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?
Pondering….pondering…Why do I feel that whatever I choose could become a possibility?
I’ll be back….
If I could, I would…
1. Ask the Lord God for His answers to all those daunting moral questions that are confusing our churches and society.
2. Pay-off the building debt of a small church in East Texas. They have ministered to me so much in the past 25 years.
3. Actually see the Seven Wonders of the World. To me, they each represent the ultimate human potential of dreaming. The impossible made possible.
If I could, I would…
1) Be a rodeo queen.
2) Hike in every national park.
3) Have a library in my house…complete with a ladder on a track to swirl around all those glorious books!
oh the library with track ladder sounds awesome!
I love it! Hiking in every national park would be amazing.
1) Try DIY home projects without fear of screwing them up
2) Learn to play the piano
3) Quit my job to serve in women’s ministry full time
(not in this particular order)
Tracy L.
Richlands, NC
If I could, I would……….
1. Fill in for “Hawk” when she takes vacation.
2. Learn to play the drums…and be good at it.
3. Take away my 14 yr. old son’s severe stutter
This was fun! Thanks Beth!
Marcy,
Call me if you and Hawk BOTH have a conflict and I’ll guard Miss Beth!
1. Buy an RV and travel the country for a year.
2. Visit Italy and see Michelangelo’s sculpture, The Pieta.
3. Spend all my spare time reading.
Beth, I couldn’t agree with you more regarding your travel dreams!
If I could, I would…
1. Travel to every country in the world.
2. Own a quaint bed & breakfast or a cozy coffee & book shop (hospitality is my thing). 🙂
3. Become a wife and mother (simple wish to some, but a deep desire to me)!
If I could I would…..
1.Spend a month in a cabin in the woods with just me and my hubby.
2.Cook Dinner for my “Top 10 Dream Dinner Guests” (Beth is one of them)at a cabin in the woods.
3.Create my own room just for reading and study and fill it with tons of books and just the right “Prayer/Reading Chair.” In a cabin in the woods…!!!
Hey girlfriend… Where would your cabin be? Up north?
I loved seeing your list… Sandi
Actually I recently found some really great ones just outside of Gatlinburg TN. Hot tub and all!!! We spent our Honeymoon in Gatlinburg, 26 years ago on this week!
If I could, I would …
1. Travel the world extensively (you know, like live in a place for weeks/months and then move on to somewhere else)
2. Adopt a child from every continent
3. Become a librarian so I could teach children to love reading
How fun!
1. Purchase a property large enough for several houses – one for us, and one for each of my two children with their families, so we’d all live close together.
2. Travel all over the world as much as I could – becoming a “local” for a brief time in each spot, not just a tourist.
3. On that same piece of property mentioned in #1, I’d also like to set up a writer’s retreat. Not necessarily a conference center, but a place I could offer (cheaply, or ultimately, free of charge) to writers who need some quiet time away to write. My “big” vision has several cabins, a meeting facility for small groups, and a chapel.
If I could, I would
1) Travel to visit Africa
2) Spend all my time (24/7) creating something special to give to children/special needs around the world to let them know they are loved
3) Get married and have a family
If I could I would…
1) Own a bakery/coffee shop/book store/antique store
2) Have time to volunteer – I’m working on this one!
3) Be an illustrator for children’s books; they have some of the most beautiful artwork…
What a fun post!!!
Adrienne
1: Go to Isreal
2: Always have a good meal fixed for anyone that come by at anytime.
3: Buy old houses and fix them for people that didn’t have a home.
This is so fun I got so excited trying to figure out what to pick . Your so much fun Beth.
Pam M.
Campbellsburg. In.
If I could I would…
1) go to a game at every major league baseball park with my hubby
2) write something that touched and encouraged someone else
3) have someone else do my housework, so I didn’t say no to my kids so often
If I could, I would…
1. Move to live near my mama and daddy so my baby could grow up near his/her grandparents
2. Have eyebrows that never grew back after waxing but looked eternally groomed
3. Get my pilot’s license
This was fun! 🙂
1. Bake luscious treats (brownies, cakes, rolls, scones) to sell in Melissa’s (or someone else’s)coffee/tea shop.
2. Take some theology classes.
3. Travel to Italy to sample the excellent food and see the countryside!
If I could, I would…
1. Be a stay at hom mom and wife
2. Become a librarian
3. Have a vacation house at a beach or at a lake, somewhere that our family can escape to whenever we need a break from everyday life.
Well one thing I could not blog and cook Ha. I brunt my fried apples. !! 🙂 Ha They are just for me so picked the black ones out.
1. Have a vacation cabin on a beautiful fresh water lake.
2. Travel to Europe.
3. Chill out more on a regular basis…and enjoy life more.
Lead worship at a huge event!
Spend the summer working at Camp Elohim in Montana
Open and teach at my own preschool
If I could I would….
1- live at the beach
2- be debt free
3- volunteer for Samaritan’s Purse
If I could I would….
1. pay off all our bills, quit my job and become more involved in women’s ministry
2. give our church the money to build a new sanctuary and school
3. adopt at least two children and share the love of Jesus with them.
1. Lead my preChristian husband to the Lord
2. Take a month long trip to Israel, and other places in the bible.
3. Live in the Colorado Mountains where my son & family would visit often!
Luv you Beth & your sweet daughters!
1. Be able to speak better Arabic so that I could speak to the hearts of the people around me about Jesus.
2. Own and run a bed and breakfast on a farm in somewhere like south France, or Italy or Switzerland and make it completely free so that even people who couldn’t afford it could have a dream vacation
3. Have a dozen kids and live on a ranch out west that we run as a family.
(can you tell the country girl in me is being squooshed by the big city??)
Thanks Mama Beth! This was fun!
If I could, I would…
1) Care for the elderly by providing medical assistance, medication, means of transportation, and even a home if need be.
2) Build homes for people on the mail routes I’ve delivered that literally live in structures that should be condemned.
3) Get paid to study God’s word!!!!!
If I could, I would:
1) Learn to play the piano in such a way that I could simply sit down and play whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted.
2) Teach middle school.
3) Travel and share to Gospel 24/7/365
1. Own and run a small book store, in a small town, on Main St. (I can see it in my mind!)
2. Go to culinary school in France
3. Be a missionary in a third-world country
1. Own my own catering business.
2. Play the electric guitar in a rock band.
3. Have kids. (seems to be a theme!)
If I could, I would:
1. Refurbish an old farmhouse(slamming screendoor a must!)
2. Travel to Ireland
3. Be a first grade teacher
1. Start an organization completely dedicated to helping teenagers, or if a church will let me- be a youth leader.
2. Get a Doctorate degree in something, but maybe I’ll stick to graduating first.
3. Do every kind of extreme thing I can think of (rock climbing, spulunking, scuba diving etc.)
This is so much fun and definitely hard to pick 3!!
1) Live on a beach somewhere, preferably an island that doesn’t have to deal with hurricanes!! : )
2) Speak a foreign language, more than likely spanish. Which could help me actually do #1!!!
3) Open a cupcake shop and be able to eat the cupcakes everyday!!!!
1. read every book I cared to.
2. have 10 more kids(with hired help of course otherwise I could now)
3. have lunch and leisurely coffee with the Moore girls and a few siastas
If I could, I would:
1) go on a minimum of 2 missions trips a year to different places each time (so far, only Haiti x5)
2) dye my hair hot pink for a week (only a week -then back to brunette) and secretly video tape people to see what they say:) Can you imagine!! How hillarious, and revealing……hummmm
3) go backstage at a concert – always wanted to see what goes on back there
I would if I could…
1)Write an inspirational column for newspaper or magazine
2)Go scuba diving
3)Travel around the country for year
1. Go to Israel
2. Adopt a baby girl
3. Play the Piano
The three things I would most like to do:
#1 – Visit the Holy Land.
#2 – Drive across the USA with my husband.
#3 – Take all my children and grandchildren on a one week vacation to Louisiana.
…and it was REALLY hard to narrow it down to three!!! 🙂
1. Move to Guatemala and work in an orphanage there.
2. On that note..learn Spanish fluently.
3. My frivilous one…go blonde 🙂
If I could, I would
1. Travel to Israel and walk where Jesus walked.
2. Learn to play the piano and sing..oh I sing but not too well……..LOL
3. Get a monster buck this season, one that would go in the Oregon record books……=)
Thanks is is fun.
1) Pay off all student loan debt within the next few months
2) Become fluent in Chinese, Spanish, French and Nepali
3) Open an orphanage and homeless shelter
Fun Fun Fun!
If I could I would…
1. Have vacation houses in mountains and by the ocean and have enough money to take my family there a few times a year.
2. Be a writer of Christian fiction.
3. Christmas shop each year in Chicago or New York.
If I could I would….
1) Sightsee in Rome till I saw every square inch
2) ride in a hot air ballon
3) own a country home with a wrap around porch on the
banks of a body of water (like the house in ‘The Notebook’)
Boy this question really brought out a longing in me!
If I could, I would:
1. Leave for the mission field tomorrow! (I know God is calling my family and even though I trust His timing, I struggle with the waiting.)
2. Live in the country and let my kids have all the pets they want.
3. Own a horse and ride, ride, ride. (I guess living in the country would help me there too 🙂
If I could, I would quit work and concentrate on ministry full time.
If I could, I would build a suite on to my house for my mother to live.
If I could, I would travel at a moment’s notice to visit my sister who lives 2 states away.
1) Fulltime Minsitry via a Christian coffeehouse where my band could play and minister or by providing worship music and worship experiences at retreats.
2) Write books that make people laugh and see God laughing with them.
3) Have a little country home in the hills where I can suddenly read and understand Greek.
if i could i would:
be an elementary school teacher
live in a foreign (poverty) country with my children and meet the needs I saw
own a knitting, sewing, book, coffee, store in a coastal town where we offered Bible Study and knitting on Friday nights.
oh…I wish!
1. have a husband
2. have 2 godly intimate friendships with people who truly connect and understand me
3. find a way to feel like I belong somewhere
If I could, I would:
1. Learn to play the violin
2. Become financially free with my home businesses
3. Learn to sew
Hello Beth and Siestas! These are the three things I would do.
1. Write one book a year.
2. Take my vacation days.
3. Tell more people about Jesus Christ.
Much Love,
Jamie
If I could, I would…
1. Buy a cabin in colorado to use for family get-aways, but also to loan out to fellow minister’s families who need a place of retreat.
2. Take a year off and travel the US with my kids and my hubby (with unlimited funds).
3. Own a fabric store so I could have an unlimited supply.
1) Go into the mission field for 6 months
2) Get a degree in nursing
3) Visit, Alaska, Hawaii,and Jamaica
1. Go on a missionary trip to Africa
2. Lead ladies in our church in Bible studies
3. Be the administrative assistant to a high profile college football coach.