25 Things You Didn’t Know About Me…Part One
Okay, this devo is kinda long…so it’s going to be in several parts!
25 Things You Didn’t Know about Me???
Okay, if you’re on Facebook, you have probably seen that whole 25 Things You Didn’t Know About Me forward that’s going around. Well, I had just about everyone I know send it to me…I’m assuming because you actually wanted me to do it too. The problem though is that I’m a teacher and a youth minister…there are reasons you don’t know these things. Anyways, I didn’t complete it on Facebook, but today is your lucky day. And you can thank my dad for this.
Let me put a disclaimer here real quick. If you think I am strange, you should meet my dad. I come by it honestly!
Anyways, my dad sends me political cartoons and newspaper clippings in the mail. He always includes some satirical note about them as well. A month or so my dad sent me an editorial from a journalist who decided to do the 25 Things You Didn’t Know About Me in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Ironically, I thought he was insane for publishing that in a newspaper read around the world…yet here I am publishing it on the Internet, which is read around the world. Anyways, my dad is not tech savvy so he decided he would write his own 25 things and include it with the editorial. Well, of course, it was my job as a daughter to write him back and comment on some of these things. For example, he said he once dated the most beautiful woman in the world. I wrote him asking if it was my mother and if that is where I got all my beauty. I got one line back…”hahahahahaha.” Funny dad…very funny.
After I had commented on his, it was my turn to write my 25 and his turn to comment on them (I did put a disclaimer in there saying I was an adult now and he couldn’t ground me). For example, I wrote that I once flashed my history professor. He wrote, “You mean flashcards right?” I wrote back…”No, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t flashcards that got me the only A in the class.” He wrote back…”You’re grounded!”
Okay….pause…I did not actually flash my professor technically…kinda…sorta. I had a shirt on top of a shirt. I didn’t realize the shirt underneath wasn’t buttoned all the way. I took the top shirt off. My professor kept stopping his lecture and smiling and turning red, all the while looking at me. Finally, I turned and asked my friend if I had something in my teeth. She said no, but my shoes were untied. I looked down to realize that I had been ‘flashing’ Dr. Pleysier because my shirt was not buttoned up all the way. I apologized profusely, the class got a good laugh, he just smiled, and I got an A. Of course, I also studied very hard for that A. ☺
Okay, back to the 25 Things You Didn’t know about Me. If you think you’re going to get another story like me flashing someone, you’re wrong. Sorry. I’m still grounded from the first 25 Things list. So, no, you don’t get to see the original list. However, since fair is fair and my dad got to see 25 Things, you should see some too. So I’m going to do one just for you..in the style of 104.7 the Fish…safe for the whole family!
Oh, and one more thing….yeah, I’m gonna throw God in there! Hello? It’s a devotion you know. Oh, and Cameron.
25 – Contrary to popular belief and Cameron’s SAT journals, I have not gotten lost on a youth trip. When we stop for ‘bathroom breaks’, it really means Richard is lost, not me. I also have not been nearly ripped apart by giants…unless you include big guys who insist on giving me a hug when they see me in church. Why must they squeeze and lift me off the ground?
Bible check – Okay, so I haven’t been literally lost on a youth trip or literally torn apart by giants, but I think it’s pretty safe to say that I’ve been there in a figurative way. All of us have felt lost before. All of us have also felt like we are being torn apart by something. It may not be Genghis Khan, but rather circumstances in our life. So what do we do when we feel lost or all torn up inside? Simple, run to God. As Romans 8:31-32 says, “…If God is on our side, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son for us but gave him up for us all, won’t he also surely give us everything else?” So, you see, it doesn’t matter how big the “giant”, God is bigger. It doesn’t matter how “lost” you are, God will give you a map back to Him.
24 – I am flattered that Cameron includes me in her SAT journals. I admit it. I like it. Who wouldn’t? I just hope she doesn’t do it on the real SAT…
Bible check – Be careful young ladies and gentlemen. Flattery can be very dangerous. Proverbs 29:5-6 says “Flattery is a trap; evil men are caught in it, but good men stay away and sing for joy.” We all want to be liked and talked about so we are vulnerable to flattery. But it can be a dangerous trap. To avoid falling into it, try and stay realistic about yourself. I’m not saying it’s bad to have a little bit of praise, but don’t go so far as to think that you are the reason you are getting that praise. As I like to say, anything good in me is from God, not me. When someone is praising you for something great you did, accept it with gratitude but also make sure to give glory where glory is due.
23 – Maegan is NOT really my daughter. I did not really adopt her and I did not buy her on Ebay. I couldn’t afford her.
22 – I hate to say it, but I really don’t have a bag for a stomach. I have had surgery and I really do have a diseased colon. However, my stomach was not removed. My gallbladder was removed and various other colon procedures have been performed. The scars are real. The bag….not so much.
Bible Check – I have literal scars due to my condition. But I also have scarring that’s not quite so visible. As much as I’d like to deny it, there are scars of my past that will never go away. Is that bad? Nah. God uses those scars to remind you of several things. First of all, you survived it! Second of all, God was there with you during that time and He will be with you for the next time. Thirdly, those scars might be a reminder of what you’ve learned from the experience or even a reminder of how that experience brought you closer to Christ. My scars on my stomach remind me daily to eat the right foods and be careful not to overdo it. But they also remind me that my life isn’t about me. It’s about Him. I learned more about Christ and myself during that period then I have probably learned my whole life. I guess being forced to slow down makes you think. I know I also have scars in my heart that do the same thing, remind me of Christ’s love for me and of something I learned about myself or Christ in the process. So you got scars??? We all do. You don’t have to show them off, but you do need to realize God left them there for a reason.
21 – No, I don’t drink very much at all. I have had wine and champagne at weddings and etc but that is it. Why? Well, my dad was an alcoholic, as well as my crazy mom. I really don’t want to test that whole ‘alcoholism is a genetic thing.’ I also have a diseased colon that doesn’t tolerate alcohol very well. See number 22.
Bible check – I am not saying that there is anything wrong with drinking…if you are of age! Once you get older and legal, it is not a sin to drink. Jesus drank wine for goodness sake. However, be careful. Drinking may not be a sin, but when you get drunk, the door opens for lots of bad things…ie sin. A lot of people get drunk to solve their problems or make the pain go away. Guess what? When you sober up, the problems and pain are still there. And nine times out of ten, there’s more problems because of something stupid you did while you were drunk. Proverbs 23: 29 – 35 says, “Whose heart is filled with anguish and sorrow? Who is always fighting and quarreling? Who is the man with bloodshot eyes and many wounds? It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns, trying out new mixtures. Don’t let the sparkle and the smooth taste of strong wine deceive you. For in the end it bites like a poisonous serpent; it stings like an adder. You will see hallucinations and have delirium tremens, and you will say foolish, silly things that would embarrass you to no end when sober. You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea, clinging to a swaying mast. And afterwards you will say, ‘I didn’t even know it when they beat me up….Let’s go and have another drink!’” Seriously, who would want to be bitten by a snake or do things that embarrass you to no end. I embarrass myself enough without alcohol!
20 – I have never been married or had children. I’ve never been engaged. Yes, I was close, and yes, he broke my heart. No, you may not ask who and when. ☺
Bible check – Marriage is a very serious thing. A lot of people think they can marry and then divorce if it gets hard. I come from a divorced family. Trust me, that is definitely not what God wanted. Does that mean divorce is bad? Yes and no. It’s not what God intended. However, if the relationship is harmful, God doesn’t want you to be hurt. My dad divorced my mom because she abandoned my sister and I AND had extramarital affairs AND was abusive. Do I think God wanted my dad to divorce my mom? Heck yeah. I don’t think God wanted me nor my sister in that situation. However, I think God probably also wanted my dad to choose wiser in the first place. Of course, my dad wasn’t a Christian back then and that affected his choices. Now though he would tell you that he did make a mistake and if he ever did get married again, it would be permanent. Matthew 19 explains, “Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: ‘Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for just any reason?’ ‘Haven’t you read the scriptures?’ Jesus replied. ‘They record from the beginning that God made them male and female. And he said this explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.’” So, yes, marriage is some serious stuff. And I haven’t gotten married because I refuse to settle for someone who I ‘might’ could be with for the rest of my life. Does that mean I’ll never get married? I really hope not. ☺ Although in the Bible it does talk about how some people are not meant for marriage, I truly believe I am NOT one of those people, and I will find the right one for me. When is up to God. And when I do say ‘I do,’ it will be forever. And there will be much praise from teenagers and adults alike.
19 – I am 31. A certain government agency thinks I’m only 30. They have the wrong birth year and have had it for years. No, I didn’t correct them and probably never will. When you get my age, you will understand.
18 – Yes, I did do some stuff with a band a long, long time ago. I’ll never forget the first time someone wanted my autograph. It was awesome. However, that is the past….way past!
17 – My name is not really Mel. It’s not Melanie. It’s not Melvin. It’s not Missy. It’s Melissa, and hardly anyone calls me that.
To Be Continued in part 2
