At risk of seeming self-absorbed, I’m gonna do my version of the Internet tagging phenomenon, “Four Things.”

Four things I did (yesterday)…
1- Had a surprise visit from The Sparkly Girl at my workplace. She laughed, showed me her Christmas presents, looked at the cool fish and sometimes runaway crab and then I took her home.
2- Danced in the kitchen with one adorable niece while singing Jingle Bells. What joy on her face!!
3- Decorated for Christmas! Kind of. Sort of. I’m not done yet. But I do feel very festive!
4 – Emailed my parents, who are currently vacationing in Jamaica. :)

Four blogs I have enjoyed recently...
Yeah, I read blogs. But I have this cool gadget called ‘Google Reader,’ which saves time by consolidating all blog feeds into one place.
1. http://atypicalpastorswife.blogspot.com/. The blog of my friend and pastor’s wife. I love the recent posts on “The Consistent Christian.”
2. http://ourkitchensink.wordpress.com/. A food blog that I actually make recipes from. Like corn chowder, and peanut butter-swirled brownies, and quiche, and chocolate cheesecake. Nice.
3. http://www.evtales.com/. Sometimes hilarious stories about street-preaching the Gospel around LA.
4. http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/Blog/post/The-Sluggard.aspx. CJ Mahaney’s blog. This post about Laziness was really convicting!

Four things on my to-do list…
Make shopping list for youth cookie baking night (tonight!). Work on a Christmas gift. Vacuum my bedroom. Find my thank-you cards!

Four random facts about me…
1- I’m a genetic mutation. Honestly. Every dentist or oral surgeon has told me that. Well, not in those exact words. They usually say, “do you know that you’re missing some adult teeth?” To which, I shrug and reply, “I’m a mutant. It’s my parents’ fault!”
2- If I don’t rest on Sunday, my week starts out very bad. It’s funny how the Bible always proves itself right. You just need a rest day once a week.
3- I wear a ring on the ring finger of my left hand. I’m not married though. It’s a purity/promise/chastity/abstinence ring. Little known fact: I actually wear my sister’s old promise ring. She’s married to a Godly man now… And well, if it worked for her… LOL
4- My earliest memory is being in church. :)

Four Scriptures that encouraged me recently...
2 Peter 1:3
“Seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.”

Psalm 42:11
“Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.”

Psalm 3:5
“I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the LORD sustains me."

1 Peter 1:13
“Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

"O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, that I may know Thee indeed. Begin a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. In Jesus' name. Amen."

From A.W. Tozer's The Pursuit of God.

"O God, You are my God ; I shall seek You earnestly ; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water." Psalm 63:1

Water is a basic human need. The human body can survive for some time without food, but can survive only 3 days without water in average conditions. The spiritual need for God's presence is much greater. It's saddening to me that we often live in the flesh and quiet the desires of the spirit. I remember vividly a fiery sermon preached on July 6th, 2001. The key verse was Psalm 119:20 "My soul is crushed with longing after Your ordinances at all times." I have often thought of that verse and been challenged by its message. The question burns with me: Am I crushed with longing for the Word at ALL times?

Today I want to be more thirsty for the Lord.

I'm gonna try not to be long-winded. This might be the longest weekend-in-review ever because it is Thanksgiving Weekend In Review. Enough introductions though: Let's get this party started!!

Wednesday night: It seemed like everybody and their brother was travelling for Thanksgiving, so we had a really small youth group meeting. Eh--no meeting, I just took 'em out for pizza and we talked about the meaning of thanksgiving from the Word. In between lines like, "A tornado is God running in circles!" and "Can someone hand me a straw that Evan has not licked?" I love the youth group! Afterwards, I went home to make a deep dark chocolate cheesecake. Except I'm changing the name to "Death by Cheesecake." It's so much more imaginative. :)

Thursday-THANKSGIVING!: Watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (tradition) with the windows wide open (so NOT tradition). We're still attempting to rid my house of that fuel oil smell. GAH. My "cottage" welcomed the family for Thanksgiving dinner. Hosting a meal is FUN!!!! And I didn't burn anything or stress out the tiniest bit. Of course, having a mom and sis with skill & initiative in the kitchen makes life alot easier. After dinner, it was * shhhhh* Christmas present making time. A little dozing. A little football. A little reading. And then a crazy rush to pack stuff to spend the weekend with my parents.

Friday-BLACK FRIDAY!: There's was nothing tempting enough to get out at the crack of dawn for shopping. We moseyed around town, ate some pizza while I made a Christmas-shopping-list (I love lists) and I purchased 5 gifts through the course of the day!! :) I'm truly amazed. Usually, the pressure overwhelms me, the crowds annoy me and I give up after a few hours.... Now that I think about it, we only shopped for a few hours---so it worked... Back onto the mountaintop for chillin' with the family, bright night stars, intriguing conversation and/or debate in the hot tub with The Little Bro "is life on other planets possible?"... And no, I don't think so.

Saturday: Youth group Christmas shopping trip to a nearby mall. It's better than our town's mall because a. it has a food court. b. it has escalators. and c. it has this nutrition store with a nifty massage chair demo out front. Yeah, that's where I rested every couple hours! It was FUN TIMES with the youth group and I was just grateful that nobody got kicked out of the mall for riding the escalators the wrong way! And I purchased more Christmas gifts, got some ideas and bought some books for myself. Does that really surprise anyone? What is also not surprising is that I can read while riding in the car, without any ill effects. I can also crochet Christmas presents. I think this multi-tasking skill originates from so much road-tripping as a child. I can remember our trips when I was younger. We would drive through the night and I'd be laying in the backseat, reading by flashlight. :) Haha. Nice.

Sunday-The LORD'S DAY!: Day of fellowship with the saints, the presence of the Lord, rest and refreshing. Lately, my favorite part of church has been the 'praying for one another' thing. Very comforting to know that there are folks who will hold us up in prayer... Lunch with family and a very excitable niece "There's a SPEAKER where the MUSIC comes from!" and "Chicken!" Then fun times with The Little Bro, the roomies and football. And baking cookies. And several Christmas movies. A little cheesy, but I feel the spirit of Christmas a'coming. Now we just need some Christmas decorations!

Stay tuned for more interesting stuff than just reiterations of my life activities! :)