because this is essential stuff

as always, i'm inspired by other blogging friends. (non-blogging friends inspire me, too. no worries!)

seven things i plan to do before i die:
1) write at least two books (i already have titles and premises in mind)
2) get married
3) have children
4) take my children and husband to romania
5) give sermons or teach adults on a regular basis
6) spend time in south america and both koreas
7) come up with hundreds of things i want to do

seven things i can do:
1) cry
2) laugh
3) sympathize - this is a new one for me!
4) analyse
5) rise to the occasion
6) dream
7) hope

seven things i cannot do:
1) drive a car
2) conjugate in romanian
3) remember how to sign the word "enough"
4) research
5) dribble a basketball with my head up
6) pray for very long
7) make it through "sister act" without crying

seven things i find attractive about the opposite sex:
1) taller than me - my mom has ingrained that preference in me!
2) vulnerability - i feel safest when i know we're both vulnerable
3) intelligence - and not just about God-stuff
4) excellence - in almost any area
5) sobriety - approaching life as it is, without rose-coloured glasses, but with hope
6) intercession - it is so moving to know that someone is talking to God about my struggles!
7) tenderness - there's no substitute

seven things i say the most:
1) "wow."
2) "holy crap/cow/snot/crow!"
3) "you think?"
4) "i love you so much..."
5) "shut up!"
6) "really?"
7) "well, my bible says . . . "

seven books i love:
1) "bridge to terabithia" - katherine patterson
2) "what's so amazing about grace?" - philip yancey
3) "a chair for my mother" - vera b. williams
4) "murder on the orient express" - agatha christie
5) "the trial and death of socrates" - plato
6) "fugitive pieces" - anne michaels
7) "the chosen" - chiam potok