Middle Name Tag

I’ve been tagged! Tina from Palm Tree Fanatic tagged me for the middle name meme. Here are the rules:

-You have to post these rules before you give the facts.
-Players, you must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have liked to have had.
-When you are tagged you need to write your own blog-post containing your own middle name game facts.
-At the end of your blog-post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

M – Married - to the love of my life

A – Author - what I would like to be called one day

R – Relational - I love people

I – Individual – unique in my own way like everyone else

E – Excited – about what life will bring next

If you enjoyed this tag then I tag you. Let me know if you do it.

© Nadine Z. 2007

Burning Man

For the first time our church is sending out a team of five people (pictured above) to join a larger group (45 others from different parts of the US) for an outreach at Burning Man. They will do the same things we do at the Fair and the Boat Races but on a much larger scale. Burning Man is probably the largest pagan festival in the US. Around 30 – 40,000 people gather in the Nevada desert for a week. The Burners (the attendees call themselves this) are very unique people from all walks of life. The event is described on their website as this:

People make the journey to the Black Rock Desert for one week out of the year to be part of an experimental community, which challenges its members to express themselves and rely on themselves to a degree that is not normally encountered in one's day-to-day life. There are no rules about how one must behave or express oneself at this event (save the rules that serve to protect the health, safety, and experience of the community at large); rather, it is up to each participant to decide how they will contribute and what they will give to this community. The event takes place on an ancient lakebed, known as the playa. By the time the event is completed and the volunteers leave, sometimes nearly a month after the event has ended, there will be no trace of the city that was, for a short time, the most populous town in the entire county.

Something common at Burning Man is mutant vehicles (pictured to the below). The arts are encouraged and promoted. They express their creativity by decorating bicycles (a common mode of transportation), mutant vehicles, and even your bodies (many people walk around naked with their bodies painted or decorated with props).
Our team is bringing their own mutant vehicle - a shopping cart. Pictured below are some pictures I took with Tom. That thing is huge.
The Burning Man Team is there to do dream interpretations, life readings and handout water bottles (20,000 to be exact). In the past the Burners have been truly blessed. Some have changed the direction of their lives. One year a gal asked if someone could lend her a shirt, suddenly she was not comfortable with her nakedness. She was not told by any members of the team that she should cover up, but after spending time in God’s presence she wanted to. I’m sure my husband, Shadraq, and Don C. (other members of the team who blog) will be posting stories from their time in the desert. I will let you all know when this happens.

You can read an article my husband wrote about Burning Man by clicking HERE. In his article there is a link to the Burning Man website where you can find out more about this event. I will miss him terribly while he is gone, but I do have company. Shadraq’s wife is staying with me along with their very adorable baby.

I hope that you all have a great weekend.

© Nadine Z. 2007

Benton County Fair

The Benton County Fair started yesterday and lasts until Saturday. Like most fairs there are rides, food, attractions and more food. For the past two years we have had a dream booth at the fair. We do the same thing at the fair as we did at the Boat Races.

The setup for these outreaches is such that we schedule three man teams to sit at a table with a fourth person acting as an alternate (you know incase you have to take a break). People come to the tables and we ask if they want a dream interpreted or a life reading (in others words we ask God to reveal something to us about the person that would edify and encourage them). Nine times out of ten people want a life reading because it sounds like a fun thing to do. We find that most people have a hard remembering their dreams.

Last night Tom, I and another married couple were scheduled to work. Since the first night is usually slow we scheduled only one table instead of our customary two tables. When we got there it was so busy. The shift before us had a line of people waiting. Tom and I sat down and got right to work. When the other couple showed up we decided it would be best to have two tables with two people. We hardly got a pause in the flow of people. At one point I started seeing yellow and I knew I better go to the restroom. I’m happy to report the restrooms had full doors and were pretty decent.

I had so much fun working with Tom. We had some interesting encounters with people. It seems when someone leaves feeling uplifted and encourage they go and find a friend or a family member and bring them to our booth.

One lady bought back her daughter and her daughter’s friend. The girls had their mouths open half the time and kept saying, “Wow.” It appeared that we hit the nail on the head and they were simply amazed. What we saw was that they were very close like sisters and were often mistaken for sisters. They had similar tastes in clothes, music and even boys. They each had the ability to size people up and situations and know when danger was afoot, except when their heart was involved. We encouraged them to listen and trust the other one’s instincts in those situations. It was a very cool encounter.

I love when I hear the question, “How did you know that?” Then I can give the credit where credit is due. I simply say, “When you sit down, I ask God to tell me something about you that would encourage you and He did.” The purpose of these outreaches is to touch those who normally wouldn’t enter a church. To give hope to those who need it. The power of a well placed word can bring healing to someone’s life. How good and faithful is God to speak to us in ways that can bless and encourage others.

© Nadine Z. 2007

Power of Words – Part II

Next week is one of the biggest outreaches our church does all year. From Tuesday through Saturday we will have a booth at the Benton County Fair. What I find fascinating is how powerful the encouraging words we give are. Last year we had a couple come to the table. After Tom and I gave what we felt God tell us to give, they looked at us and smiled. They received the same words last year at the fair. They felt great that they received the same words from different people a year apart. To them it symbolized being on the right track.

The message about the power of words has been burning in my heart. I wrote about this back in December. I’ve decided to reprint in part a revised version.

When I was younger, I used to get picked on. I’ve touched on this before in a previous post. I decided very early on that I would stick up for myself with my words and my fists. I would be proactive. In other words, I was a bully. There was one girl I used to pick on quite often. Why? It’s simple, because I could. I was not proud of that person I used to be and years later when I was a teenager, I became a Christian.

One day when I was 18 I was on a city bus and I noticed a girl staring at me. I sat in the back of the bus and right before she was about to get off, she looked at me. She asked, “Do you remember me?” I replied, “No, I’m sorry I don’t.” The next thing she said went through me like a knife, “You used to pick on me and beat me up when we were in grade school.” She then got off the bus. I just wanted to crawl under a rock. I was stunned. I was speechless. When my brain started to work again, I wanted to get off the bus and chase her down and tell her how very sorry I was. I wanted to tell her I’m not the same person. I was ashamed that I couldn’t remember the face of someone I caused such pain. I didn’t have the decency to remember her name. But all I could do was pray and ask God to forgive me. I prayed for her that she would find peace and healing for the hurt I caused.

But I wasn’t totally an evil kid. I had a good friend named Aminie. One day Aminie was upset and feeling blue. I asked her what was going on. She wanted to be a lawyer when she got older and that day, she felt it would never happen (she was only fourteen years old at the time and I was fifteen). I took a piece of paper and wrote something simple along these lines, “My friend Aminie is very smart and one day will be a great lawyer.” I signed my name. Twenty years later when she came to visit me for a weekend. She asked if I remembered writing this and then took that piece of paper out of her wallet. I was stunned. I had totally forgotten that I did that. She told me in law school, when things got tough, she would take out that piece of paper and it would encourage her to continue. She thanked me for getting her through law school.

Words carry great weight to them – either to heal or to harm. As a writer the written word is permanent, written forever. What I’ve come to realize is that the spoken word is just as powerful – written forever in a person’s heart. What I want to speak are encouraging words that propel people toward their destiny. Lord help me to always choose my words carefully. Help me to speak words that encourage others. Let my words be Your words spoken out of love. Amen

© Nadine Z. 2007

Remember the Alamo

I don’t know what it is about us and rental cars but it seems they don’t like us. Last time we went on a trip there was a big mix up with Enterprise and it was Avis to the rescue. (Click here to read about it.) As I mentioned in my previous post we had to rent a van when we went to Seattle because none of our vehicles would hold six people and luggage for a cruise. There would have been no way we could have taken his family to the seaport.

Tom rented a van at Alamo. When he got there they have no van available. They were very sorry but another customer was late in bringing back the van. Apparently Alamo in our little town has only one van. So they rent us a Durango that seats six but had no luggage room. Tom told them this wouldn’t do. Their answer was to exchange the Durango in Seattle at the airport for a van because one was available there. Okay that’s fine.

We get to Seattle and we exchange the Durango for the van. You read about the weekend in the previous post. Now it’s Sunday and it’s time to take them to the seaport. We all pile in, the luggage fits fine and we are on our way. We’re on I5 going north when a car pulls up next to us. Everyone is pointing to our van as they drive by. Tom felt like something was not right and pulled over to check it out. There was the making of a flat tire on the passenger side in the rear. The exit was not far so he thought he could make it. Soon he realized he wasn’t going to. Pictured below is how close we are to the exit.
This was what the tire looked like.
Tom’s thought was we were early and maybe we could change the tire ourselves and get everyone to the boat on time. We couldn’t find the spare. We call Alamo and they informed us they would someone to change the tire. As we are waiting on the side of the road I called the hotel to see if they could send a cab. The cabs wouldn’t come to pick someone off the side of the highway. We did have three people stop to help while we waited. The third was Officer Ford. He was very nice. I told him about how we had to get our family to the boat before it took off and we had this flat. He asked if I called a cab and I explained how they wouldn’t come for a fare on the side of the road. He informed me they would come for him. He called the cab company and they were on their way. He was very nice. He even posed for a photo. Below is Officer Ford with Teresa and Lorraine.
We took this opportunity while we waited to explore our surroundings.
What do you do when you're stuck on the side of the road? Take more family pictures of course.
His dad started to worry because the cab was not here yet. I remember Officer Ford said he called Yellow Cab and as I saw one pass on the highway and caught the number off the side and called. They said they couldn’t find us. I couldn’t believe it. How many vans with six people standing around right before the exit did the cabby pass? Anyway they sent another cab.

Finally the guy came and changed the tire. First he had to release the spare. Pictured was the release from inside the van. It came up out of the floor.
The spare tire was located under the driver’s side. We never would have found it. I was worried for the guy trying to get it out.
The cab finally got there when the tire was changed. The family got off on their trip. We put the flat tire in the back and we were off to the airport to exchange our car for car No. 3. We couldn’t drive three and half hours on a donut. The red car you see above was what we ended up with.

I will be busy with another class this weekend. I’m not teaching but will be helping out. Have a nice weekend everyone.

© Nadine Z. 2007

Family

My husband’s dad was going on an Alaskan cruise. Since he was leaving out of Seattle he came in a couple days earlier to visit with us. So we set off on a trip to the other side of the mountain to see him. Also going on the trip was his uncle. We were to take them on Sunday to the ship so we needed to rent a car so we could fit everyone’s luggage and seat six people. (Renting the car is an entire blog by itself.) Pictured above - seating left to right, Tom, me, Lorraine & Dad. Standing Teresa & Uncle Al.

We spent Friday at Pike Street Market, which is 100 years old. We kept noticing all these pig statues all over the place and since inquiring minds have to know I asked someone. “Hey, what’s with the pigs?” One of the shopkeepers explained that it’s in honor of the Market’s mascot, Rachel the pig. She stands outside the market and is a piggybank (pictured to the right). All the funds donated go back into serves for the market, like the medical clinic. So the city commissioned artists to paint different pig statues (100 of them) and they are placed throughout Seattle. I caught a few on camera. Check them out below.
Also located in the market is the very first Starbucks.
Check out the lobster tails and the beautiful flower vendors.

Here's a picture of Dad & Tom

I interrupt this blog for a side item. Pink and Blues Girls is having a contest and it has to do with my next item but first go over there and check it out - CLICK HERE. If you ever find yourself at Pike Street Market and have to go to the bathroom either hold it or find a restaurant nearby. The public bathroom was a bit of a shock to me. The doors on the lady’s room stall looked a bit odd at first glance. I look and thought that they looked a bit short. I had to take a picture from inside the stall before going to the bathroom. Check it out below. A lady was walking by at the time. To make this worse the door didn’t lock or close very well, but when you gotta go, you gotta go. I now hold the world record on how quickly someone can use the facilities.

Dad loves steak so Tom wanted to take him the best steakhouse in Seattle. He heard about Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. We thought it would be expensive but I didn’t know we would have to hock one of the kids to pay for dinner. Everything is a la carte. I have to say everything we ate was delicious. The atmosphere was nice but very dark. Even the restrooms were dark. The reason they kept the place so dark was so you couldn’t see the prices. The service was great and the food really good. My suggestion to you if you go can be summed up in one word - share. Share an appetizer, salad, steak, veggie and potato. The portions are enough for two people to eat. Here’s a picture of the outside, the inside was too dark to take pictures with my camera.

Stay tuned for my next post entitled, Remember the Alamo.

© Nadine Z. 2007

Bourne Ultimatum

Before I start I just want to say don’t worry about any spoilers because I’m not going there. Tom and I went with some friends to see the third Bourne movie. It was very good. It was filled with lots of things blowing up, fights and car chases. There were a couple of cool one liners that you would expect from this movie franchise. Jason Bourne from the first movie on knew he was more than just an assassin. When he looked at himself he wasn’t comfortable with the skin he was in. He began his search to find out who he was and how he became the man he saw in the mirror.

When I was a little girl, I was confused about who I was. I kept searching to find the skin that suited me. I was many things to many people. I found that I didn’t like being picked on so I became a bully and picked on others. I found that I liked to play sports so I became a tomboy. I lacked confidence so I pretended I was very sure of myself. I found that I enjoyed playing with dolls and dancing ballet so I became very girlie. I was conflicted because I thought I had to be one way or another. I didn’t understand that I could be me and enjoy many things that don’t necessarily relate to each other. What others thought I should be or even my own thoughts were unrealistic. I found that expectation was my enemy. I didn’t know who I was but what I saw I didn’t like. I wasn’t the nicest person around unless you were my friend. If you weren’t then I apologize publicly to you now for the nasty things I said and did. I yearned to find out the answer to the same question Bourne asked, “Who am I?”

I didn’t get my answer until I met someone very special. He loved me just as I was. He didn’t ask me to change just to accept Him and I did. When I gave my life to Jesus, my life changed for the better. I started to discover who I was. I realized that God changed my heart but not my personality. My true personality was so different than what I pretended it to be. I wanted to be this tough girl from Brooklyn that no one messed with. Instead I was someone who found herself caring for people. One of the best things God did for me was Tom, a man who loves God, me and our children with his whole heart. He is one of the kindest men I know and has taught me so much by showing me what God see in me.

At 45 I’m finally starting to feel a bit more comfortable in my own skin. I’ve discovered that looking through God’s eyes at a person is the only way to look at them. Because of Him I’m free to just be me.

This leads me to this next item. Karolee from My Montana Moments gave me the Nice Matters Award. Here is what she had to say.

Nadine has been reading and commenting on my blog since last March. I think it's nice that she keeps coming back. She is also SO nice that I know she won't pass this award out to anyone else because she knows too many bloggers and doesn't want to leave any of them out. Nadine, you have my permission to give this award out to ALL of them. :)

So thank you Karolee for your kind words. It really means a lot to me. So I take her up on the offer and award this Nice Matters Award to EVERYONE who has ever commented on my blog and left a nice comment (which includes everyone because no one has left a bad one). Give yourself a hand and this award. Your comments have been encouraging and uplifting.

Have a nice weekend everyone.

© Nadine Z. 2007

Weeds - Part III

I’ve talked about my rock garden before. Whenever life gets too busy, the weeds get out of control. If you haven’t read Part I and II, you can by clicking HERE and HERE.

Usually when I weed my entire body hurts for a couple of days. This time I thought I would be smart and not bend over as much and sit while I weed. Imagine how tricky that would be in a rock garden. I took a cardboard box and flatten it. I used it to sit on. From a distance the weeds looked massive. (Pictured above is the actual weed from my garden.) As I grabbed a handful to pull I noticed it had one central root and the weed came up. I guess it wasn’t going to be as bad it first appeared.

After I pulled the main weed out and was about to spray, I noticed there were tiny little weeds between the rocks ready to spring up. I couldn’t believe how much there were. I had to bend closely to see them and remove rocks to get to others. The thing that kills me was that we had put down protective tarp that was suppose to keep weeds from growing but instead these babies come up right through the black tarp. They were mutant weeds out of a bad B-movie.

It was very frustrating because after the major removal there was so much to spray. My hand became tired and I had to switch back and forth as not to damage my hands. It really didn’t matter because all I could get done was the front yard. After about two hours and a very large black garbage bag, I was done. My back and arms were hurting. The sun was starting to beat on me and I felt exhausted. I was so mad at myself. I had many more projects to do in the house and I was determined not to overdue it in the garden.

I got cleaned up and got ready to go to the store. I was about to go food shopping when Tom looked at me and told me I had to take a nap for at least an hour. He let me sleep for two. I was under orders to just do the food shopping and the rest of the projects would have to wait. Doctor Tom ordered rest and I decided it was wise counsel.

While I was working on the weeds God started to speak to me. Weeds are like the sin in life. Some are obvious and they grow to the point of overtaking us. It’s at this point I could have used some help pulling the weeds. It wouldn’t have taken so long and I wouldn’t have felt so beat up afterwards. It's the same with sin, sometimes we need the help of someone we trust to help us overcome.

Some weeds are small and hide inside behind the rocks. They aren’t visible until something larger is removed. They are much easier to get rid of at this stage, but what if I’m not looking. Then I can’t see what’s wrong. It’s good to sometimes take a look at yourself (not in a way that puts condemnation upon you) but conviction prompted by the Holy Spirit. When sin doesn’t take root and overgrow we are more apt to have a better garden that is healthy and strong. So Lord help me to see better the weeds hiding in my life. Let nothing hinder my relationship with You.

© Nadine Z. 2007

Check out my husband’s blog post called, “What We Look Like Through Their Eyes.” The magazine, The Stranger, sent out 31 writers to different religious services all on the same day. It’s long but worth the read.

8 Random Facts

My blog buddy over at Raising the Martins in Oklahoma has tagged me to give 8 random facts/habits about myself. I have a very vague memory of being tagged while I was blogging about my trip to California and it was along these same lines but I forgot who it was that tagged me. So if it was you, let me know.

Here are the rules:

1. Post the rules before you give your facts.
2. Players start with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged must write their own blog posts about their 8 things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people.

Don’t forget to tell them you tagged them.

1. I mix my metaphors all the time. I wish that I could think of an example but I can only do it when I’m not trying.

2. English was my least favorite subject in school. I had terrible English teachers in high school. The worst was my senior year teacher – he chain smoked during class and would pause in mid sentence to exhale before finishing his sentence.

3. When I was a little girl I loved to play with Barbie dolls, play jacks, jump Double Dutch, play touch football and stickball - sometimes all in the same day.

4. I had a cat that taught himself to pee in the bowl. If we could only get him to flush it would have been perfect.

5. I love to laugh and try to find the humor in most situations.

6. I would never be caught wearing sandals without nail polish. I don’t like naked toe nails.

7. I’m a bit clumsy and I bump into things all the time. I often have bruises on my legs that I have no idea how they got there.

8. I often read the end of a story because I can’t stand the suspense.

So if you want to join in the fun, I tag you. Let me know if you participate so I can read your random facts.

Finally, I want to thank my blog friend, Cherrye from My Bella Vita for awarding me with the Schmooze Award. The following is the description for this award.

“They effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship."

Thank you Cherrye you are too kind. Check out her blog it’s always interesting. She is an American living in Italy and engaged to an Italian man and is opening a bed and breakfast. Some of her stories just make me laugh.

Have a great weekend all.

© Nadine Z. 2007

Just For Fun

My friend Shadraq posted a Simpsonized version of his family. He went to simpsonizeme.com. My hubby thought it was funny. Below is what he came up with. Let me know if you’ve done the same.

© Nadine Z. 2007