Gotta Have Faith

Number Thirty-Nine
Take a course to find out my spiritual gifts

Our Church offered a course to find out our spiritual gifts over the last month and I've been really blessed by the information I've been learning about how God has built me and how I can be the part of the Body I am meant to be. Thanks to all of you who helped me out by doing my 'assignment', it really affirmed what I learned and I am so excited to talk to someone at the Church next week about ministries I can be a part of that suit my giftings!
I wasn't really surprised by what I found out, it has made me understand why I have leaned towards the goals I have had, and it confirms that this IS who I was made to be :) One gift that was maybe not surprising but unexpected though was the gift of Faith. You can read more about my recent history and lessons in Faith on my other blog, but I just thought this was very interesting considering I got this 4 months ago.

It means Faith. Faith has been increasingly important to me over the last year and a half, but I hadn't realized I had grown in it so much it was now a gift!

Tag, I'm it!

So, I've been tagged for the first time in a LONG time (mostly because I don't have a ton of bloggy friends :) in a blog hoopla and so the following are the questions Tammi is apparently dying to know about me, lol! JK.

If you could go anywhere for a vacation, money no object, where would you go and why? Who would you take with you?
If money was no object it would be a trip around the world, let me tell ya! But, I guess I'd have to start somewhere and I think it would have to be a tour of some of the Mediterreanean countries; Greece, Italy, Israel, Spain, France, Malta, Morocco, and Egypt. I've always loved the romance and beaches of most of those countries combined with the ancient history, not to mention to walk through/on the same ground Jesus and the people of the Bible did would be mind blowing! Of course, my dearest hubby would be my companion.

What has been your biggest challenge as an adult?
Infertility

What are you currently reading? What led you to that book?
There are two books I'm currently reading;
First I am re-reading Case for Creation. I was led to the 'Case for...' series by Lee Stroebel years ago and love them, but the Creation one has been my favorite because I'm a bit of a science geek (wasn't very good at it practically, but loved learning about it :) and because the evidence of God in all the small details was fascinating. I realized I hadn't retained as much as I thought so I wanted to read it again.
Second book I'm reading is Ted Dekker's (my favorite author you may recall) newest book The Bride Collector. Reason....probably speaks for itself :)

What is one thing you will never ever ever eat? Why?
Any meat/egg that is raw, because the icky texture, the fact it's too close to it's previous form, the brainwashing I've had about the health issues, it's often gross to look at....need I go on?

It is Sunday morning, 10:00 AM. What are you doing?
I'm waking up the hubby so that we can make it to Starbucks before Church starts, I hate missing worship.

Which is more important to you? A tidy home or a clean home? Is there a difference to you?
I'm with Tammi, never heard the saying, "My home is clean enough to be healthy, and dirty enough to be called 'home.'" before but I like it! I am an organization fanatic, tidyness falls into my compulsion, and it helps make my home appear clean :) Other than that, I don't have time or energy to be consummed with dust, or streaky windows, if it's not un-hygenic to avoid cleaning it for awhile it's likely not been cleaned for awhile.

If you were given a full-ride scholarship to the post-secondary institution of your choice, where would you go? What courses would you take?
Although I'm a lover of knowledge, I've never been fond of being studious. Most of my knowledge I prefer to get from sources like Wikipedia and Google (I like getting ALL the facts/angles) but I do enjoy short term classes, like the spiritual gift class I'm taking, or like creative classes such as pottery, jewellry, photography, drawing, painting, etc.

Would you rather go to an action movie or a girly movie?
Action, most times they have all the elements anyway, comedy, romance...

If/when you start to grow grey hair, will you wear it with pride or dye it into submission?
I already dye my hair regularily, will likely not notice a grey hair any time soon!

Dogs or cats?
I love them both to bits! Only have a kitty right now but I REALLY want a puppy! Would love a little farm/ranch one day where I can have as many of each as I want. And several other animals thrown in for good measure too ;)

And now, the rules of this hoopla state that I must tag others and make up questions for THEM to answer. But, I've decided I really like the questions Tammi asked me, so I'm going to leave them for the next bunch of bloggers, the few there are :)

Pam
Shanon
Lori
Tash

New 101 Things to do in 1001 days

So despite my first reaction, one of horror that I would NOT finish my previous 101 list, I've come to accept this is one 'To Do' list that doesn't HAVE to get done and so I with eager anticipation started working on another 101 list of items I am already working on for the upcoming almost 3 years.

Here is my new list:
Personal Pastimes
1. Step out of my comfort zone, and any time I get a case of ‘that’s not me’s’, attempt to try whatever it is anyway (NTKOG)2. Spend time on more non-paper creations; crocheting, jewellery, a piece of decor for the house
3. Dance in public, as if no one is watching, without being completely surrounded by a group (NTKOG)4. Have a girly girl day; shopping, spa pampering, makeover (hair, makeup), night out on the town dressed to the nines
5. Operation Self Esteem –random acts of building self-esteem, cross between operationbeautiful.com and www.operationnice.com
6. Scan family photos/negatives
7. Write twice weekly in my various journals/blogs, no less than one entry in each per month
8. Don’t care what other people think about my appearance, try out whatever I like, ie. cute hats, wigs, hair colour, tattoos, etc. (NTKOG)9. Finish 3 scrapbook pages per month, at least to completion of the 3 scrapbooks I’ve started
10. Make stockpile of Thank you cards and Birthday cards, maintain stock of 10 cards each
11. Create some personal and family Blurb books
12. Write 3 new poems per year
13. Read at least one fiction book every 3 months
14. Recycle old/used clothes into new clothes or purses (NTKOG)
15. Create stock of paper-crafty items to sell at workshops, open houses, shows, etc.
16. Get an Iphone!
Health, Food & Fitness
17. Establish a menu of 20 staple recipes to rotate through
18. Make bread from scratch (or at least with a bread maker) (NTKOG)
19. Cut out meat, carbs, sugar and caffeine from my diet for at least one week every 3 months
20. 100 mile meal once a month
21. Buy as many groceries as I can at a Farmer’s Market
22. Make pizza from scratch (NTKOG)23. Create another homemade soup recipe
24. Lose 20 more lbs and maintain that weight, with healthy meals and regular exercise
25. Make health of all body parts, inside and out, a priority
26. Try a Zumba class (please someone do this with me!) (NTKOG)27. Try infusing flavours into vodka for cooking (NTKOG)
28. Try a new recipe at least once per month
29. Create another recipe
30. Find ways to eliminate buying any food with unnecessary preservatives and packaging
31. Try canning food and preserves/jams (NTKOG)
32. Make my own wine (NTKOG)
Spiritual
33. Post scripture around me to remind me of important verses to me
34. Make a worship song lyrics daily calendar (like a devotional calendar)
35. Finish reading the whole Bible, again
36. Listen to Christian radio during work commute
37. Increase volunteering through Church
38. Sponsor children from our Church’s African Care Points
39. Take a course to find out my spiritual gifts
40. Regularly write down prayer requests, people who are on my heart to pray for
41. Start Bible Studies based on topics I struggle with or am invested in
Community & Relationships
42. Organize a day of scrapbooking for crafty girls I know
43. Spend time with friends or family members (outside large gatherings) at least every other month
44. Donate blood (NTKOG)
45. Become more involved with Church community
46. 2 dates with Sean per month, one intentionally for talking only (no media)
47. 1 evening per week where Sean and I pick something to do together, no phone, no computers 48. Plan out a special 10 year anniversary celebration together
49. Work at honouring Sean in my every day, but also have a special way to honour him at least once per month (instead of month of July for HH Challenge)
50. Babysit one or some of "the kids" (my neices/nephew(s)) at least once per year
51. Volunteer to help someone with something they can’t do for themselves at least twice per year
52. Volunteer vacation, volunteer work in a foreign country (NTKOG)53. Random acts of kindness/consideration, making people feel special/important
54. Stand up for myself and others more, not be afraid to have confrontations if it’s what’s right
Travel & Entertainment
55. Have a classic picnic – basket, wine, cheese, bread, fruit (NTKOG)56. Go to an opera/symphony/ballet performance (NTKOG)
57. Hang out at the art gallery for a few hours (NTKOG)
58. Go camping in a tent, under the stars, cooking food over a campfire (NTKOG)
59. Have a completely media-free day at least twice a month
60. Take a trip to at least one Canadian province never been to
61. Take a trip to Las Vegas
62. Drive in a convertible, a road trip or on a trip
63. Sing karaoke (NTKOG)
64. Host a dinner party - Martha Stewart style (NTKOG)
65. Take a driving vacation to Alberta
66. Attend concerts of performers to support those who are ‘getting their start’ or are ‘uplifting’
67. Stay at a cabin with Sean, like our first vacay, no t.v., fireplace, hot tub, horseback riding
68. Girls only road trip/shopping trip
69. Try a food ethnicity never had before; ie. Vietnamese or Korean
70. Go to at least one Folklorama pavilion
71. Go to the Red River Ex for a day of rides and evening of concerts/entertainment
72. Try one new restaurant per year
Learning & Working
73. Read through my camera manual and actually learn what everything does
74. Try learning guitar (NTKOG)75. Take 3 Accounting Webinars at work
76. Read at least one non-fiction book I want to learn from every 6 months
77. Take 1 Project Admin/Coordination related course at work
78. Take a creative class; pottery, jewellery making, photography
79. Learn Billing position at work
80. Depending on profit, determine whether to continue with Stampin’ Up! business after 2010 tax year
81. Work at reducing expenditures, learn to live with less in order to be able to work less
82. Update manual for my position at work
Home & Yard
83. Grow my own food; vegetables, fruit, herbs (NTKOG)84. Start composting, get a kitchen compost caddy (NTKOG)85. Pull out two trees in backyard to allow for garden and composting pile
86. Start using rain barrels
87. Replace appliances with energy efficient appliances as we can afford
88. Get energy efficient furnace
89. Lawn care without pesticide/herbicide use
90. Build a brick patio and new sidewalks
91. Buy a BBQ pit
92. Apply a Fly Lady tactic at least once per week
93. Get a dog
94. Re-arrange basement so it is usable for gatherings, parties or workshops
95. Finish organizing craft room
96. Add doors to dangerous rooms in basement, to keep children/animals out
97. Recycle/refinish furniture instead of buying new furniture
98. Recycle bed sham into bedroom curtains
99. Purchase vehicle at end of lease, stick with fuel efficient vehicle
100. Buy some power tools so we can build/refinish furniture
101. On day 1001 (January 26, 2013) post a new 101/1001 list

Not That Kind of Girl

"I'm afraid I'm not cut out for all that," I said."Well, who cut you out?" she said. "Cut yourself out again."- Elizabeth McMracken, The Giant's House

I've slowly been challenging my perceptions about myself. For example, I've never enjoyed physical activity other than walking, leisure bike rides and swimming. When I realized exercise was the only path to necessary weight loss I had to make peace with it and was just prepared to suffer. I thought I was not the/that kind of girl (NTKOG) who would actually use a gym membership for more than a month or two, was most definitely NTKOG who would do weights, or NTKOG who would like running and sweating. Turns out I was wrong! I actually loved being that kind of girl! And if I hadn't decided to try something despite my pre-conceived notion of being NTKOG I would never have lost 25 lbs!
When I realized how wrong I was I had a paradigm shift, sometimes I think 'I wouldn't like that', or 'I don't feel comfortable doing that', and now I second guess that first instinct and ask myself why? Or, I think 'I would love to do that but _____ (fill in the blank)'. It's not just that I've thought I'm NTKOG because of preferences but I've made assumptions that I'm NTKOG because I don't have what it takes, for whatever reason. Now, I'm not the creator of "NTKOG", I actually stumbled on a blog of THE NTKOG and although her list of NTKOG moments may not even nearly all be the same as mine, I have been thoroughly inspired! I'm now determined I'm NTKOG who determines she's NTKOG before she even tries it! And that is now the number one item on my new 101 list of things to do in the next 1001 days!

1. Step out of my comfort zone and any time I get a case of the 'that's not me's' I at least ATTEMPT to try it anyway


The rest of my list is coming soon, along with my used-to-be-NTKOG highlighted for your benefit. I hope to blog about each of those experiences because there is a story behind most of them and the experience is likely to be very interesting!