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January 30, 2006
Four Things
Tagged by Nancy:
Four Jobs I’ve Had in My Life:
* grocery cashier
* shoe salesperson
* Student writing tutor
* Admin Support Coordinator, PCIO PL Marketing, Allied Insurance
Four Movies I Could Watch Over and Over, and Have:
* A Beautiful Mind
* Return to Me
* Sweet Home Alabama
* Moulin Rouge
Four Places I Have Lived:
* Omaha, NE
* Northfield, MN
* Minneapolis, MN (for a summer)
* Ames, IA
Four TV Shows I Love To Watch:
* Friends
* Wheel of Fortune (blush)
* Conan
* Seinfeld
Four Places I Have Been On Vacation:
* Hawaii (class/vacation)
* Ireland (class/vacation)
* Disney World
* New York
Four Websites I Visit Daily:
* Planet Rock
* Fox News
* The Weather Channel
* Cox Webmail
Four Favorite Foods:
* chocolate
* peanut butter
* ice cream
* is Diet Coke a food?
Four Places I Would Like to Visit:
* I'd like to go back to Hawaii again
* I'd like to go back to Ireland again
* and back to North Carolina, too
* As far as new ones, Spain might be neat
Four People I Am Tagging With This Meme:
* Pat
* Heather
* Laura
* Kristin
Posted by Megan at 07:34 AM | Comments (2)
January 28, 2006
Do Not Resist
I have strange dreams. Vivid and detailed, most are etched into my memory when I wake in the mornings. Some I have found to be rich in significance, while others appear to be completely nonsensical. An example of the latter is a recent dream in which Michael Jackson appeared at our home in Omaha only to slash my tires.
An example of the former is a dream I had about a week ago that has been in the back of my mind ever since. I was sitting at a long, bench style table, much like we had at our school cafeterias. Around me were both friends and strangers. I was somehow aware that although my friends at this table were believers, the strangers were not.
Everyone at the table was sharing their CD collection with everyone else, and selections were playing in the background. One of the strangers asked to see my new David Crowder CD, Collision. I was happy to oblige, hoping that the underlying message of salvation would somehow reach him.
I left the table to get my travel case with more of my CDs. When I returned, I found the case to Collision laying abandoned, in two pieces. I turned to find the stranger intentionally breaking the CD itself, a mischevious look of evil delight on his face.
I was furious. I demanded that he reimburse me for the CD, and I even calculated the sales tax he owed me. Yes, still sound asleep. I've been working to hard on my budget. Anyway, I was relentless. I forced the guy to take out his wallet. He attempted to give me a couple of bucks and an expired credit card, but I saw the 20 he was hiding away. I told him that I had change for the 20, and practically reached in there and grabbed it myself.
That's where the dream ends.
This is why it bothers me:
You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
-Matthew 5:38-41
When I was in middle school, there was a girl who hated me. She was in my math class, and I graded her paper once. She hadn't finished her assignment, and she begged me to not count the unfinished ones wrong, but I followed the rules. From that point on, every time she passed me in the halls, she would shove me. I would stumble away. It made me feel like trash.
One night I couldn't take it anymore and told my family what was going on. They told me that I had to stick up for myself. Shove her back. I protested that if we got caught fighting, we would both be suspended, because the school rule was that it didn't matter who started the fight, both would be punished. My family didn't care.
The next day, our science class went outside to pick up litter. She shoved me behind the teacher's back. I shoved back. She shoved me harder. I shoved back harder. Cries of "girl fight" went up, and I was afraid the teacher would look back and send us both to the principle's office. But I stood my ground.
The fight ended. I refused to let her one up me, so it was either a tie, or I won. The teacher never looked back. The girl never shoved me again.
This was a turning point for me. I was done letting people walk all over me. I at least put up a fight, even if I loose in the end.
Was I a better person before?
Posted by Megan at 02:49 PM | Comments (1)
January 18, 2006
Those Darn Prepositions
"Ariel Sharon over-went under-night surgery last night..." -The local news anchor this morning, who later admitted that he was working double shifts to cover for a co-worker.
Posted by Megan at 08:17 PM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2006
Prayer
If you're reading the One Year Bible this year, you probably just read Matthew 6:7. And a lot of you are probably resolved to read the One Year Bible this year. This has been my resolution for about the past ten years. And I haven't made it yet. But I have Genisis, Matthew, and the first few chapters of Psalms and Proverbs down cold!
Anyway, this particular year Matthew 6:7 struck me:
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.
Jesus spoke those words. And for someone like myself, who is just gradually becoming comfortable with the long, community-type prayer that passes off from person to person to person and back to person again, this is a disturbing command. Especially since I'm used to praying more like what the following verses describe:
Do not be like them (the pagans), for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. This, then, is how you should pray:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.
These verses are almost a relief for me, because often I don't have the words to express my prayers to God. I often fall back on the Lord's prayer -- not just reciting it, but thinking through each line and what it means to me presently.
Am I reading this wrong? It wouldn't be the first time. My heart tells me that praying in groups pleases God as much as praying alone, silently. Yet there are times when people are praying aloud that I begin to get the feeling that they are speaking not to be heard by God, but by the rest of the group and/or themselves.
Someday I want to blog about Luther's writings on the Lord's prayer.
Posted by Megan at 07:20 PM | Comments (2)
January 06, 2006
Sweet Talk
There was a great quote for every day of the work week this week.
Tuesday: "Wake up, sweetie." The security guard as I went through the entrance. I didn't realize I looked as tired as I felt. (FYI, I don't particularly like being called "sweetie" or "honey" or such things. I feel like saying, "Do I look like I'm in kindergarten still?")
Wednesday: "I was going to tinkle." Male co-worker to a female co-worker, when asked, "Where are you going?" Who uses that word?!? Then, after they briefly discuss something work related, he follows up with, "I can't hold it much longer." Thanks for the info. How old are you again?
Thursday: I call to schedule a service appointment for my car. Ring. Ring. In a Reba McEntire-esque twang: "Jord'n Honda, this is Rhonda." I about died then and there.
Friday: The marketing department holds bi-weekly teleconferences on Fridays with our Columbus team. Our director, whose name should definitely be Bob, was reviewing the numbers from 2005, which were generally positive. The excitement gets the better of him: "We are en fuego. That means on fire. We are en fuego."
I hope every week in the workforce is this entertaining.
Posted by Megan at 08:44 PM | Comments (4)