my brain

I am a well-balanced woman.  I knew it.  I use both sides of my brain equally.  This can actually be a problem as the two sides occasionally conflict with one another.  But in general, I like it. 

I think the summary of this test describes me pretty well. The parts about being disciplined, organized and a pragmatist are off, I'd say.  But otherwise...

Take this test and let me know what your brain is like!  Hat tip to Bet at Nut Harvest for this!

Your Brain Usage Profile:

Auditory : 40%
 Visual : 60%


Left : 50% 
Right : 50%

Kay, you exhibit an even balance between left- and right- hemisphere dominance and a slight preference for visual over auditory processing. With a score this balanced, it is likely that you would have slightly different results each time you complete this self-assessment quiz. You are a well-rounded person, distinctly individualistic and artistic, an active and multidimensional learner. At the same time, you are logical and disciplined, can operate well within an organization, and are sensitive towards others without losing objectivity. You are organized and goal-directed. Although a "thinking" individual, you "take in" entire situations readily and can act on intuition. You sometimes tend to vacillate in your learning styles. Learning might take you longer than someone of equal intellect, but you will tend to be more thorough and retain the material longer than those other individuals. You will alternate between logic and impulse. This vacillation will not normally be intentional or deliberate, so you may experience anxiety in situations where you are not certain which aspect of yourself will be called on. With a slight preference for visual processing, you tend to be encompassing in your perceptions, process along multidimensional paths and be active in your attacking of situations or learning. Overall, you should feel content with your life and yourself. You are, perhaps, a little too critical of yourself -- and of others -- while maintaining an "openness" which tempers that tendency. Indecisiveness is a problem and your creativity may not be in keeping with your potential. Being a pragmatist, you downplay this aspect of yourself and focus on the more immediate, obvious and the more functional

It is raining, raining, raining!

worship

One time a friend said, "There is only one thing we have that we can give to God.  Do you know what it is?"  I said, "Ourselves."  Which I believe is true.  I'm a big proponent of surrender.  But she said, "Our worship."

The past several churches we've attended - going back years- are places where people feel comfortable raising their hands as they worship the Lord.  In one church people knelt, or stood or sat according to what they were led to do rather than worrying about what other people would think.   I love that kind of openness to the Spirit.

The church we go to now has a couple of people who dance a little bit.  A few months ago I was able to visit the Anglican church we used to attend and at the end of the service the South African Pastor was dancing sort of hoe-down style to "I'll Fly Away."  It was joyous!  He wasn't making a spectacle; he was down in an area not everyone could see.  But he was overflowing because he had just returned from Cuba where he had seen God work in mighty ways.  Should we not express that joy?  That worship?  A couple of nearby children joined him and it was wonderful.

I sometimes put on praise music and dance in my worship.  I don't do it in public - it would be a spectacle

My friend Michelle at Just a Minute prays with colored pencils in hand and draws her prayers.  She has examples on her blog.

I sing.  That's not very creative or pleasant, but it is a way I worship.

Sometimes I simply sit.  I try to be as still in body and mind as possible and just listen.  "Lord speak to me."  And I listen.  Especially if there is something specific I am needing direction on.

I read books.  Good books by godly men and women that deepen my faith.  Even fiction frequently leads me to a place of worship.

Sometimes I lie flat out on my face and  just let Him be God.  

I can sit here and look out my window and worship.  Being on a mountain or at a lake or in some other beautiful natural setting always inspires me to praise.

I pray.  I often pray during the singing time at church rather than sing.  So often the words to the songs spur prayers of wonder or confession.  I pray in the car, in the shower, in bed, while watching TV, while reading, while eating, while visiting with friends.  I pray when I shop, when I have questions and problems, when I am overwhelmed.  I pray when I sin, when I am in a tight spot.  I pray.  My prayers are incense that rises up before God on his throne and he delights in them.  (look in Revelation)

What are some ways that you worship?  Or maybe what are some situations or surroundings that are conducive to worship?

the news

Good news!  This morning I woke up and thought BRRR!  Yippee!  

More good news!  It is supposed to only get to 92 today.  Ten degrees cooler than it has been lately.

Better news!  It is only supposed to reach 82 tomorrow!

Bad news.  I got my first writing rejection the other day. 

Great news!  I got my first writing acceptance a couple of day after that!  I am going to be published!  I am going to have a short story in the May 2009 issue of Christian Fiction Online Magazine.

The rejection and acceptance came from the same person.  Let me tell you the story.

I have been very discouraged about writing.  I have been for about a month, I guess.  Then on the writing e-mail loop that I'm on someone sent out a creativity challenge.  We were to write an opening hook for a story that had to include:

grass clippings

a hamster

an odd odor

a fire

breaking glass

Well, this e-mail loop has all kinds of well-known authors and agents and editors as well as newbies and wannabes and the whole gamut.  We're talking thousands of people.

The idea of posting a snippet of writing on there was absolutely terrifying.  So I knew I had to do it.  

This is what I posted:

I gather grass clippings into a little pile by my knee.  My son rests his head in my lap as his sobs subside into hiccups.  The sound of shattering glass makes me jump.  My eyes blur as I stare at the lawn.  I really don't want to see what's going on.

What is that smell?  I thought smoke was smoke, but apparently not.  This smells like flowers burning.  There is a pungent sweetness to it.

My eyes move to my son's head, tousled and sweaty.  Then his arms, charred with black.  His hands in which he holds his new hamster, Pete.  

Pete is dead.  

Without thinking I look up and am mesmerized by the flames eating my house.  Eating my life.  

And we just got here.

Then the editor of this magazine said she really liked it and that I should consider submitting a short story for her magazine.  So I finished the little part I wrote, turning it into a story that I really like.  But she said it was too much of a bummer for what the magazine wanted.  Bummer.  It is a little heavy, but I like it.  It is about hope and healing and God meeting us in our need.

Anyway, she asked if I had anything lighter, so I wrote something and submitted that and she liked it.  And there we go! Yay for me!

ack, the sun

I think I have the opposite of SAD.  You know, that disorder where people get depressed without sunshine?

I get depressed when the sun does shine.  I mean, I don't mind it for a few days.  I wouldn't want to never have sunshine.  But day after day after day....  The longer it is sunny, the more depressed I get.  And of course the heat makes it worse.  But even in the winter, when the temps are down, I get great relief from a cloudy day.

I know.   Leave it to me.  But I'm not the only one.  It is a verified disorder.  I read an article about Dorothy Hamill of haircut fame and she has it.  The reason she took up ice skating in the first place was because she felt so much better in the ice rink where it was cool and not all bright and sunny.

I love the idea of the sun.  I love drawing happy little suns.  I love songs about the sun.  "Walking on sunshine... oh yeah."  The sun is supposed to be a happy, friendly thing, but the way I feel when it's unrelentingly sunny is attacked.  Accosted.  Abused.  Really.  

I'm not trying to complain.  I'm trying to explain.  You can tease me.  I like being teased.  I also would appreciate your prayers because it truly is getting me down.

accept me

I read a quote somewhere by someone that said all everybody is looking for is appreciation. I suppose we all appreciate some appreciation. But I think that all everybody wants is just acceptance.

Spend some time watching people. Sit in the lobby of a movie theater, or the mall, or church, and just look. Some people are almost screaming it: "Just accept me. Just tell me I'm ok!"

We want to belong. We want to be "good enough." We just want acceptance. And I think that is true for every human being except the very most bent ones. There are some out there who gave up on that quest a long time ago and truly don't care. They are the scary people. But I think every one of us wants to know that at least one person likes us, and accepts us just as we are.

Many of us try too hard. We end up losing ourselves in the process. Wanting it so much that we change who we are, what we think, and how we look, just so others will approve. It's sad when that happens but I think it a very easy place to get to.

But the great thing is there is always One who not only accepts us, He loves us. He thinks we are just amazing and awesome and wonderful. He approves. He likes us. We don't have to do a thing to make Him feel that way, either. We just have to let Him. Just let Him love us.

Thank God!

Thanks, God.

pay no attention to me, its the heat

Hot.  It's hot.  I'm hot.  There is too much heat - everywhere.  You have to understand that I consider anything above 75 hot.  And it has been triple digits around here.  We don't have AC.  I am barely functioning.  I can't go on much longer....  I only have the energy to complain because it is morning and it is only 67 right now.  Thank God for cool nights.  And I'm pleading with him for rain.  Rain cools the air 20 degrees or more, plus, we are just going to shrivel up and blow away if we don't get some.

Ok, enough of that.

There are some movies that people rave about and I just don't get...

Some examples:

Bridget Jones Diary.  I hated that movie.  First of all, why not just cast a British actress?  Why use a girl who has a terrible phony accent?  I want to watch Miss Potter, but I don't think I will be able to stand it!  Second, what was so funny about it?  Maybe I just missed the humor because I was too busy gritting my teeth.

Jerry Maguire.   I just don't get what was good about that movie.  In fact, I don't even remember what it was about.  Some greedy guy?  "You had me at hello"?  Which was just sooo corny to me.

Pretty Woman.  I guess there is the knight on a white horse part.  And every girl dreams of being rescued by a rich, handsome man.  But still... I just don't think the movie is "all that".

Dirty Dancing.  The only good part in the whole movie is when whats-his-face says "Nobody puts Baby in a corner."  And then they dance.  The rest?  Gag.  A bratty girl defying her parents and sleeping with a gigalo who is on a mission to help his friend get an abortion?  Whatever.

Wow.  This post seems kinda snarky.  Sorry about that.  It's hot.