People are Weird

Every so often, I catch myself doing something that comes across as abnormal, and I wonder if perhaps I have OCD. I tend to think not, but here is a short list (you don’t believe that, do you?) of things about which I am very particular. I post these as part of an observation on the oddities of humans. We all have little quirks, and they interest me more than is probably healthy. Some of the following are weird, some may not be so unusual.

#1. Numbers. They mean a lot to me. It’s very important that I remember combinations of numbers, whether it be phone numbers, birth dates, or library card barcodes. I get upset if I have to look up a number and can’t remember it off the top of my head. I also like number patterns. The book I’m reading right now is a trilogy in one volume. Each of the three books has exactly 31 chapters. There are a total of 1024 pages in the book, which is a meaningful number if you spend much time on a computer. Right now I am 42% through the trilogy, and everybody knows that 42 is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything. My favorite time of day is 8:17, because I was born on the 17th day of the 8th month. I worked at camp one year, and each staff member was assigned a number (for role call), from youngest to oldest. By chance, I was number 17.

#2. My eyebrows. I’m fairly obsessed with trimming stray eyebrow hairs. I check them several times every day, and as soon as a new hair breaks the skin, I dive in with my ultra sharp tweezers. It actually started when I bought these tweezers for 88 cents a few years ago at Wal-mart; I’ve never used a pair that were as sharp, which has become significant to me. These tweezers get the short hairs that are only visible if I’m standing centimeters away from the bathroom mirror. It doesn’t matter that other people can’t see them. I can feel them. Consequently, I often accidentally nick my eyelids trying to get the microscopic hairs. Then they turn red and blotchy. I try to cover it up with makeup, but it doesn’t always help. So, no, I didn’t get socked in the face; I tweezed my eyebrows.

#3. Order. I thrive on order. There is only one right way to make my bed, and it has to be the same every time. I have a hard time not vacuuming in straight lines. I only keep from doing it because the nap of the carpet doesn’t follow straight lines, and I have to make it lay flat. I almost arranged the napkin dispenser and salt/pepper shakers during lunch at work today. The napkins weren’t at the direct center of the table, and I really would have preferred that the salt/pepper were at one end of the napkin dispenser, equal distance apart. But then someone would have used them, and thrown everything off. When I take something off a hanger in the closet, the hanger *must* be moved to the end of the bar with the group of other unused hangers. Just about everything I do has a pattern, even if it only makes sense in my head.

#4. Rightness. This can be a struggle for me, because I am very concerned with being right. But beside that, I just want things in general to be right. Last night at Applebee’s, I got my bill and I had been overcharged by $0.50 for bacon. I didn’t care much if I had to pay 50 cents extra, but the amount on the bill was wrong, and that’s what got me. So my conscience compelled me to point it out, and I then felt very awful when the server apologized, because I didn’t know how to bring it to her attention without coming off as petty or rude.

This has become lengthy, so I’ll stop here and pick up some other day.

Sweden’s Best

Today I made my first visit to IKEA. I’ve been meaning to go for a few months, and since my husband is on an Alaskan cruise this week, the timing seemed just right. It’s a bit of a trek: 2 hours away in Canton, MI, near Detroit.

I went with my friend Cate, who is well acquainted with all things IKEA. I highly recommend going with someone who has been there a few times, because it is a very large store, and shopping there is a little different than most home furnishing stores. Allow me to explain:

- All large items (furniture, mostly) are in boxes in a warehouse on one end of the ground floor, waiting to be taken home and assembled.

- Small items are in bins and on shelves on the rest of the ground floor, which is, for the most part, set up like Bed Bath & Beyond or the like.

- The main level (above the ground floor) is basically a collection of showrooms. Many are set up just like rooms in your house, and you can walk through them and visualize how everything looks when it is assembled. There are even entire “apartments” set up, so you can walk through and see what it would be like to live in, let’s say, 450, 335, or 240 total square feet (I’ve tried it; not that great). The idea is that IKEA furnishings are extremely well suited for both large and small living spaces. There’s something for everyone.

- So, you walk through the main level, pick out the large items you want to buy, go downstairs, put all the small items (housewares, textiles, decor) in your cart, and head over to the warehouse to pick up your large items.

I had a tight budget, but I purchased an end table (white), living room rug, a couch pillow, two pillow covers (red), a table lamp, two glass lamps, and a placemat (green) for under $95. I’m extremely impressed with the quality of my purchases, and the prices can’t be beat. I plan to return in the near future.

A Prayer for Strength

Ephesians 3:13-21

“I bow my knees before the Father,

from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named,

that according to the riches of his glory

he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—

that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,

and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,

that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,

according to the power at work within us,

to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.

Amen.”

The Bee-Bop Video

Tonight I fondly recalled a moment from my childhood, and am now making it available for your viewing pleasure:

When I was 4 or 5, my parents rented a camcorder for a weekend. One of those huge VHS cameras. So they proceeded to make a home video, like all good 90’s parents did. As far as I know, it was the only home video we ever made, and we had it for years. We affectionately named it “The Bee-Bop Video.” I’m not sure if there is a story behind the name, or if we, being little tots, just thought it was the coolest title ever.

Here are the tidbits I remember from the video:

Mom took the camcorder on a tour around the house (a mobile home). I remember her going into the bathroom, and pointing the lens at a plaque of some kind on the wall, but the camera couldn’t focus in on the words. Then I remember her taking it outside onto the back porch, and my younger sister Hannah was standing outside smiling at the camera.

I think we recorded Family Devotions with Dad. If not, then I just have a single memory of doing devotions with the family at the trailer. I think my memory is so foggy here because when we watched The Bee-Bop Video over the years, we generally skipped the devotions part, because of course, devotions are boring. ;-) At any rate, it was just before bed, and we were all gathered around in the living room in our pajamas.

After devotions, we took turns doing cute things in front of the camera. My siblings and I were making “forts” in the living room, with afghans and blankies. My brother John (TJ as we called him) wanted to use MY blankie (a yellow blanket with a soft ruffle around the edge. I used to “twiddle” the ruffle through my fingers to help me fall asleep), but of course I wanted to hold onto it and suck my thumb (Mmm, it tasted like orange juice). So in the background, I was whining, “Heeeyyyy sneaky!” And that is one of the popular things to quote in my family every now and then.

At some point we were having popcorn, because my older sister Rachel was crawling around on the floor, pretending to be a puppy, eating up the scattered popcorn on the floor with her tongue.

Dad pointed the camera at me, and asked me to sing “Jesus Loves Me.” But I shyly requested to sing my own song. So I started singing a made-up song, that went something along the lines of “Jesus is so wonderful…”

And that is all I remember from The Bee-Bop Video. At some point in my early teens, when recording TV shows onto VHS tapes was all the rage in my family (I used to be able to quote “The Emperor’s New Groove” beginning to end because we had it on tape), we accidentally recorded over The Bee-Bop Video, and it has been an unsolved mystery ever since. I’m glad I never found out who the culprit was, because I would probably hold an eternal grudge against him or her, for stealing away my only visual memory of my childhood home at the trailer park.

An Epic Dilemma (and an epic blog post)

(All scripture taken from the English Standard Version, all emphasis added)

One of the most overwhelming conundrums in my life is that I want so badly to exhibit love and kindness and patience; but not only do I not do it, I often seem to do just the opposite. How can I desire to do the right thing, but not seem to be able to accomplish it? How can I say in my mind, “This is how I ought to behave,” but with my actions, behave exactly the way I know I ought not to behave? How can that be okay? I know it’s not okay!

Apparently the Apostle Paul and I are related, because he presents this same dilemma in his letter to the Roman believers.

“I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate…I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:15, 18-19)

He also confesses, “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” (7:22-24)

I feel exactly how he did. Deep down I love God’s commands, and I desire to follow them, but it seems like every time I try, Satan shows up armed with lies, temptation, and accusation, ready to battle it out for who-gets-control of my life.

Lucky for me, God had a plan (ignore the contradiction there)! If Paul stopped his story in verse 24, I would have no hope at all that I could ever serve God with this spiritual battle taking place. But Paul continues,

“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” (7:25)

He hits on a key point here, and I’ve always missed it before, because I thought he was just restating the “I don’t do what I want to do” issue. But take another look.

“So then [because Jesus Christ has delivered me!], I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.”

It’s like Paul is saying, “the important thing that separates you from every-other-human-being-who-can’t-seem-to-do-what’s-right, is that God has given you the ability to serve Him in spite of your flesh being unable to carry out the letter of the law. You are now operating under a NEW law.” Here’s how–and I really think the key, for me, to conquering that shame of “oh, I can never do the right thing no matter how hard I try” is to meditate on the following verses:

“There is therefore now no condemnation [so even though I still sin, God isn't going to write me off] for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh [i.e., all my striving to do good on my own], could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (8:1-4)

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on things of the Spirit [sound familiar?]. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law, indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (8:5-8)

“You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit [dwelling in you] is life because of righteousness [which would you rather have alive: your body, or your eternal spirit?]. (8:9,10)

“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. ” (8:11)

So…there’s still hope for my body?

“For…we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” (8:23-25)

Oh, but what about until that happens? How will I manage?

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness…And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (8:26, 27, 28)

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (8:31,32)

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation [and especially not our own flesh], will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (8:35-39)

‘Nuff said.