Labels: miscellaneous

Labels: miscellaneous

Having been away all week, dashing around the country, it was lovely to get home last night and to get a sleep in my own bed! It was even more of a delight when I checked my emails and was told that two of my friends in Blogland, Janna of Bread Crumbs and Simple Christian Living had bestowed on me a wee present.


The Thinking Blogger Award was started by the thinking blog and has spread around the globe quickly. The rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote

Ladies, thank you so much for your kind words, encouragement and prayer. You have been such a blessing to me through your posts and conversations, so it really is an honour and a delight to have been given this. As I have said before, this really really is just me thinking out loud. With my lengthy commutes, I have plenty of time to ponder (and at worst, ruminate) so you all get the brunt of it!

Can I introduce you to my winners of the Thinking Blogger Award? Please visit them all to have a look around.

• Solo Femininity by Carolyn McCulley - I first read her book, Did I Kiss Marriage Goodbye?, then started reading her blog. She is a wonderfully wise woman who tackles the big issues of being a single woman pursuing biblical womanhood. Her articles will challenge and encourage your thinking.
• Middle Years by Linda - I know she has already been nominated, but I wanted to make sure to share her blog with you. Given that I am a 26 year old Scotswoman, you might not think that a Texan grandmother and I would have much in common. Instead, we have become friends through reading her refreshing and honest posts and because when she says that she will pray for you, you know that she is. I can't tell you how much that has blessed me.
• Small Things by Sherrin - We have many similar ideas on biblical womanhood and the Christian life and when we don't, it provokes some fascinating conversations. She is obviously someone who thinks deeply and carefully.
• John Dekker's Journal - I've enjoyed reading John's insightful blog and his comments here and across friends' blogs. He's a theology student so shares much of his studies with us. I have enjoyed this week's Readings for Holy Week.
• A Gracious Home by Sallie - She's already been nominated too, but I couldn't miss her out given that I can't go shopping without hearing her voice (or how I imagine her voice to be!) saying "Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, Do without." On this and many other issues, she has made me think.

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11

Labels: miscellaneous

• What happened with Aztecs from 1480-1520? - Don't know, I'm afraid!
• phone books of married womens feel singleness - Not quite sure what they were looking for here
• how will I look 13 weeks pregnant? - Probably a little bumpier than you did 13 weeks ago!
• falkirk wheel hate - I however think that the Falkirk Wheel is one of the wonders of Scottish modern architecture. It is a beautiful sight to see it working. Any of you come to visit, and I promise to take you there. The Snowman Irn Bru video shows it in action.
• Is Sherrin a scottish name for woman? - I don't think so, but you could ask Sherrin just to be sure.
• keziah and lord death - Who is Lord Death?
• all sorts of coins 1483 - 1546 - I think you are needing John Dekker more than me here!
• websites for elderly people trying to learn piano - Hey, I know I am not getting any younger, but I'm not exactly elderly yet!
• vacation before marriage separate rooms - Definitely a good idea!

Labels: miscellaneous

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 0 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

This explains why I have never put my full name up here! I am rather proud of the fact that if you Google me, it is only me who comes up! How many of you are there?

Labels: miscellaneous

Your Inner European is Swedish!

Relaxed and peaceful. You like to kick back and enjoy life.

You Should Learn Swedish

Fantastisk! You're laid back about learning a language - and about life in general. Peaceful, beautiful Sweden is ideal for you... And you won't even have to speak perfect Swedish to get around!

Labels: miscellaneous

Labels: miscellaneous

Labels: miscellaneous

If you were once (or even still are) a Rainbow, Brownie, Girl Guide, Ranger, Young Leader or Guider, or a Beaver, Cub Scout, Venture Scout, then you'll know that today is Thinking Day, a day for Scouts and Guides all over the world to remember their Scouting and Guiding brothers and sisters all over the world. The date was chosen because both Lord Baden-Powell, who founded the Scout Movement in 1907, and his wife, Lady Olave Baden-Powell, who became World Chief Guide, were both born on the 22nd February thirty-two years apart.

I was wondering if anyone else had been a Scout or a Guide. As for me, I was a Brownie and rose to the heady heights of Sixer of the Gnomes. Having just got my Hostess badge, we moved from the country into the city so I lost touch with Guiding until late in secondary school when a friend invited me on her Young Leader camp. I had never been camping before but loved it! Soon I was Assistant Guider of a small unit in a very deprived area of the city with my Guider being my former geography teacher. It was a challenging time, often just trying to bring some stability and some boundaries into very fractured lives. Despite the constant difficulties, I was sorry when I had to leave when I moved to start work.

One of my Guiding highlights was taking part in a Millennium celebration of Thinking Day. Over 2000 people took over the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre for an afternoon of singing and displays reminding us of Scouts and Guides all over the world. It was possibly the most cheesy thing you could ever have seen. (If you ever visit, I promise to show you the video!) At the end, I realised that I had come off stage and had lost my woggle. I felt sorry for the poor security guard who had clearly never heard of a woggle as I begged to get back on the stage briefly to look for it.

It's funny how much of Guiding is that funny, almost secret, language. Who else knows what a woggle is? It's a bond to girls and women of all ages as we giggle over the outfits Brownies used to wear (brown tunic dress, brown cardigan, brown bobble hat and yellow cross-over tie) and the importance of getting more badges when you are 8 years old. I still remember the excitement of reading my Brownie Guide Handbook and of the day I made my promise to "do my best, to love God, to serve the Queen and my country, to help other people, and to keep the Brownie Guide Law", remembering that a "Brownie Guide thinks of others before herself and does a Good Turn every day."

Today, as it is Thinking Day in the 100th year of Scouting, do you have memories to share of being a Scout or a Guide? It would be great to hear all about them.

Be Prepared...A Scout must prepare himself by previous thinking out and practicing how to act on any accident or emergency so that he is never taken by surprise.
Lord Robert Baden-Powell, Founder of the Scouting movement (1857-1941)

Labels: history, miscellaneous

Labels: miscellaneous, quotations

Labels: Christmas, miscellaneous, Scotland

1. I became a Christian at the age of 17 or 18
2. I was converted while attending a church where the minister didn't believe the Bible or in the diety of Christ!
3. I was converted through reading the Bible
4. I want to be a Woman who Fears the Lord
5. I now attend a wonderful Bible-believing church
6. Time management is a big issue for me - I am inclined to be a Martha
7. I am a big fan of Flylady
8. I had my driving license for 3 years before I ever drove again (I walked everywhere)
9. I love reading and have piles of books throughout the house
10. I think quotations can be a good way to learn from others' mistakes and experience
11. My first memory is of losing a Porsche!
12. I started blogging to be more accountable in my studying and thinking
13. My first pet was a hamster called Holly
14. Even though I was a night owl, I have worked on getting up earlier to allow myself some proper quiet time before work
15. I don't have a pet at the moment
16. Lilies make me sneeze
17. At school and university, I used to work in a restaurant, a pharmacy and a bingo hall
18. I think a proper understanding of biblical manhood and womanhood has the potential to reform family life and society
19. I need to use a knife and a fork to chop raw chicken so I don't need to touch it
20. After reading all the controversy about it, I have been studying Debbie Maken's "Getting Serious about Getting Married"
21. I have the scary ability to remember conversations word by word
22. The first book of the Bible I studied when I became a Christian was Philippians
23. I might be descended from Vikings
24. I believe I am both the older woman and the younger woman
25. I think the smoking ban in Scotland is the best thing the Scottish Parliament has done yet
26. I need to be more disciplined about my Quiet Time
27. I am praying that God will work in me so that his desires for me are my desires
28. I don't have any fillings in my teeth
29. I love chocolate (just as long as it is Fair Trade)
30. I passed my driving test on the third attempt
31. I want my home to be a place of welcome and refuge for people and love having people to stay, just as so many people have allowed me to call their house home during my studies and travel
32. I have just learned to play the piano with BOTH hands! At the same time!
33. I love to sing and am a soprano
34. I am working on developing the disciplines of quietness and solitude in my life
35. I've sung live on BBC Radio 4
36. I don't own a television
37. I have never tried drugs or smoking
38. I lead a bible study for young women
39. I believe alcohol can be enjoyed in moderation by Christians
40. I have started keeping a prayer diary to focus my prayer life
41. I was really pleased about the Word Cloud for my life but would be worried if anyone could make one of all the things I say and think - which words would be big then?
42. I can't bear to touch unglazed terracotta
43. I love to learn new things
44. I speak English and Spanish, and little bits of Gaelic and Hungarian
45. I am a hospital physician specialising in diabetes
46. I am good at Su Doku but hopeless at cryptic crosswords
47. I am quite nervous about the idea of putting my photo up on the Internet
48. I have incredibly vivid dreams
49. I am surprised by the number of complete strangers who have found this blog and by the number who have become friends!
50. Occasionally I even sleepwalk!
51. I hope chivalry will come back into society but I worry that the quest for gender sameness means that it never will
52. My mother instilled a great love (and pedantry) of correct grammar and spelling in me
53. At school, I once came second in a big debating competition with a speech based on this quote
54. I've never watched the "Star Wars" films and think there is probably no point starting now
55. I'm the 40,672,690th richest person on earth!
56. I still don't know what is happening next year - praise God that he is in control!
57. My watch runs about 5 minutes early to make sure I am on time
58. My favourite novels are probably Pride and Prejudice and Harry Potter
59. I would love to do jury duty but have never been called
60. When I was little, I wanted to be a princess
61. My love languages are 'Physical Touch' and 'Quality Time'
62. I am thankful every day for all my girlfriends and sisters in Christ
63. If you Google my full name, I'm the only person who comes up
64. One of my favourite passages of Scripture is Isaiah 43
65. I cry pretty easily at sad films and books
66. I am called to be a steward of the gifts I am given here, but I know that my true treasure is in Heaven
67. I was a vegetarian for 10 years before someone made me roast beef for dinner and I was too embarrassed to tell them!
68. I had never heard of Reformation Day before this year
69. I still only eat red meat occasionally
70. I believe in the Five Solas
71. I am allergic to nickel
72. I am taking part (slowly) in Callapidder Days' Fall into Reading challenge
73. I can't stand spiders and use the Dyson to get rid of them
74. I believe, wherever we are and whatever we do, we are all full-time Christian workers
75. My favourite psalms are 16 and 73
76. I can become so ungrateful and take so many things for granted, so it has been so good to think of the many good and perfect gifts with which I am blessed
77. I belong to a denomination that only sings psalms in church
78. My favourite hymn currently is "In Christ Alone"
79. My favourite carol is "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"
80. The most number of people I have ever cooked for on my own is 40
81. I've known for a while that I would want to give up work once I had had children, but now I am wondering whether my job is compatible with a happy marriage even before children
82. I haven't quite decided what I think about homeschooling
83. I'd like to go to Florence and Rome on my next holiday abroad
84. I know that I am a sinner but also that, by his grace and his sacrifice on the cross, it is Christ alone who saves me
85. I was in the local newspaper while I was at school - the headline was "Keziah's looking for a good reaction!" (I'd won a chemistry competition!)
86. I am making more of an effort to buy my food locally to reduce pollution
87. I would love to go sky-diving even though the thought terrifies me
88. I am a Member of the Royal College of Physicians
89. I hope to spend some time doing medical mission abroad
90. The only bone I have broken is the little toe of my right bone - little bone, but it hurt!
91. I am from Scotland, where Andrew is the patron saint
92. I'm the eldest child
93. I worry about the rise of secular fundamentalism
94. I had my portrait drawn by a street artist in Paris but it didn't really look like me!
95. The most influential people in my life are probably a pastor and his wife from the first evangelical church I went to
96. I'm going to take some time this year to pray for my pastors and their wives
97. I can't do anything in the morning until I have had a cup of tea
98. My nativity scene stays up all year
99. My daily commute is about 2 hours one way
100. I don't like secrets (but I am good at keeping them) so just ask if you want to know anything else!
     

Labels: miscellaneous

While trying to avoid studying, I remembered this article on the BBC website and thought I would share it with you all. "What If..." presents four classic "thought experiments" for its readers to consider. I'll be interested in your own thoughts before I tell you my own!

Labels: miscellaneous

Labels: miscellaneous

I try not to get obsessed by it, but I am interested in who has come by to visit my blog and how they have found me. Some of you know me in real life and some of you only know from the blogosphere, but I find the completely random visitors fascinating! How did they get here? Where are they from? Why did they come here?

Unfortunately Site Meter doesn't answer that last question, but I have been able to find out a lot about my readers, like how they ended up here from search engines. Some aren't entirely unexpected ("a woman who fears the Lord", "women after God's own heart", and "women who serve God") and I am glad about that, although it also reminds me of the responsibility of gracious and wise blogging if people come here after searching those things. A few of the more surprising ones are "Debbie Maken" (obviously someone else confused about what to think about her book), "Carolyn Mahaney 7 habits" (when I suppose you could just look at her own website to get them all) and, my favourite, "Divine Drink" where I am the 10th result of 8,170,000!

I love too to see where people have come from. Just a quick glance at my last 100 visitors, they have come from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Iran and Iraq! Thank you for stopping by - hope to see you again soon!

Labels: miscellaneous

Labels: miscellaneous, photos

Labels: carnival of beauty, miscellaneous