A-"Muse"-ing Thoughts

Happy Valentine's Day Christianna

List of Unusual Deaths

So I have to admit something.  I own most of the books in the series titled "The Darwin Awards", which is all about "individuals who ensure the long-term survival of our species by removing themselves from the gene pool in a sublimely idiotic fashion."  Basically it is about people who make very stupid decisions that end up causing their untimely death.  It always amazes me the decisions that people make in their life which can result in the end of their life.

Today I found on wikipedia the following list:  "The List of Unusual Deaths" which accounts the unusual deaths of people for centuries.  Many of these cannot be verified, but many others can.  Makes for some interesting reading - as well as some insights on things NOT to do if you want to live a long, happy life.  Strange, I know... but give it a try - you might find yourself even chuckling a little bit, as well as your jaw dropping, and also a bit of pity.

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Listen to Your Mother

I think all of us, at some time in our childhood, heard our mother or father say something such as:  "Don't run with scissors in your hands."  I remember so many times thinking, "come on, mom... I am not going to stab myself - what do you think I am, and idiot?"

But, one thing I never heard my mother say... and I haven't heard anyone report having their mother say is "Don't run with a fork in your hand."  Well, that might be changing.  Check out this poor young man.

I never would have believed it if it were not for the good folks at Snopes who work very hard at verifying the truthfulness of urban legends, stories, rumors, emails, etc.

In fact, in this case, they even contacted the mother of this boy to verify exactly what happened.  You can read the full story HERE.  But, you will be glad to know that the boy is fine and it didn't do any permanent damage (other than a few holes in his head).

So, Children... Listen to your parents, and "DON'T RUN WITH FORKS"  :)

Where does the time go?

I swear I do NOT know where the days fly to anymore.  It seems like every year that i get older, the days and the years get shorter.  I feel like I wake up one morning and it is January 1st.  I go to bed and wake up the next morning and it is June 30th.  Where did those months go?  What happened to those days?

My days lately feel like they have been packed so full from the moment I wake up until the moment i go to bed, that even something as simple as blogging gets left behind, forgotten about, and un-kept.  There is SO much that has happened in the last month that I have really wanted to journal/blog about, but just seemed to run out of time each day.  Then great intentions turned into days gone by.  Then the desire to catch up kept me from starting... next thing you know I am here writing this post almost 1 month to the day after my last post.  CRAZY.

So... for those faithful readers of my blog... you have not lost me to the depths of the non-blogging world.  You just lost me to the craziness of "end of the year" and "beginning of the summer" craziness.  Funny thing is - in my life I don't feel there is EVER a "down-time" or a "slow season."  So, here i am .  I do plan on sharing some of the things that happened over the last month because they are very significant in my life - and I hope I won't forget too many details. 

Stay tuned... it won't be a month until my next post... I PROMISE!!!!

Quotable Quotes #2

"I don't just want to be your God on Sundays.  I want to be your Father every day."
       - From "God's Blogs"

"I miss hearing the sound of your voice telling Me what you're thinking about."
        - From "God's Blogs"

Quotable Quotes #1

Sometimes there are just some gems that you come upon that so get the mind moving and thinking, that you just feel like you have to share it with someone else.

Well, I decided to take with me on a 4-day vacation to Colorado the book "God's Blogs" by Lanny Donoho.  I am not even half-way through it yet and want to share SO many things with everyone.  I HIGHLY recommend this book.  It is a QUICK read, but filled with some profound thoughts and ideas.  In the book, it takes the principles and ideas from scripture and imagines what God would say if he wrote a blog of his own... so the text is as if it were God speaking.

Over the next few days I would like to share a few tidbits that have really spawned some serious meditation in my own life.  So, here is the first:

    Bubbles are thin layers of film made of liquid and soap that hold pockets of air.  All the air inside the bubble is separated from all the rest of the air outside the film. Most of you know all that. As I mentioned in a previous post, it's pretty natural to want to burst a bubble when you see it.

    There is one that I would like to burst.  I have a strong desire for My children, the ones who love Me and claim Me as their father, to be who I made them to be and to relate well in a culture that doesn't yet know Me.

    Some however, have chosen to build a wall or a bubble around themselves to keep them away from the culture.  They focus inward and tragically don't want outsiders in there with them.  It seems kinda silly to Me when I see anger and rejection flare up inside your bubble because some of your artists decide to perform or write for the folks outside of your bubble.

    Here is a thought... Artists who are Christians have a better shot at changing the world than "Christian artists." 

    You now have your own Christian stores and books and singers and mints.  You have created your own clothing and music and lingo, and you have isolated the rest of the world.

    You have built a bubble around yourselves and used insider thoughts to try to influence outsiders...and they aren't getting it.  As a matter of fact, they see your bubble and your actions inside that bubble and they hear your words and they are choosing to not get in there with you.  And that is a wise choice.  I didn't send My Son to die so you could form a club and dance at your own recital.  I did it so all people could see Me and experience Me and understand forgiveness and grace and mercy and love, and so everyone would dance at My recital... and so I could dance at everyone else's.

    The world has become dark, and bubbles can't be seen in the dark.  Sometimes I want to take a God-sized pin and burst your bubbles

    and hand you all a light instead.

Hmmmm.  Think about that.  Sure has me thinking today.

What's Your Theological Worldview?

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavly by John Wesley and the Methodists. Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan 82% Neo orthodox 68% Reformed Evangelical 68% Emergent/Postmodern 64% Fundamentalist 61% Roman Catholic 39% Charismatic/Pentecostal 39% Classical Liberal 36% Modern Liberal 4% What's your theological worldview? created with QuizFarm.com

Embrace Your Inner Child

Ali shared this, and I just think it rings SO true, that I wanted to share it as well:

In the last week I have been reminded, yet again, about how much life really doesn't change after 7th grade...

You still have a goofy side.
You still love to laugh with your friends.
You still judge others based on appearances.
You still have to eat your vegetables.
You still have friends that are tried and true.
You still have some acquaintances that will stay just that.
You still hate being forced to exercise.
You still have a work load that consists of mostly things you love and a few things you hate.
You still have a "teacher" (or seven) in your life.
You still have a deep hatred for changing your clothes in a public place (gym/fitting rooms).
You still have the "butterflies" feeling in your stomach around the man/woman of your dreams (even if you have been married for 15 years).
You still have moments of uncontrollable weakness, when tears are all that will come out, without any explanation.
You still think things are funnier at 2am.
You still give in to peer pressure.
You still misspell words.
You still find a slight thrill in breaking a small rule.
You still have an issue with ridiculous authority figures. ("Yard Duties"/ Ushers, Security Guards)
You still don't have enough money to do everything you want to do.
You still have to go to bed at a reasonable time because you have to get up in the morning.
You still have people you just "click" with.
You still have people you just "clique" with.
You still have the group that thinks they are better than you.
Most of the time, you still feel like they are better than you.

It's funny; I operated under the assumption that life would be different, and somewhat easier, as a grown-up. From where I stand right now, it doesn't feel all that different. Maybe I'm not there yet. Maybe, when all is said and done, I'm okay with that.