two in each country, coming alongside ministries working with women and teens caught in and rescued from the human trafficking industry.
3) spend tons of my time with my family traveling to see all of God’s amazing artistry in nature
Stink, Beth! I almost missed it! This is about the 10th focus in the last week about dreams, dreaming, thinking outside of my norm etc. etc. God is doing something and I think I might be excited to see what it is.
I know this is a little late but
If I could, I would…
1) Travel as much as I possibly could handle.
2) Not work at all but do all volunteering/ministry work
3) Be a professional photographer
If I could, I would…
1. Be a Marine Biologist and swim with and study whales
2. Be a ballerina
3. Be a Christian Fiction writer
If I could, I would
1) learn to play the drums
2) travel to remote countries and live with the people.
3) Become a trained BEP’s in house artist
1 — Go to the Tour de France and follow the whole three week saga in person
2 — Walk the Appalachian Trail, ( mind you I don’t like tents so there may be a little problem- GRIN )
3 — Tour Israel
Three things… you made me think…
1. serve as a surrogate to another couple who desperately want to have children.
2. visit every baseball and football stadium in the US.
3. write a children’s book.
1. Sell it all and take the family to Sicily to live with my uncle and keep our family’s land forever.
2. Write a book.
3. Tell certain people exactly what I think. I used to do that and learned that “it’s nicer to be nice than say EVERYTHING you think” but sometimes you just want to.
1 … I wish I could … go back to August 1994 when my dear Dad and I went on the biggest hike of our lifetimes [while visiting Rocky Mountain National Park]… which required us to start up the trail with flashlights at 2:30 A.M.!!! Our plan was to hike up to the “boulderfield” and to see “the Keyhole” on Long’s Peak. [On this website, you can see why my Dad and I did not even consider going past the “Keyhole”…
http://www.mikes-hikes.com/mrh/mrh20.html%5D
It was one of the most incredible things I have ever done. And, like Miss Beth’s & Mr. Keith’s nature walk posted; it was a silent hike for my Dad and myself, as we were literally too out of breath to speak. But, as we found rocks to rest upon, we just sat there, huffing and puffing, and sipping from our canteens, we would listen … and listen some more… And, at one point on our hike in the darkness, we heard a fairly good sized waterfall, but our flashlights could not spot it. So, we marveled at the possibility of just being blessed enough to sit and listen to it there… And, oh my, were our listening senses heightened in such darkness. It felt like we were dreaming! It was fantastic! Then, hours later, dawn hit the mountainside that we were hiking towards, and it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen with my own 2 eyes! It makes me wonder if the person who wrote the song, “How Great Thou Art”, was looking at God’s glorious mountain grandeur in person … [I just found out that this person’s name was Carl Boberg [from Sweden], and English translator Stuart Hine…] [The lyrics were based on the Bible scripture Psalm 145:3 “Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.”]
2. I wish I could … go see where Jesus was born, and go where He and His disciples walked, without fear of danger …
3. I wish I could … comprehend the Bible better than I do now … [I guess this one is more of a prayer, isn’t it?] Bring it on, Lord Jesus ! 🙂
In Christ’s Love,
Jennifer O.
Janesville, Wisconsin
1. Get a degree in architecture
2. travel all over the world with my husband and somewhere in there go whitewater rafting
3. learn to play piano and guitar and sing
I’ve been out of town so this is late, but here’s my three:
1) Run a B&B with a view of the sea for people in ministry at no cost to them
2) Travel the world and write about my experiences
3) Speak many languages
1. travel, travel, travel In no particular order I would travel to these places first….Australia, Great Brittain, France, outer banks of NC, Nova Scotia, New Zealand.
2. learn to play the piano. Not just picking notes out but really really play!
3. learn sign language.
Hi Beth, What a nice surprise! I didn’t know that you have a blog, and came across it from another blog heart to heart with Holley.
So let me see….If I could
1 I would adopt all kids that needs a loving Family and home
2. I would go to work and give my pay to someone who can’t work.
3. I would buy a humongous farm and take in all animals that needs a home with Love.
Thanks for this opportunity for sharing!
In Christ’s Love & Prayers
Sis in Christ
Tina
If I could, I would:
1. Hire someone to come and clean my house for me on a weekly basis.
2. Completely restore my relationship with my sister so that we didn’t have any tension between us, EVER.
3. Live next door to my BFF.
Let’s see… I would love to:
1. Have a day out with 3 well known people (one day with each): you, Beth Moore; Reba McEntire; and Martina McBride (I hope you don’t mind sharing the spotlight with 2 country music stars 😉
2. Roll down a mountain in one of those hamster-ball type things- looks like a blast!
3. Be able to SEE that my life actually does make a difference in the lives of others around me.
Okay so this is a little late….but there’s some serious thinking to do on this!
1) Live on a farm upstate where I could raise horses and write children’s books
2) Serve in Calcutta at Mother Teresa’s mission
3) learn ASL fluently
If I could, I would…
…be multi-lingual.
…eat Chili’s Molten Chocolate Lava Cake everyday day and not gain a pound.
…host my own talk show 🙂
I am just new here today… but had so much fun reading all of these I just wanted to jump in and add mine too..
Three wishes, no limit…
1) Sky dive for real, I have always wanted too.. like totally on my own not with an instructor
2) Star in one of those Halmark movies that make you cry and have John Boy as my leading man!! LOL
3)learn how to swing dance… it just looks way to fun doesn’t it!!