Sunday, March 7, 2010

Honest Scrap Award




Amazing, but true, I've received two blog awards in the last few weeks!
This one, the Honest Scrap Award, was given to me by Emily Ann Benedict at Benedictions Thank you Emily!

However, there is something about being given my first two amazing blog awards while I've been fasting from blogging . . . what is that something? Irony. Is someone trying to tell me that silence is golden and I should be silent? Lol.

Actually, both awards come with the invitation/obligation to list 10 things. For the Honest Scrap Award, I am supposed to list 10 things that people may not know about me:

1. I have certificates from the United States Fencing Association to coach Basic Foil, Level 1 Foil and Basic Sabre fencing. Of course, these certificates are 13 years old, and I haven't practiced, so they are as out of date as I am out of shape.

2. I've had 13 surgeries. Most of my family and close friends know that, but not every friend or every person has been reveled with my scar stories. Most of them are just not that exciting, and most of my surgeries have been to fix my ears. I had three sets of ear tubes, and 4 ear surgeries to patch up a broken ear drum. I've also had my tonsils and adenoids out, one surgery on my right arm and two on my left, and two c-sections. I don't like being put to sleep or needles, but I've learned how to deal with them.

3. I like picking up worms. I think they are cool, wonderfully slimy, and I like how they wriggle, seeking good soil.

4. I took communion before being baptized. That may not seem like a big deal, but it was very uncommon in the church I grew up in for any children to take communion. To be an unbaptized child taking communion was relatively unheard of by anyone, and I'm still surprised to think our Pastor was ok with it. He had to have known, because he baptized me when I was seven. I started taking communion at the age of five.

5. A dog bit me on the chin when I was 2 and 1/2. I still have the scar, if I pull my face to the side and squint, you might be able to see it too. Despite that, I like dogs a lot. I just don't trust those cranky black labs that everyone else thinks are perfect people lovers.

6. Keloid Scars run in my family. Really, the ugly scars I have are not because the surgeons I've had (see number 2) were horrible, but because I have a genetic predispostion to big, ugly scar tissue that continues to grow for up to two years after an incision or injury. The surgeons were actually really talented and tried their best to minimize scarring. My mom has keloid scars, and my Grandpa (her dad) did too.

7. I like to dance around my house when no one is watching. Actually, I dance just about anywhere, but quietly . . . wouldn't want anyone to know that it isn't just my kids that tap dance while waiting in line at a public restroom, or walking the grocery store aisles in a crowd.

8. I used to make up my own songs while walking home from school, or playing outside. I still do sometimes.

9. My first, major, Christian mentor committed suicide in the midst of post-partum depression. I nearly lost my own faith over this, but then God showed up (He never really left), and He gave me the amazing love and grace I needed to return to Him. I still pray for my mentor's daughter. I've never met her, and I don't even know her name, but I know God hears my prayers for her.

10. I like dandelions, and blackberry bushes, even though I know many people think they are weeds. One produces abundant flowers, and the other produces sweet fruit. I would rather grow like a persistent, fruit-filled blackberry bush than any flower that is overly picky about soil and sunshine.

I would like to give the Honest Scrap Award to these wonderful writers:

1. Jessica Nelson at Booking It
2. Julie Dao at Silver Lining
3. Jennifer Shirk at Me, My Muse and I
4. Shannon O'Donnel at Book Dreaming
5. Nisa at Wordplay, Swordplay

Please check out their blogs!

7 comments:

Jessica Nelson said...

Hi Tyrean, first, thank you for the award!

Your ten honest things are so raw and honest. Thank you for sharing them! I can't believe you like worms. LOL It's awesome you pray for your mentor's daughter. I'm so glad you didn't lose God in the midst of that. Interesting about surgeries. A fellow blogger posted about her keloid scars, which was the first time I'd heard of this. My youngest sister had tubes that messed up her ear drums too.
Anyway, thank you for stopping by my blog and giving me an award. :-) I'm honored. Congrats on getting them after your fast! :-)

Karen Lange said...

Congratulations once again! This must be awards week:)
Blessings!

Jennifer Shirk said...

Thank you for the award!! I enjoyed learning about you. (I like to dance around when no one is watching too.)
So sad to hear about your mentor, though. But you're right. God is always good and always there. Thanks for sharing.

Laurel Garver said...

I'm the same with #4. It was not at all unusual to not get baptized until one's teen years in my church circles, and they treated it as if it were a rite of passage into adult faith. Sort of the way liturgical folk have confirmation and/or church membership classes. I think my parents got to decide when I was "ready" to take communion. Now that I'm a liturgical protestant, I'm a bit flabbergasted by the irregularity of it, but thankful for God's graciousness just the same.

Oh, and we always treat Sundays in Lent as fast breaks. That's a pretty standard practice, I think.

Unknown said...

Aw! Thank you so much for the award and letting me know about your blog! #1 is so cool! I've always wanted to learn how to fence.

I'm with you on the high surgery count. Enough is enough, don't you think?!

I love to dance too. I admit to not being able to hold still... haha!

Hey, I used to live in Germany and they love dandelions over there. You'd fit right in. Their attitude is it's not a weed if you like it. :D

Diane said...

Just found you through Emily. Very open and honest list. I'm glad none of those things have held you back in any way and you are fulfilling God's call on your life. :O)

Lum said...

Hi--I really loved what you said about dandelions and blackberry bushes. You're right! They might be ordinary, but they're very special...and 'ordinary' people are really special, too....

At least I think that's what you meant, and I liked that thought a lot. :)