Hey, Darling Things!
I am under the books, studying for our Living Proof Live in Baltimore, MD this weekend. (And if you’re going, I can’t wait to see you and to see what God has a mind to show us. The rest of you please pray for us and we will be the far better for your intercession.) I came to a point in my preparation that I needed to look up a map and my heart did this ridiculous little jump. Why? Because I was about to reach for my Bible atlas…and I love my Bible atlas. I could honestly use it for a coffee table book and thumb through it every afternoon while I drink hot tea and have a Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookie. (Of course, I’m hardly ever at my coffee table in the afternoon, nor do I often get to just sit and drink hot tea and eat cookies, but IF I DID, and if I had neither daughter to amuse me, I’d do all of those things with my Bible atlas.) I don’t know how to explain it. I just love it.
Here it is. I’m smiling as I look at it.
I love things like maps and charts. They bring some organization to the chaotic mind of BTSPTB.
Random, huh? Well, that’s when I thought of you. I thought it would be fun to hear you complete this sentence today:
I know this is so random but I love…
What, Girlfriend? What random, not-hyper-serious thing do you love that maybe a ton of people wouldn’t necessarily love with you? Do tell!
I know this is random but I love to open doors for people. It makes them smile and catches them off guard that someone would do that for them. I am amazed that kindness is unexpected.
Jeanette – I know exactly what you mean! I never even thought of that! And it’s true. . . . people are not used to receiving that small kindness or consideration from their fellow man. . or woman!
tracie
here’s my randomness, Mama Beth
You commented in the live broadcast that you didn’t think you could trust a woman that had not ever colored her hair. My friend turned to me and said “she would LOVE you!”
LOL
I color mine a lot and had just done a pretty red with blonde highlights the day before
🙂
I’ve never colored mine and Beth trusts me. I hope she reads this. 🙂
I’m sure she did 🙂
I know this is so random but I love sending cards to people in the mail…snail mail…the old fashion mail! It’s something that many people don’t do anymore…sit and write a handwritten note…but it makes you feel so special and cherished when you receive one in the mail. Just to let someone know that they are being thought about and prayed for, it can change someone’s day in a heartbeat! I love it!
I also love me an audience to talk about my precious daddy. I could talk about him for hours…days on end. I am the poster child for a daddy’s girl (he still took me on our Father-Daughter dates even after I got married…he, of course, would ask my husband for permission to take me on a date though.) 🙂 I watched my daddy fight cancer for almost 12 years but I never heard him complain or ask “Why me?” His first response…”May God use this for His glory” and sure enough for 12 years he took every opportunity to share the Lord with anyone who would listen. He used this illness as a platform to give his testimony and inspire people that there is HOPE in the middle of adversity, illness, suffering…that there is GOD! God called him home on August 13, 2010 but his legacy lives on. This daddy’s girl can’t wait to get to Heaven…thank you Lord for eternity!!!!
ME TOO!!!!! i love mailing cards to people… at random times.. just to thank them for being who they are…. or to encourage them. I just sent a card congratulating a friend for losing .4 lbs with weight watchers.
…. and i lost my mom to cancer 3 years ago. your daddy sounded amazing!
I love sending out cards too. Just sent out 3
thanks for sharing about hand-written cards – Me too! I am blessed so much by others who send them to me, and I consider that one of my ministries to encourage others. Thanks for the reminder, my stationary box has been neglected lately!
Bridget in Phoenix
I know this is random, but I LOVE having fresh flowers in my house. There is just something about this that makes me feel all sunshiny, even in winter.
I LOVE unexpected, close encounters with God’s creation, in the form of wild animals. (DELIGHT!) And if it’s in or near an ocean – that’s the best!
DELIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!
And this is random, but I love organizing stuff, and touching pretty fabric. So organizing pretty fabric is heaven for me. 😉
I love waking up in the morning with my two kids (8 and 5 years old) snuggled between my husband and me. They go to sleep in their own beds but in the wee hours of the morning they creep in for a snuggle. Love it, love it, love it!!! Makes me wonder if that is kind of how our Heavenly Father feels when we meet Him in the morning for snuggle time?
I enjoy close encounters with God’s creation too! It amazes me every time God shows off for me because He knows the desire of my heart. Six years ago my husband and I celebrated our 25th Anniversary in Alaska. We had schedued a glacier tour hoping to see whales as well as the glaciers. The guide informed us as we were leaving the shore that it was the last day of the season and that they had not seen a whale in 2 weeks, he said they had already migrated south. My husband looked at me with a look that said “I’m sorry” knowing how bad I wanted to see a whale. We had been so blessed with all the things we had already seen that I determined I was not going to be disappointed. As we stood together on the boat, I looked out over that vast ocean and just whispered a small prayer “Lord, If you saved a whale just for me I would be so thrilled and I’ll make sure to give You all the praise”. About 30 minutes later the Captain of the boat came on the intercom and said “Folks you’re not going to believe this but we’ve spotted a humpback whale”. We followed it and got gorgeous pictures. Then he got a call from another boat and they had spotted a pod of Orca whales. He said we would never make it in time but guess what, we not only made it but we got an amazing show that lasted over an hour!!! Thanking God once again!!!
I love to guess the names of all the countries around another country (“name the 13 countries that surround China, for instance. And I’m not even sure there are 13–I’m not good at it but I love it. Also I love losing myself in weeding and forgetting to come inside until it is dark. And what I really love is that there are so MANY things to love!
I know this is random but I love…spiral notebooks, pens, pencils and journals. I have enough to last me a few years. I have to avoid the aisle in the stores so I don’t spot something new.
I know this is random but I love… solving algebra problems. I even downloaded an app on my phone. Who needs angry birds when one can do random algebra problems.
Also, I know this is random but I love… road trips. I love preparing for them. I love packing for them. I love the being on the road. I love the family memories that are made. However, I do not love the unpacking.
What a super fun post.
As a mother of eight, I love mowing the yard. It is instant gratification and stays neat for a few days.
I love reading the HEB ad on Wednesday mornings. I go online and make my grocery list really early before the kiddos get up — even if I am not going to be going to the store that day, it is fun for me to think about what I will get when I make it there eventually…
I love kissing the chubby thighs of my toddlers. I have 2 little boys, 3 and 1, and some days it feels like all I did was change diapers and clean up crusted food. For some reason when I kiss those chubby thighs when we are wrestling, (wrestling I will do because that’s the way little boys like to love) it just lifts my spirits and makes me grateful to Him that I get to be their mommy and be home with them.
Praise God for the next generation of Godly men that I’m trying to faithfully labor in raising in Him
I know this is so random but I love a color coded day planner/monthly calendar! I wish I could insert a picture so y’all could see it. It is one of those at-a-glance monthly/weekly that is like 6×8 and fits in my purse. I keep four ink pens with me at all times. My husband is blue, I am red, my daughter is purple and my son is black. At any glance I know who is supposed to be somewhere! And I will fess up because y’all don’t know me…if I mess up the color I white out and re-do it correctly! ha
How’s that for OCD?
Kristy =)
Now this is really random! This summer I have thoroughly enjoyed watching almost 8 seasons of NCIS, which I never watched before, but now I am hooked!
….dancing like I’m 24 to 90’s dance club music…in my kitchen…..when no one is watching.
I LOVE my gmail calendar!! I know it’s quite the dorky “love,” but this Type A girls LOVES it! 🙂
I know this is random…but I love it when you get home from the grocery store and you happen to have bought both fresh white bread and a jar of creamy Jiff peanut butter. That rarely happens here, but when it does, I open them both and make myself a fold-over peanut butter sandwich on that decadently delicious white bread and pour myself a glass (not a cup) of milk to go with it. Bliss!
I know this is so random but I LOVE rain in the summer…and sunshine in the winter.
I love to pay for single Marines’ dinner when we see them eating out in Jacksonville, NC. We never let them know it is us.
Tracy L., Richlands, NC
I know this is random but I LOVE drinking a cup of Dunkin Donuts Cinnamon Spice coffee on my porch listening to the birds and completely chillin’. It doesn’t happen often but oh how I love it!!
I love YouTube videos of people doing sign language to worship songs. 🙂
Momma Beth –
Even though I love my Kindle, I LOVE cracking the spine of a new book and then smelling the pages! BIZARRE! I just love the whole tactile thing of a book in my hands.
AND I love me a good puzzle. I especially love putting in that last piece and running my hands over the pebbled surface – seeing the whole picture DONE. I’ve done one good puzzle in the last 10 years and it was a joy!
So looking forward to what the Lord has planned for US IN BALTIMORE! YIPPPEEEEE!
I love grammar….just got a book called OUR MOTHER TONGUE and am intrigued.
I know this is so random, but I love dark chocolate m&m’s as my special treat while scrapbooking. I eat them by 2’s in color order, orange first, then red, then brown, then yellow, then blue & green together. I don’t like it when they come out with different colors for the holidays, it messes up my order!
I know this is random but I love…fall~ the beautiful colors of red, green, yellow and orange, blowing leaves with the blower, my fall wreath hanging on the door and all my cute pumpkins decorating my house.
I know this is random but I love putting almond flavoring in most everything I bake. Especially love it when I make pancakes! Try it, you will LOVE it! Makes everything taste soooo good. 🙂
I love to see my grandchildren’s dirty feet! It reminds me of those carefree days as a child when going barefoot was the norm and “having fun” was the only goal for the day. I love that they get to live that kind of simple life and just enjoy the “moments”.
I know this is so random but I love…to scour the weekly grocery ads and make a list of all the sale items I would like to purchase. Maybe I should have said I love to make lists, cuz really I think that’s my thang. Yes, rephrase please.
I know this is so random but I love…to make lists!
Me, too! I make lists then I rewrite them several times and sometimes, if I not getting much accomplished (other than messing with my list!), I’ll write something on my list that I’ve already done just so I can mark it off! Hee hee!
I have a random question:
I will be at Living Proof this weekend in Baltimore. If I have only ever posted twice ( including this one!) am I considered a siesta??
So much of what I do is random…but I do really love taking pictures of things with my cell phone and sending them to friends to make them laugh!
Yes, Nancy! Consider yourself a siesta! We gladly welcome you here. : )
I love walking thru the woods in the fall and smelling the dried up leaves! Is there any other smell as beautiful in all the world as that?! So fresh and earthy smellling! And think of how many people all over the world who will never even know that smell! I feel so sad for them!
the smell of new books ….
I know this is random, but I love calling people, like our waitress or the wal-mart checker, by name. My kids think I am wierd, but it is fun to catch them off guard and they really look at you and wonder if they know you. 🙂 (There are many other random things, but they probably border on OCD, so I’ll stop there!)
I know this is random, but I love YOU Beth! Yes I do! Your influence over my life has changed my life FOREVER!
I thank God for you daily & appreciate your devotion to Him so very very much.
Much love and all of God’s blessings for you and your family!
Tracie
I know this is so random, but I love to be the first person to use a brand new bar of soap! I like getting to scrub the letters off. I also love to get the center swirly out of a new tub of butter. These things make me smile. And it makes me smile even more to share them with you. 🙂
We are so looking forward to having you come to Baltimore. The Lord has blessed me to go to my local jail over the last couple of years & one of My “Jail Bible Babes”(one of the inmates who faithfully came to Bible Study) is coming with me to hear you this weekend. We both look so forward to the weekend. So God bless you, safe journeys East & may we all be delighted in Him alone!!!!
I know this is random but: I LOVE sugar. I will eat the healthiest meals on the planet, no fat, no cholesterol, no carbs~then it’s over. I need sugar. Any kind. After every meal. I have brainwashed myself into thinking that dark chocolate almonds and almond m-n-m’s are good for me!
Dear, I had to laugh – that is the same Bible Atlas we have, and it is high demand around here, but my 3 year old daughter is usually at the head of the line! She loves to just sit and flip through it too! My 6 year old goes for the Illustrated Life of Jesus. And I get side tracked as I watch them and my momma heart sighs contentedly!
Sour cream on pepperoni pizza!
I know it’s random, but I love it when comedians laugh at their own jokes 🙂
miniatures of anything 🙂
the faint and distant smell of something on fire 🙂
Randomness… weeding. Weeding flowers or garden, doesn’t matter… just pick those weeds! Pop the heads off the spent Marigolds. 🙂 And mowing the lawn… rider mower, of course. Just sit and mow.
I love my little 6 lb. Yorkie, Gus. Everyday when I come in from work, he dances and skampers around like I’ve been gone for years. He whimpers and cries until I pick him up for a hug. He is always so happy to see me. He is surely a blessing straight from the Lord to me. Praise Jesus!!
I know this is random, but I love a stack of unread books waiting for me to dive into and I love journals. I’m embarassed to tell you how many I moved to our new home…journals that have never even been written in.
I know this is random, but I love lists! I have lists for everything and especially enjoy getting to mark something off of my list. I’ll even add things to a list so that I can immediately mark it off. I recently got a new listmaker app for my iPhone. 🙂
I love it when God allows me to view Him and His love for me through His creation. All of nature just breathes His name. Just this morning, as the sun first began to color the sky with light pinks and corals, He brought a baby possum to my bird feeder. I know–they aren’t the most beautiful animals of His creation–kind of a mixture of leftover animal parts–but a baby possum does border on cuteness! What a wonderful way to start the day. A gift from my Father just showing me once again how much He loves me! It made me laugh aloud.
My word of the day calendar.
I know this is so random but I love…..the little feathery things that come out of the middle of Pampas Grass. They’re beautiful when the sn shines on them. Our neighbor has one and I sit out on my swing and look at it and thank God that He made such a beautiful thing!!
I know this is random, but I love dictionaries and thesauruses. I love looking up word meanings, and helping my daughter with her vocabulary homework. She often has to write out the definitions of new words, as well as identify similar words. I get so excited about that! And I love knowing the entymology – where the word came from, how it derived its meaning, and how it has changed through the years. Is it Latin in origin? Old English? French? All fascinating information. I could sit and read a dictionary for fun anytime.
I know this is random, but I love the softness of cat fur!
Adrienne
I know this is so random but I love…
Putting my face close to the pages of a new open book and breathing in deeply to savor that “new book” smell.
I know this is random but I love office supplies!! That IS random, isn’t it? Love the smell of them, love buying them and having them available, love using them all over the place. Thought it was a really strange quirk until I had to clean out my Mom’s place when she moved in assisted living and I found DRAWERS FULL of office supplies! Guess I get it honestly!
I know this is random but I love reading Karen Kingsbury novels. I have learned so much from them–about God, myself and other people and what makes them tick. And it is also nice to just go live some other one’s life, every once in a while!!