Happy birthday to MInTheGap!  You, through this blog and others, have touched many lives and today is a celebration of how God has designed you to be a leader in His kingdom.

“Happy Birthday! I hope that the next year is even better than the last one. May God abundantly bless you until your cup overflows. Knowing you this past year (or however long it’s been) has been both inspiring and a blessing. Thank you. I hope you have fantastic birthday cake!” ~Amanda

“MInTheGap,

I just want to wish you a very happy birthday!  It is a great day! (my b-day too).  I just want you to know that I have enjoyed getting to know you here in blogland!  I wish you a very happy and blessed birthday!  May the Lord continue to work great things in your life!” ~Kristine aka MamaArcher

 

“MIn, thanks for being dedicated to pouring into other believers.  You’ve been used to give wisdom and encouragement to so many people including myself.  Thank you for letting yourself be a vessel of God’s grace to others.” ~AG

Lo and behold, Claudia was in the database and here are a few of the results:

• You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. (actually, I’m a good listener)
• You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. (got me confused with someone else here)
• A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. (aren’t we all?)
• You are very adaptable (most of the time)
• You are light hearted and accepting. You don’t get worked up easily. (true, no extremes here)
• Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is. (The joy of the Lord is my strength, that’s my “secret”.)
• You don’t really have a lot of worries. (see above)
• You are balanced, orderly, and organized. You like your ducks in a row. (what’s the point of having ducks if they’re not in a row?)
• People can see you as stubborn and headstrong. You definitely have a dominant personality. (who? me?)

It also said I was tightly wound and a type-A personality, but those don’t fit me at all.

Here a few other things you should probably know:

• I feel strongly that if it’s not chocolate, it’s not dessert
• There are only 8 – 10 hours in the life of a banana that it is really worth eating.
• Fruit’s a risk. Jerry Seinfeld actually said that, but I thought it long before. In what other food group can you take two things that look exactly alike, say 2 cantaloupes or 2 strawberries, and have one be perfectly good to eat and the other not?
• Rules are not meant to be broken; rules are meant to be followed.
• Everybody should just try to get along.
• I am honored to be a contributing author at Weekend Kindness. I trust that lives will be changed through the work that is being done here.

I am first and foremost a Christian, a child of the Most High God. This is a continual journey; one of sanctification, growth, and maturity. I am helpmeet to a wonderful man; one I am proud to say is the love of my life. He is a minister who is currently serving in the United States Air Force. I am reformed and covenantal in theology. My husband and I have been blessed with eight children(2 boys and 6 girls) thus far. Our household includes preschoolers, young adults (I strongly dislike the term teenagers), and several ages in between. I am a homeschooling mom and am in my 12th year of homeschooling. I homeschool using the Classical Christian method.
I am new to blogging, having only started in March of 2007. I love it! My personal blog, which is updated daily, is MamaArcher’s Blog. I have recently started and run a Quiverfull Blogroll and a Quiverfull Carnival. I also write periodically for a homeschooling newsletter, and this is going to be the third co-author blog that I will be contributing to. God has been and continues to be gracious and abundant in His blessing of online ministry for me and I pray that I can be an encouragement to others here; as well as receive encouragement from you.

One of my foremost passions is helping people realize that God isn’t this imperonal diety, but a close friend. For some reason, I’ve always viewed Jesus as my fiancé – my groom, not the father-figure or king-figure that most people see. He’s the lover who wants an intimate relationship with me. I suppose, to me, behind the veil of the Holy of Holies lies more than an altar. It is my groom’s bedchamber.

I think seeing Jesus in this light helps me have a right relationship with others – it’s a different type of motivation to do so. When I’m bad God isn’t a disobeyed parent so much as a heartbroken lover. When I’m good God isn’t a proud parent so much as an elated husband.

I am a freelance writer and editor; I teach high school English at a University Model School; and I am in my eighth happy year of home schooling my two lovely daughters.

I’ve been married to my dear husband, Pete, for just over fifteen years, though it’s amazing how new it still seems sometimes. He’s a rocket scientist (yes, really), though we’re praying that somehow, someday, he’ll get to move permanently into vocational ministry. We’d like to put that MDiv degree to use–hey, it took him seven years to earn it!

As you can guess from the title of my own blog, my main focus in nonfiction writing is marriage. Sometimes I write about anecdotes from my own life with Fabulous Pete; sometimes I share a quote about marriage that I either agree or disagree with; sometimes I comment about marriage in today’s society–particularly the sad state of marriage among Evangelical Christians.

I am honored to join these other writers at Weekend Kindness, and I hope to make fun, encouraging, thought-provoking contributions to the site.

I’ve been married for 12 years to my wonderful husband, and we have two children: a 9 year old girl, and an almost 5 year old boy. I grew up in a Christian home, but like many teenagers, I rebelled in a big way in college. Fortunately, I rededicated my life to Christ as a young adult, and I’ve been following Him ever since.

I’m a stay-at-home mom, which keeps me busy. I enjoy watching my children play soccer, helping them learn their AWANA verses, and just being home when they come home from school, so I can hear about their days. I’m also in the process of helping my husband start his own copywriting business. It’s a new adventure, and I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us!

In my (limited) spare time, I enjoy reading, writing, and occasionally singing with my husband on our church’s worship team.

I’m excited about contributing to Weekend Kindness! I believe that Christians can have a profound impact on the world through our relationships with others, and I can’t wait to see what God chooses to do through this blog!

10 Years Ago

Ten years ago I was 21.  I was in my Senior year at Bob Jones University.  I was finishing up a degree in Computer Science with a music minor.

This fall semester I was in my third semester singing Tenor with the University Chorus.  This semester we actually were a part of the Sunday Vespers singing two different songs in Rodehaver Auditorium.  This was the first time that the Chorus would sing in Vespers.

This semester we also built my first web application using ASP and an Access Database.  It was the Annual BJU Contest Management System (CMS) program– a program that would be converted over to JAVA after I left.

Socially, I was dating a girl I met at summer music camp long distance– a girl that I would eventually break up with on the path to finding my wife!  I was working at the BJU Dining Common, and was the regular server for the faculty and guests on Sunday– even doing a Thanksgiving meal for the Administration (even though I never left the kitchen).

20 Years Ago

Twenty years ago I was 11.  It’s interesting that I am asked 10-20-30 this year, because it was just twenty years ago that my family was in England on account of my father.  He worked for a company that was purchased by a company in Bracknell, Berkshire, and they moved all of us over to England between July and December of 1987– roughly 6 months.

We actually took a babysitter with us, who went back within two weeks, because we were sure we’d be in a hotel for some of the time, but ended up in a rented house–

Our House in England

14 Shepherds Hill, Bracknell, Berkshire, England (marked by the red tack) was where we lived, driving a French car because it was the only car big enough for our family.

I went to school around the corner (you can see some of it here on the left) and attended church in a community center.

At this point in my life I was adapting to a different culture– one that walked more than drove, said “Oi” instead of “Hey” and one that was different than anything I had experienced at the time.  School was different in that I went to a private school that had to wear a tie and was setup like a high school, even though it was still elementary.

I placed into the upper track (1W), but had trouble keeping up with the different pace as well as trying to figure out how to switch classes and where to end up– I swear, looking back, that I must have missed some classes because I was never sure where I was supposed to be.  For the most part, I just tagged along to where my friends were going!

30 Years Ago

In 1977 I was a 1 year old.  I’m sure that the milestones here were learning to walk and talk!  I was a late walker, I believe, but other than that, I’m not quite sure what’s notable here.  Sorry!

And now, it’s my duty to tag some other individuals…

I tag:

• Revka at The Porch Light
• Leigh Ann at Seeing Afar Off
• Rebecca at The Space Between My Peers
• Jess at Making Home
• Meg at Meg Logan

If you haven’t been around 30 years, do the best you can!

As I sat with the other Golds and read the description it was not surprising that gold was my primary color.
“Gold represents a need to be responsible, to fulfill duties and obligations, to organize and structure our life and that of others. Those with Gold as a Primary Color value being practical and sensible. They believe that people should earn their way in life through work and service to others” (taken from truecolors.org).
As we read through the description my supervisor and I chuckled because this described us to a tee!

But to get to the basics of who I identify as, I am a God-following, woman, fiancée, (soon-to-be) step-mom, daughter, aunt, sister, niece, athlete who eats only fish (and recently chicken) but loves anything sweet!

Min asks me to write for Weekend Kindness so I’ll be contributing once a month. That’s me in a nutshell!

Last week I realized there was much more listening I needed to do instead of writing for a season. God has provided some Elders (in person and through the internet) that have been vitally important to where I am spiritually right now. Don’t worry, I’m not getting into some sort of leader-worship-cult! Quite the opposite! We all need some mature people of faith to help us along the way at times.

So, for however long it takes, I will be writing in my journal that collected dust while I was blogging or thinking about blogging. I will be reading Scripture, five chapters a day. I will be visiting with new friends. Trying out wobbly lamb legs, spiritually speaking. Sewing and knitting lots of cool stuff.

We wish you well, Anna, and pray that your journey closer to God will be a fruitful one.