I was meandering around www.baptiststandard.com, the website for the Newspaper of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.  The editor, Marv Knox, was featured on the front page.  This reminded me of something that happened about five years ago.  It was spring '03, and I was graduating from Cumberland.  I had decided not to pursue seminary immediately, and I had also decided that I liked writing.  So, I wanted to intern at a state baptist newspaper to get a closer look at Christian journalism.  I've always told people that if I could "do it all over again," I would have majored in Journalism and Anthropology - which are way cooler manifestations of the humanities than was the boring old history department.  (Consequently, CC had neither major or minor).  So, to pursue my lifelong dream, I submitted some resumes at the Baptist Standard and the Western Recorder (Kentucky's much smaller equivalent).  I remembered how important writing was to me, and I remembered how clueless I still was about ministry immediately after college.  Marv sent a polite rejection letter, encouraging me to apply next year, and I didn't hear anything from the Western Recorder.  So, I didn't really know what was going to happen, and I just wanted to get the heck out of Dodge (Kentucky), so I decided to move to Texas, anyway. 

I cleaned up, moved out, and returned to the home of my youth on old Fairview Drive.  I sat in the downstairs office (formerly my sister's bedroom), the evening before I was to move to Texas.  It was an alarming email from the editor of the Western Recorder.  He decided that they'd like for me to come intern, after all.  I was infuriated.  I had heard nothing from them for three whole months, then I get a casual request to "let him know" when the time was best for me to... whatever... probably get him coffee or something.  I quickly typed a polite email about how I'd already graduated and made other plans, so I would have to decline his offer. 

Then, I moved to Texas, where I worked five different jobs in seven months, made two friends, then moved to North Carolina for Divinity School.  Texas messed with me first.  I couldn't wait to get out of there.  I hadn't become the anthropologist, writer, or cowgirl I had dreamed of becoming.  Often, I remembered that offer to intern at the Western Recorder.  What if I'd stayed?  It wasn't any sort of major publication, but it would have been some sort of experience in journalism, and in an type that suited my education.  Would I have ever gone to divinity school?  Would I have landed at a different place on the theological spectrum?  Would I have acclimated to the life in the beautiful green rolling hills of my home state?  Of course, there's no way to know the answers.  My husband frequently tires of my attempts to play the "what if" game, because, as he says, that's not reality.  He's right... I guess... but what if...?  Nevermind.

So, here I am, five years later.  I have (finally) completed my M.Div degree.  Last year at this time, I decided to take another chance and pursue a differnet internship - one as a hospital chaplain.  In doing so, I found the only job I've ever had that I didn't "not" want to go even once.  My heart raced at the thought of being there, and of working, and of ministering.  Being a career chaplain is certainly not what I had planned, and its really nothing like being a journalist.  (Perhaps it is a bit more like being an anthropologist).  Maybe I should turn the despised "what if" game around in view of my current situation.  What if I'd never come to North Carolina?  What if I hadn't worked at Aldersgate, where I met Sally, who encouraged me to pursue the CPE internship.  I might still be wondering what in the world I am supposed to be doing with my life... and I might still be emailing Marv Knox about that internship...

Bubba: Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it.

Forrest Gump: You know it's funny what a young man recollects? 'Cause I don't remember bein' born. I don't recall what I got for my first Christmas and I don't know when I went on my first outdoor picnic. But I do remember the first time I heard the sweetest voice in the wide world.

Forrest Gump: Lieutenant Dan. Ice cream 

I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

So... I'm posting my summer reading plans.  I cannot structure myself into an "order," it's hard enough to read from a list.  So, I'll read them when I read them.  Let me know what you think or offer any suggestions.

 The Road Less Traveled, M. Scott Peck

I've wanted to read this one for a long time, I've read the first chapter or so and absolutely loved it.

 The Cloister Walk, Kathleen Norris

This is a great book about a good Presbyterian who spends some time in a monastery.  I've always liked her writing, and I should have read this book by now! 

 Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

Oh, wow.  I've been dying to read this one.  Amber says its great... I hope its one of the books that I can later say, "Everyone should read this."

 Prayer, Philip Yancey

Oh... do I LOVE Philip Yancey?  Yes, I do.  He is great, and his views on God and the church are so holistic and healthy and redemptive.  I can't wait to dive into another one of his works.

 Come Be My Light, Mother Theresa

I used some excerpts from this book in a sermon.  Some people were troubled by MT's doubt, but I was humbled and encouraged by it.  I know that I am not alone.  What an amazing woman: selfless and pure.

  Utopia, Thomas More

I'll be honest.  I want to read this because I've been watching The Tudors on iTunes.  I've always liked old Thomas, though.  He was a classy character - standing up to the tyranny of despotism and all.  I started a research paper on him in college, but later switched to Desiderus Erasmus.  It's ironic, I do believe, that my religious and theological roots are so strongly embedded in Anglicanism, yet I'm always intrigued by the reformers who chose not to leave the RCC.  Lorrie will like that I typed that.

 The Complete Stories, Flannery O'Connor

Oh... could this list be any more Catholic?  Flannery's not as good of a Catholic as the saint and nearly-a-saint above.  But still, I will read her work, and I will enjoy it and relate.  I can't wait to report back on it.

I think that just about does it.  It's kind of memoir/spiritually heavy, but hey - that's how I roll.  Readers, hold me accountable for this list, m'kay?  Maybe I'll start with Three Cups or Road...