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The next three weeks are insane for me. Not that I’m complaining! I’m thrilled, actually. They include travels through five states and at least two countries with dozens of family members, old friends and people I’ve yet to meet. Oh, and the start of a new school year — Zach’s first! All this, I’m sure, will be followed by two solid weeks of laundry.

So I’m here and I’m not.

I have much I would like to share with you, but I’m also a realist and recognize that, while I have the greatest intentions of posting throughout this whirlwind of summer’s-end activity, I may not actually get to it.

I’m here, but I may not be here.

I may be here.

Or here.

Or here.

Have a great day, wherever you are.

I spent at least twenty minutes this morning writing a post for you. The phone rang. I answered it. Came back and worked a little longer. When I clicked my mouse, everything disappeared. Yup. I spent another ten minutes trying to find it. It’s gone. And you’ll have to wait until another day to read it, because my real life is waiting.

Next week is VBS and I still have some prep work to do on that. Furthermore, I think I see the sun and I know I just heard the dryer buzz. I’m off. Have a happy Friday, all! I’ll blog ya later.

I had a WONDERFUL weekend, which is why you didn’t find me here. I’ll have a new post up by tomorrow, though.

In the meantime, don’t forget to sign up for the great book giveaway Kathi Macias is hosting in honor of her blog tour. It’s simple. You only need to leave a comment — any comment! — on my post from last week about Kathi’s newest book. Click here to see that post and leave your comment.

Hey, all! I’ve been thinking about this for a while and have noticed a few other bloggers wondering the same things, so today I’m inviting you to sound off. PLEASE comment or email me with your thoughts on this! I want to know what you think.

• What do you want to see on this blog?
• Which types of posts are your favorite? (devotional/spiritual, parenting, book reviews, random thoughts, helpful tips, recipes?)
• Which don’t interest you at all?

I’ve maintained this blog for over two years. At its genesis every post was like a devotional. Little by little I started including more of my life: my random thoughts, book reviews, quotes from my kids and silly life encounters void of specific spiritual application. At times it feels a little too mish-mashy.

Since you’re the ones reading it, maybe you can give me a little direction. Do you like the mental goulash I offer? Or do you want more cohesion on the site? If you like a little more consistency of content and, perhaps, a more defined purpose, let me know which direction you think I should take. Talk to me!

I can already tell this week has a theme. I’ve already written Mama Loves for tomorrow and this week we’ll have the March edition of Ellie-isms and Zach Attacks, so I might as well regale you with some of my wonderful lines. Here’s the week’s theme verse, hopefully an aid in preventing Open Mouth Insert Foot Disease.

Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD;
       keep watch over the door of my lips.
- Psalm 141:3 (NIV)

I have struggled wtih OMIF Disease most of my life. I remember when it began. I was around ten years old, I think. My brother and I were at my step-grandparents’ home for Christmas, along with our dad and the whole step-family. I always liked my step-grandad. He was cool. They had a pool table in the basement. A paneled basement. That’s what I remember. The next thing I remember Grandad asking me what I was thinking. He said he could always tell when I was thinking, that I thought about everything before I said it. For some reason, this concerned me. I didn’t want to seem timid or insecure. I wanted to speak freely and confidently whatever was on my mind. That’s when it began. I stopped thinking before speaking and have ever since been plagued by two wide feet stuck in my gaping mouth. It only gets worse when I’m excited or nervous. Those emotions collide at writers’ conferences. Here are some of my favorite faux pas, all accomplished while attempting to present myself as a professional writer.

While “networking,” I introduced myself then asked someone and what he wrote. He told me about his suspense/thriller novels. I reacted in kind about my nonfiction work (unpublished) then told him I’d see him around and wished him best of luck at the conference. I later realized he was part of the faculty and a very successful author. Like, gobs of books I have (obviously) never read.

I sat at a table with a faculty member and blurted out: “Hi! I’m Tanya and someone told me I need to talk to you about something, but I can’t remember what or why. How you doin’? Can I write for you?” Yup. Lasting first impression.

My dream agent invited me to a one-on-one lunch to discuss my career plans. Spaghetti sauce splattered on his shirt. He asked if I would mind if he took it off. He wore layers. I said, “Only if I can take mine off too.” I was not wearing layers. A DISASTEROUS attempt at humor!! After a very long silence I admitted how completely inappropriate that was and how very nervous I was and “Can we just forget I said that?”

I definitely need a guard over my mouth.

Congratulations to James for winning the 100 Things drawing!! A free book is on its way to him. If you missed the giveaway, revisit this post, then stay tuned. I’ll have another giveaway sometime within the next few weeks.

In other news, if you would like to subscribe via email (get my new posts in your inbox instead of having to visit the site every day), you now can! Check out the sidebar under “Feeds.” Click on the “Subscribe to In the Dailies via email” link then enter your info.

Also in the sidebar, I’ve added a new poll! I posed a question earlier this week, but haven’t received much discussion. Now you can let your voice be heard anonymously. If you want to leave a more detailed answer, comment on the original post.

Now I’m off to enjoy this gorgeous day! Dare I say it? At long last, spring has finally arrived.

First, Happy St. Pat’s to all of you! I tentatively greet today, hoping it passes with fewer theatrics than last year. I omitted the whole police debacle, but can read about my drunk nun neighbor in this post.

Second, welcome to Mama Loves! To learn more about this weekly exercise in positive blogging, visit this post.

Mama loves hidden significance. Well, it’s not hidden, but sometimes we miss it. Let me explain.

When you’ve been a christian for a long time, you can sometimes skim through your Scripture reading. I told Rick yesterday that I’ve been trying to read through the Gospels again (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), but I’m struggling to stay engaged. I’ve read them so many times in the seventeen years that I’ve been a believer that the stories seem stale. And yet Scripture is never stale! I’ve just convinced myself that I know the stories and have already gathered every tidbit of inspiration from them. The problem isn’t the passages I’m reading, but my attitude toward them.

Other times you focus so much on one aspect of a passage that you miss other crucial points. This is the hidden significance I mean. I love reading something I’ve read a hundred times (or more) and finding something new. This is what happened this morning while I read through the first chapter of Ephesians.

“For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will.” — Ephesians 1:4-5 (NAS)

Anyone who has ever engaged in apologetics reads this and immediately launches into a debate of predestination vs. free will. Verse 11 deepens the debate to the extent of God’s sovereignty over “everything in conformity” with His purposes. But a much greater truth lies in this passage. Yes, doctrines of predestination, free will and God’s sovereignty are importiant, but by focusing so heavily on these points, we miss something so cool: the why.

God chose us IN LOVE according to HIS pleasure and will so that we may be HOLY and BLAMELESS in His sight.

God draws us unto Himself not based on merit or value, but based on His great love for us. He does this not to prove His great power over us or His predestination, but to make us better, to make us blameless and holy in His sight. That is awesome!  None of us is righteous. For Him to make us so in His sight – that all-seeing, perfectly perfect  and righteous sight — that is a miracle greater than predestination. It’s a wonder deeper than free will. It’s the gospel, the greatest news the world has ever known.

My mom, unfortunately, can only visit us twice a year. This is one of those weeks and I’m so excited! Consider this your warning of possible sporatic blogging this week. I’m having a great time and don’t want to miss a moment of our week together.

In other news, the New York City Public Schools have a snow day today. This is the first in five years. FIVE YEARS!! We get a ton of snow every year. How is this possible? Can you imagine being in fifth grade and having your very first snow day? So, happy play, kids! Enjoy it. You may not get another until high school.

I don’t know why my blog is all bold-faced now. I’m trying to figure it out and fix it. Sorry it it’s annoying. Know I’m not yelling at you! It’s just a glitch that, hopefully, will soon be fixed.

In other, much happier news Alexia of The Mommy Rambles gave me an award! Thank you, thank you, girl! I’ll get the Passionate Blogger button up soon. In the meantime I’m supposed to list five things I’m passionate about.

1-Solid Bible teaching
2-Encouraging and enabling strong marriages
3-Preventing the exploitation of women and children and protecting the victims of such crimes
4-Partnerships between evangelical and humanitarian missions
5-Adoption

Secondly … THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT.

In relation to #3 there, let me encourage you to visit Heidi’s blog at Moms, Ministry and More. There you’ll find a couple posts (here and here) written far more eloquently than I could that enable each of us to make a difference. Please, please, please jump over there and read what she has to say.

How many of you are onfacebook? The “25 Things Meme” has taken over enough to catch the attention of Time Magazine. Several friends tagged me, but for some reason (I can’t remember why), I refused to do it until a certain number of people tagged me. I promised if that many people tagged me, I would not only write 25 random things about myself, I would write 100 and post them on my blog. Now, I gotta tell you: this was more difficult than I expected! I’ve had this blog for more than two years, so coming up with 100 things I haven’t already talked about was definitely a challenge. But 30 people tagged me, so here it is. The List.

100 Things About Me

1. I love old men, not in a sick, twisted sort of way, but in an endearing “aren’t they cute and funny” kind of way. I find them absolutely hysterical. I could watch the movie IQ over and over just to laugh at old Albert and his friends. I can’t wait for us to get old so I can laugh at Rick. Never mind. He already makes me laugh!
2. I have many secret ambitions: to be a chef; to act in just one movie; to author a book or two; to design wedding gowns; to be a photojournalist; to travel the world; to be a prettier, nicer Martha Stewart …
3. I completely forget all my secret ambitions when faced with a single opportunity to share God with someone else.
4. My right pinky finger is massively crooked. It got slammed in a truck door when I was five, but because I could still bend it, my dad believed it wasn’t really broken and I didn’t need the hospital.
5. I’m obsessively careful not to slam my kids’ fingers in doors.
6. I’m also a little bitter that I could never be a hand model or an Allstate insurance salesman. They have to have good hands.
7. As a kid I would jump out of trees in an attempt to break one or both of my legs. I thought crutches were cool. Read the rest of this entry →