twenty-one: snapshots
My heart could use some African love right now… I guess I’ll have to settle for just looking at a snapshot—or twenty-one. These beautiful kids make my heart feel a little stronger.
Describe a snapshot of what your life looks like right now.
nineteen: words
“I am always here for you. You can call me anytime—even if it’s the middle of the night.”
I’ve said something along those lines a handful of times. One stands out in my mind because it was the most recent. I remember hanging up the phone and thinking about the people I know would be there for me in that way. Including some who’ve never uttered those nineteen words (or anything like them). And it got me thinking about how I know I can rely on them if they’ve never spelled it out.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this…
Have you ever had someone say something like that to you?
Do you know someone who’d be there for you in that way but hasn’t necessarily said it? How do you know?
eighteen: rules for living
At the start of the new millennium the Dalai Lama shared his eighteen rules for living. And now, gritty glorious friends, I’m passing them along to you.
::
1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs:
- Respect for self
- Respect for others
- Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
::
What stands out to you most from this list? What would you add?
seventeen: minutes later
I just wasted seven minutes—or was it seventeen!?—on this:
(click on it. and then click again. and again...)
Where are your favorite places to kill lose waste spend time online?
sixteen: and license-less
I guess most people get their licenses at sixteen. I was nineteen when I got mine.
No, I didn’t fail the driving test.
In New York you have to be eighteen to get your full license. And I turned eighteen right before leaving for a month in Africa. Days after I got back, I moved to Texas for a year. So… it didn’t happen until I got back to New York just after my nineteenth birthday.
I got my license and moved to Africa. Which means I’ve driven way more on the wrong left side of the road than on the right.
How about you? When did you get your license? Any stories to share?
fifteen: minutes of fame
What do you want to be known for in your fifteen minutes of fame?
fourteen: with braces
My chicken legs proudly showed off my knobby knees. The braces on my teeth changed color each month to match the upcoming holiday. I wore my bangs really high, with way too much hairspray.
I always did my homework on time and I aced every test.
I played volleyball, but only because I went to a tiny Christian school and they needed players. I lack(ed) any sense of sporting ability.
I had one close friend; we could often be found harmonizing DC Talk’s “Lean on Me” together.
I loved God deeply and I had a heart for missions. I went on my first mission trip that summer and it changed my life. Forever.
What were you like at fourteen?
thirteen: steps to counseling
I walked into the office with a red cup of non-alcoholic liquid courage in my hands and two people next to me for moral support (or maybe to make sure I didn’t turn and run). As I sat in the waiting area, I swear the pterodactyl-sized butterflies in my stomach had babies. I’d been anxious about this appointment since I boarded the way-too-small plane in DC, bound for Columbus. If I’m honest, I’d been anxious about this appointment since the moment I decided to come to America for this very reason.
He stepped into the waiting room to introduce himself and “collect” me. As we exited together, I turned my head for a last glance at my smiling friend. I heard again her words from not thirty minutes before: “I am so proud of you.” I smiled back and I’m sure it looked tentative and apprehensive. I don’t have a very good poker face.
It was thirteen steps from that door to the couch in his office where I found a seat and spent the next hour. For me, for whom trust is paramount and yet not easily given, it was a daunting thing to bare my soul to a complete stranger. And yet, at the same time, I felt completely comfortable. I walked out feeling like a weight had been lifted: the weight of simply starting this thing. And I felt proud of myself.
Hi. My name is Alece. I’m a missionary. And I go to counseling.
twelve: days of christmas
Have you ever stopped to think about The Twelve Days of Christmas song?
Seriously, does anyone want their true love to give them so many birds? Between the partridge, turtle doves, French hens, calling birds, laying geese, and swimming swans, I’d say you’d really just end up with a whole lotta crap to clean up.
And I can’t help but think of a horrible musical with all those milking maids, dancing ladies, leaping lords, piping pipers, and drumming drummers. Cue mental image of men in tights wielding musical instruments and frolicking about with large-chested women. No thanks.
The only thing in the song my true love is even allowed to give me is (white) gold rings. But, in all honesty, who needs five? Certainly not me.
Is there a Christmas song you either totally love or totally hate? (Make sure you tell us why!)
eleven: o’clock dreams
Our flight from South Africa was long and eventful, and we were so glad to touch down on American soil when we finally landed in Washington, DC yesterday morning.
As we went through customs, there were signs that read “Welcome to the United States” and a monotone voice declared the same greeting over the PA system. But nothing made me feel like I was home as when we walked through the final set of doors into the terminal and I saw St. Arbucks.
My venti non-fat, extra-hot chai in a glorious red cup of happiness was worth every penny.
We settled in at the house, ate some food, and called it an early night.
