5 things you don't know about me

my favorite irishman across the pond tagged me for the 5 things you don't know about me meme.

and on this blog where you all know so very much about me i think it might be difficult to find 5 whole things you don't know.... hmmmmm...

1. it is my deepest dream and aspiration to feed the hungry. i fantasize about a ministry that begins with a soup kitchen (gosh i hate that term) and a food bank (another limiting term) here in our community that is run so well that it can be duplicated in small towns and cities across north america (and elsewhere if they want it). i pitched my idea to tony campolo 3 years ago and he liked it so much he invited me to eastern to study and begin my project. i have furnaced this idea for over 5 years and it ties together every job i've ever had, every financial struggle we've gone through and redeems all of it. it is the desire of my heart and i just can't figure out how to get from here to there...

2. following si's lead (who wants a sinus transplant) - i want a skin transplant. i have severe rosacia and adult acne that scars far too easily, it can be masked by cosmetics, but i loathe them and miss the days (pre-baby) of my peaches and cream (what my mother used to call it) complexion. i dream about contacting someone like oprah who wants to do a show on REALLY BAD SKIN and get some new dermatological wonder treatment i could never afford.

3. i have visions. not all of the time, but about 3-5 times a year i am given intense images that usually explain something very important in my life or community. liam is the only person i've really ever told about it. i am in a community now that would be open to them, but it is so strange to me that i still doubt them. the most important one i've ever had was last year at this time when i saw a long, back lit hallway, and there was this person walking down it very slowly. the closer the person got the more i could see why they were walking so slowly. they were dragging their left leg, and their left shoulder was dropping and as they came closer to me i realized that their left arm was deformed and twisted.

as they got closer still i could see it was a man, the light started to hit his face and somehow i knew it was jesus. he had a stroke and the whole left side of his body was paralyzed. he kept walking toward me and got about a foot away from me, the dropping face deformed, spittle running off the side of the mis-shapen lips and i looked into his eyes and a tear ran down the right side of his face.

when i looked into his eyes i knew that this was a picture of the body of christ. the church, that one half of it is paralyzed from fulfilling it's full potential and it broke his heart. it moved me so deeply i cried for days.

see, that's why i don't tell anyone.

4. wow, this has gotten really heavy... so i need to think of something more light-hearted... i love to sing, and have a pretty big range, but i have no ability to harmonize. i am a follow. when someone stands next to me i follow every lilt and note they sing instead of what i'm supposed to sing myself...

5. i am a dumpster diver. my hubby calls it 'shopping at curby's' and i just plain old call it garbage picking. my house is literally FILLED with unique finds that i re-purpose and reuse and they are mine (and the ones i get most compliments on) and i love them. my favorite piece is a cool old dresser that the paint is all chipped off of (i've sanded it) and we've removed 2 of the drawers and it holds our t.v. everyone who sees it wants one. i guess it's part of that redemption process that thrills my heart.

so there - those are my five things... i can't believe i told you that stuff, i just couldn't figure out what else you didn't know... :) thank you si - it was fun to play!

i tag hope, claudia mair, erin, deb and connie