Multipurpose words.

Todd was telling Matt about his menus ofthe last few weeks and some ideas for future parties. The following food items came up:

Beet Terrine
Savory Crisp

We decided they're also good drag names.

Colts win!

I live in the home of the reigning Super Bowl Champions, and am only semi-sad to say, I don't really care all that much.

What's funny is I'm not a huge fan of the team, but I am a huge fan of the people involved. For example, I think Coach Dungy is an absolute rockstar. And, I am always incredibly thrilled when the Colts win because of the fans I love -- mostly my brother, Matt, and Wandaful. Anyway, I just checked Indystar.com, and the Colts won again. WOOT!

This week, that means Matt, one of my dearest friends EVER and a 10-year resident of Seattle, is on his way to my house. Because he just attended the game. Here, in Indianapolis. This trip, he was in this part of the country because his brother's wedding was last night. Usually, however, he'll just pop into town for a game or two every season. Yay, more Matt for me!

He's here, I'm out!

Happy Saturday, y'all.

Hi. I'm Stacey and I'm really too old for bachelorette parties. My friend Joleigh is getting married on October 13, and last night we did the pre-wedding party of debauchery. Well, as debaucherous as a bunch of grown, responsible women get in public.

There were kick-ass hors d'oeuvre at our house -- Todd made them, of course! Then some delicious Greek food at Santorini, a favorite restaurant in a hip part of town, a really entertaining drag show at an excellent club in a different (also hip) neighborhood, then and only then, a stripper at the lovely home of another friend, Tina.

I only had to yell once (hee!), and it was because the stripper had gone down to g-string, and was lying on his stomach across the laps of three of the guests. The woman who had the best booty access wasn't touching the booty, or even looking at it! So I said, "Linda, grab that ass, that's what it's there for!" The whole thing was really funny. And, really, not sexy at all. The fully-clothed photographer guy (who was there experimenting with selling instant event photos) was far more intriguing to all of us girls than was the stripper.

It was a great, great time with some of the best friends I have. After the semi-naked dude and his photo dude left, we visited for a couple of hours, and this is when I had the most fun of the evening. It's also when most of the cocktails were consumed. I sobered up to drive home and STILL ended up with a hangover the next day.

When did I turn 38? I swear I thought I was still 22.

Just maybe.

So, I recently read an article found here in Christianity Today. (It’s not current; I was just found it in a recent search for an essay by Anne Lamott.) The following quote from the article reminded me of something I’ve been ruminating on for a while:

The idea of everyone enjoying God for eternity appeals to me—as I'm sure it does to God—yet it's hard to reconcile with verses such as John 3:16 and Jesus' assertion that "no one comes to the Father except through me."

Here’s what I’ve been thinking about. This summer, I attended a lecture at the home of the former First Lady of Indiana, Mrs. Judy O’Bannon. A remarkable woman who has taken up the life of a servant was speaking at this gathering. Her name is Dr. Dwabha Prabhavati, and she has been called into a life of service to the poorest, least powerful people on the planet, “the untouchable” children of Rishikesh, India. She founded and runs Ramana’s Garden, a school for poor and orphaned children there in Rishikesh.

During her talk, she was luminous with love for her own life and for the lives of the people with whom she is living and working. Someone in the audience asked about religious education for the children. She replied that the children are exposed to all major world religions, and that they were free to believe as they wished, but that exposure to philosophies and religions is part of their regular education. At the time I wondered how the person who asked the question felt about her answer, as I do live in a part of the U.S. where Christianity, and that evangelical, is somewhat considered the standard.

After the talk, another guest and I were talking about the work Dr. Prabhavati was doing, and how inspired we were by her great love for people and her intentional life of service. I instinctively knew the other guest was a Christian, as am I, and said to her about Dr. Prabhavati’s work, “If children are being loved and fed, I assume Jesus is already there.”

Sometimes I don’t know what I think until I see what I say.

What if Jesus' assertion that "no one comes to the Father except through me” means “If you have experienced God, you have come through me, whether you know my name or not”?

Couldn’t that be true?

When the “least of these” are being loved and fed, I assert that Jesus is already there. When the brokenhearted are being comforted, I believe Jesus is already there. When judgment is reserved and love is shown instead, Jesus is already there. When joy explodes, when health is restored, when laughter is heard after a long cry, Jesus is already there.

Many are blessed to know him by name. Many more are blessed to know him by his presence.

Squeaked in under deadline.

Today was the day o' exercise. I know this shocks and surprises, well, pretty much anyone who knows me. I was at fitness boot camp by 5:45 a.m., and at belly dancing lessons by 6:00 p.m. In the interim, I worked, ate, and tried not to fall asleep. Which is what I'm going to do now. The sleeping part, that is.

Turns out I wasn't any sharper or more brilliant today; however, I did post.

Miss Doxie has had a run of her funniest looks from childhood, and I'm thinking seriously of joining that trend. My hair alone will be good for several laughs.

See y'all tomorrow.

Love!

Stuff that's making us laugh right now.

So, you know how one says, "about as dumb as a bag of hammers"? (See: Beth's former dog, Lucy, a.k.a. "Hammers.")

Well, just a few minutes ago, Todd says, "...that's about as useful as a pillow case full of raccoon turds"...and I snorted. Now we shall create more of these very, very sad little similies. Please add your own in the comments section.

That's as dumb as...

• a bag of hammers
• a pillow case full of raccoon turds
• a box of hair (Yes, yes, I know. These are getting us warmed up.)
• a blonde girl wearing a blonde wig

Here's where I tell you that this seemed like a better blog idea than it actually is. Hee! Thankfully, this whole blog experiment is mostly for my veryownpersonal entertainment. If you have some of these sayings you like to use, please share!

I'm joining Allie in her 30-day-writing-daily quest. Check back here Thursday for something entirely better, and far more intelligent. I definitely plan on being the shiniest knife in the crayon box tomorrow!

Quote from Sam and a fellow blogger.

As Samuel Johnson said, "the prospect of imminent death concentrates the mind wonderfully;" and for all I know, my death may be mere heartbeats away. I'm young, but I've had friends who died younger. I'm healthy, but I've had friends who died healthier. The path from the womb leads to the tomb.

For those of us who know that death is but a sleep and an awakening, the fact that we are all dying is not cause for alarm. But it is cause for deliberate living.

Reprint

I'm feeling this (previous) post so much today. I'm so RIDICULOUSLY grateful for forgiveness. And am grateful for new days and new opportunities to be what God means for me to be. Enjoy the reprint!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When you hear the words "incredible body" what comes to mind?

When you hear "incredible body" do you think Angelina Jolie? Tyra Banks? A shirtless Johnny Depp? Maybe Orlando Bloom? Or do you just think of individual body parts like shapely legs, hard chest, shredded stomach muscles, vanilla ice cream scoop breasts, or something else? Living in this media-infused society, I'd not be surprised if every one of us thought of the incredible body as a taller-than-average, perfectly-complexioned, very wealthy, famous, slender, well-muscled, specimen. Nothing wrong with any of those attributes, either. I can even say without a grain of insincerity that I'd take some of those attributes for myself. Vast wealth can be appealing, after all.

I'd like to introduce you to another incredible body. Several of them, actually.

My friend Lauren's incredible body is one of amazing strength and endurance. She's not tall, nor thin, and the girl will flat out tell you she has Fred Flintstone feet. Lauren was born with Spina Bifida, a spinal injury that could easily have rendered her severely physically disabled. Instead, Lauren cared for her body, took it to the doctor, prayed for it, recruited her family and friends to pray for it, loved it, taught it Yoga, and spoke to it so that it would know how much it was loved, even though it wasn't always healthy. Guess what: Lauren has an incredible body. And it's not going to end up severely disabled, it's going to carry children, and it's going to last her a long time. Yep, incredible.

My friend Shannon has lived through several battles with cancer. The last time she fought with it (and won) the doctors told her to say goodbye to the kids and the family and prepare to meet Jesus. When nothing else was working, Shannon took her very ill body out of the hospital where the negative doctors were working. The doctors who spoke of her as though she were already dead. And then she made her own body well. She gave it the love and care it needed, complete with raw food, raw juice, and all the other stuff she will happily tell you about. She prayed, recruited her family and friends to pray, loved it, and spoke to it, as well. Her body got well. Healed itself! And produced another beautiful son after all that. Incredible body! I know you agree.

My Very Best Friend's incredible body has given birth to the five sweetest, most beautiful, most wonderful children on this planet. I haven't seen her naked in a while, but I'm betting she's not quite as thrilled with her physical self as she was when we were 19. Again, utterly not my point. Her body is strong, and healthy, and is the actual location where the souls of her children met their own physical bodies. That's not a small miracle. Indeed, incredible.

What would my little essay be without mentioning myownself? (Again, not famous for humility, me.) In the last couple of years I've learned some great stuff about me, one of those being that I, too, have an incredible body. I've never been fatter, or cuter, in my life. I have gorgeous skin -- everywhere, the best hair sculpture north of the Mason-Dixon Line, dark chocolate eyes, and looooooooong eyelashes. I also have amazing tits. Again, oh-so not my point. The point is, everything works. Everything is healthy. Everything is even proportionate! I'm so incredibly grateful for my fuctioning, healthy, wonderful body that knows how to walk, wake, sleep, and, thank God, breathe. Incredible; even the very basics are nothing less than an absolute miracle.

When I was a child I read a book that someone had given to my father when he was a child. It had lots of short stories inside, one of which has always been with me. The daughter in the story was frequently embarrassed by the odd-looking arms and hands of her mother. She wanted her mother to hide her hands and arms from her little friends. The mother was careful to protect the child from embarrassment. However, the story eventually revealed that the mother's arms were terribly scarred from burns she sustained while saving the daughter from a house fire when she was a baby. A scarred, incredible body.

You probably already know there's another scarred, incredible body that saved us from fire, too.

The incredible body is temporarily connected to the soul, which makes even the broken, the trapped, the thoroughly undone body intensely beautiful. The soul is what makes us indispensable to eternity and to one another. I know you knew that.

Until we arrive in the eternity provided by the scarred body of God, we all have somewhere incredible to live.

Who knew Ben Harper was a philosopher?

"Folks don't change, they just reveal." - Ben Harper

Quote of the Day

A good friend of mine, who did me the honor of letting me "talk her through" some things, said the following to me, "What are you, some sort of fucking life coach?"

(For those of you wondering, I answered, "Yes.")

More later, but have a laugh on me for now!