100 Things, Part Two!

So here is 26-50:

26. I feel 23; can't believe I am 41-almost-42.
27. I dream vivid dreams every night and I remember them when I wake up.
28. My dreams usually are the place that I say goodbye, that I figure things out, that my deeper fears/thoughts are revealed to my conscious self and that I am grateful to God for this "space apart."
29. I think if Christians talked more about redemption--and lived as though it was true--the Gospel would be utterly irresistible.
30. As recently as one year ago God redeemed a very painful area of my life. Yet I already have largely forgotten it as I see all that is unredeemed. So number 29 is really spoken to me.
31. I still am in regular contact with friends I made in third grade (Hey Lorrie!).
32. I hate the cold. I hate being cold. I can't believe I lived in Vermont for 10 years.
33. I ADORE a good snowstorm. There is nothing better than being snowed in and everything is shut down so you are not expected to show up anywhere. Yea.
34. I miss my dog Lucy something fierce.
35. Having a baby is far better than having a dog. Having a dog is far easier than having a baby.
36. I lived in Africa for six months 19 years ago. I think about it every day and still hope I will return someday.
37. If I had all the time and money in the world I would get an Master of Divinity after I finished my Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology. So far, time and money are very limited.
38. If I was 10 years younger and had met Pete 10 years ago I think I would have four or five children.
39. Number 38 shocks me! (And probably terrifies Pete.)
40. I have an Aunt Bea who is from Iowa (although she has moved to MN recently). People find this funny. I find it providential.
41. My Aunt Julie (also from Iowa and still there) can do anything. She is, by far, the most talented and gifted person I know. Just five years older than me, I grew up wanting to be like her. She was musical (writing her own music, playing the guitar and any other instrument she cared to pick up, and singing), athletic (track, basketball, volleyball, horseriding, etc., etc., etc.), smart, witty and fun. She also told me the scariest stories when we were girls and I still won't go into the basement of my great-grandparents' former house, no matter how much money you offer me.
42. I am in an epic spiritual struggle right now. Pray for me. (Now and at the hour of my death.)
43. Two-and-a-half years ago I started a book group because God told me to do so. I did it with a lot of reservations. It is one of the best things I have done. I have five other women in my life who really know me and allow me to know them. Thanks, God.
44. Right now I feel like I am failing at most everything in my life. This is not a familiar feeling for me . . . I am off kilter and strangely, I feel that is exactly where God wants me right now. Thanks, God.
45. I can still taste the rhubarb that grew by the sidewalk between my great-grandparents' and my grandparents' houses.
46. My brother and I are not very close. It makes me sad. Yet at random times he will call me to check in and always tells me that he loves me. It moves me profoundly each time.
47. In tenth grade I told Mr. Lillie, my algebra teacher, that I didn't need algebra because I was going to be a singer like Amy Grant. He was such a great teacher that he didn't even crack a smile. He told me that if I would work at algebra, he would buy every album I made. He looked me in the eyes when he said it and he meant it. I loved him for it. He died of ALS quite a few years ago. I wish I would have thanked him.
48. My son has an old soul. Many people have commented on it. I love that for him and I wonder what it will mean for him.
49. I hate coffee, dislike (hot) tea and am not a huge soda fan. I am a hot chocolate woman all the way. Why does Starbucks put a shot of vanilla in their hot chocolate? Dumb.
50. Books. God's best creation after people. End of story.