I got tagged with this meme by Paul Stokes. I think it is probably the first one I’ve ever done online.
8 Things I’m Passionate About
- God’s forgiveness
- Loving my wife the way she wants and needs to be loved
- Being a dad who reflects the heart of my heavenly Father
- Hymns, especially those of Charles Wesley
- Classical (naked eye) astronomy, especially observing Venus (morning star) and watching the moonrise over the ocean.
- Old Testament Messianic prophecies. I wish I could have been there listening to Jesus himself explaining these on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:27)
- Rescuing children from sex trafficking (Check out Shared Hope International, and International Justice Mission)
- Garlic and pretty much any food that contains a generous amount of it
8 Things I Want to Do Before I Die
- Record and publish the scriptural children’s lullabies I have written for my daughters
- Publish or at least write down the many night time stories I have told to my daughters, the details of which they remember many months after I have forgotten.
- Record and publish my original worship songs (about 15 so far)
- Be healed physically, feel it and know it
- Take my family to New York City for Christmas, watch the New York City Ballet perform “The Nutcracker”, go skating in Rockefeller Center, eat roasted chestnuts from a street vendor, stay at a fancy hotel, go to a prayer meeting at the Brooklyn Tabernacle.
- Travel: one or more of the following: ancestral homelands of Cuba, Spain, France; historical tours of Israel, missionary journeys of Paul; go hiking in the Canadian Rockies. Visit Middle Earth or at least New Zealand.
- See my grandchildren grow up and be a good influence on them (note: my daughters are currently ages 9 and 7).
- Speak Spanish well enough that people won’t feel embarrassed for me.
8 Things I Say Often
- “Bless God” (I prefer it to “God Bless”)
- “Ay, Yay, Yay!” (eye-yigh-yigh, like a Cuban)
- “Sing it out!”
- “Papa Loves You”
- “Cool.”
- “Wow!”
- To me life is like a paella. “Pa’ ella, Pa’ ella, Pa’ella” (for her, for her, for her)
- “I know you haven’t heard this song before but it’s pretty straight-forward. Just follow me.”
8 TV Shows I Recently Watched
We don’t have a TV or cable but I do get DVD’s from the library. Here are some shows I have watched on DVD over the past year.
- 24 (seasons 1-5, waiting for 6)
- The Civil War (Ken Burns documentary)
- Baseball (Ken Burns documentary)
- Jazz (Ken Burns documentary)
- Ulyssees S. Grant (An American Experience documentary)
- Mark Twain (An American Experience documentary)
- Frank Lloyd Wright (An American Experience documentary)
- New York (Ric Burns documentary)
8 Songs I Could Listen to Over and Over
- The Maker of the Universe – Phil Keaggy (based on a beautiful poem by F.W. Pitt)
- Broken Things – Julie Miller
- When I Survey the Wondrous Cross – Kathryn Scott (soft arrangement of the Isaac Watts hymn)
- Handel – Messiah (in its entirety but favorites are the 4 or 5 pieces based on Isaiah 53)
- Beethoven – Moonlight Sonata
- Mozart – Andante from Piano Sonata in C K545
- Dvorak – Largo from New World Symphony No. 9
- Kabalevsky – A Short Story (short piano song)
8 Things that Attract Me to My Friends
- They have a sense of humor
- They appreciate music
- They have a passionate love for God that inspires me
- They are honest and transparent
- They love the classics (literature, music, history)
- They care more for people than programs
- They are quick to listen and slow to speak
- They are givers and not consumers
8 Things I Have Learned (or been reminded of) This Year
- The Sabbath was made for man
- Leadership is caught rather than taught
- My fictional capacity to do things is about 250% of the non-fiction version
- My capacity to eat is about 180% of what I should eat
- I need to dwell with my wife with understanding
- I need to spend quite time in prayer especially when it seems my schedule will not permit
- God is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love
- I am blessed
8 People I Think Should Do “8”
Mary, Paloma, Anna, Dad, Mom, Liana, JP, Robert
This is really good, Rick. You took it much more seriously than I did on my post, and it shows to the good. Have you read US Grant’s Memoirs? I think I have it, if you have not. It is a great read.