Mystery Blogger Award x 2 (and more information about me than you ever wondered about)

Outdo one another in showing honor.           Romans 12:10

First of all, I’d like to thank Alicia at For His Purpose ( link http://forhispurpose.blog ) and Debi Sue at Seriously Seeking Answers (link http://seriouslyseekinganswers.com ) for nominating me for the Mystery Blogger Award. Alicia shares heartfelt stories centered around Jesus, told with honesty and humor.  Debi Sue shares her personal spiritual journey with “fellow travelers” – “plus a few recipes.” 😉  Be sure to check out their blogs if you haven’t already.

About the Mystery Blogger Award

This award was created by Okoto Enigma (link HERE) to recognize bloggers who “find fun and inspiration in blogging” and who “do it with so much love and passion.”The award also gives us a chance to create a friendly blogging community by telling others about our own favorite bloggers.

Here are the guidelines:

1. Put the award logo on your blog.
2. Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
3. Mention the creator of the award.
4. Answer the five questions you were asked.
5. Tell the readers three things about yourself.
6. Nominate 10 bloggers.
7. Notify the bloggers that you nominated them by commenting on one of their posts.
8. Ask your nominees five questions with one weird or funny one.
9. Share a link to your best posts.

Three things about myself:

1. As soon as I could write, I created stories in a little brown spiral notebook (Readers who are old enough will remember those.) with multiple chapters and illustrations hand drawn in crayon by yours truly. In the second grade I wrote about an astronaut going to the moon. Since it hadn’t happened yet, I didn’t include many details. I explained why I was telling the story in the past tense: “I know this hasn’t happened yet, but by the time this story is published, it will have happened.” It seems even then I had an inkling of how long it took to get something published, as well as being pretty prophetic for a 7-year-old. (Are you impressed yet?)
2. I have been told by my former students what a fun teacher I was. I did make the class entertaining for my own sake, since I myself had the attention span of a squirrel. Fortunately, my teaching experience had plenty of variety. Over the years I taught every grade from K4 through 12th grade. I taught public school, private school, Christian school, charter school, home school, and a home school co-op. Subjects I taught included English grammar, literature, public speaking, drama, French, and music.
3. I have been more privileged than 99.99% of the rest of humanity, but not without some struggles, namely chronic allergies/laryngitis and other health problems that were probably due to an eating disorder, that was probably due to low self-esteem, that was probably due to not knowing who I was as a child of God. Jesus has delivered and healed me, and as long as I stay close to Him, I can be confident that I am in His will, even when things aren’t as pleasant as I’d like them to be. Staying close to Him involves remembering that while I am utterly unworthy of His love, He loved me enough to die for me, so I must be incredibly valuable anyway.  😀 ! Although I am weak and utterly dependent on Him, He is strong and utterly dependable.

My best posts:

1. “Forsaking My First Love” https://seekingdivineperspective.com/2020/02/14/the-dream-that-broke-my-heart/
2. “Worth Repeating” https://seekingdivineperspective.com/2020/01/03/worth-repeating/
3. “True Love Is for Losers” https://seekingdivineperspective.com/2019/02/13/true-love-is-for-losers-2/

Five questions I was asked by my two nominators: 

1.Why do you write? I have always loved to talk, especially telling stories, but sometimes after a while people’s eyes start to glaze over, so I figured if I write these stories down, they can be read by more people, only those who want to read them, and in their own time. And I can talk less and listen more. 😉

2. How often do you post blogs? I usually post once a week, on Fridays. I want to respect my readers’ time by writing something excellent (worth reading). I usually spend an hour or so writing a post, then another hour trimming it down to 1000 words or less. And the next few days “perfecting” it (Nit-picking 😉 ). Obviously this post is an exception, but I couldn’t trim it down any more without cutting out the rules of the award or my recommendations.

3. Are you a night owl or a morning person? I am mostly a night person. I wrote much of my first book between the hours of 2:30 and 4:00 AM. It was nice and quiet then. 😉

4. How would you describe yourself? A work in progress: self-centered, becoming Christ-centered; a good talker, becoming a good listener; hypersensitive, becoming thick-skinned (but tender-hearted – God has assured me it is possible!); scatter-brained, becoming focused on the things that matter – gaining “divine perspective.” 🙂

5. What inspired you to start your blog? Frankly, I’m not sure I would call it “inspiration,” more of an assignment done with selfish motives.  I was writing a book proposal for a major publisher, and one of the questions was about blogs and followers. I had never read a blog, much less written one, so I decided it was about time I tried blogging.  It has turned out to be one of the most rewarding endeavors of my life. I love having readers from all over the world, and some of you I think of as my friends. I’m trying to get back to my latest book, but it’s hard to be motivated, when the rewards of blogging are so immediate.

My nominees:

1. “insanitybytes” at “See, There’s This Thing Called Biology” (https://insanitybytes2.wordpress.com) This is a Christian lady whose snarky personality comes out in everything she posts. You may or may not agree with her, but there’s never any sense of “come on, i.b., tell us how you really feel,” and you will find her entertaining and thought-provoking.
2. Bruce Cooper at “Reasoned Cases for Christ” ( https://bcooper.wordpress.com/ ) some excellent pieces defending the faith. If you’re interested in apologetics, this is the blog to read.
3. Nora Edinger at “Joy Journal” ( https://noraedinger.com/author/noraedinger/ ). Nora is in the process of treating her readers to her newest novel, “Suspended Aggravation,” which she is sharing with us one chapter at a time, with background information on real places and landmarks that are in the story.
4. “SlimJim” at “The Domain for Truth” ( https://veritasdomain.wordpress.com/ ) He has a series that debunks so-called “contradictions” in the Bible. He has also been publishing weekly suggestions for positive ways to participate in church, or, more recently, to contribute to the life of the church while separated from one another.
5. Lisa V. at “The Write Side of the Road” ( https://writesideoftheroad.wordpress.com/ ) I am a new follower of hers, but she expresses herself well and addresses current issues of interest to all of us. (I reposted one of her pieces yesterday.)
6.  David Ettinger at “Ettinger Writing.Com” (https://insanitybytes2.wordpress.com) is a Messianic Jew who writes on biblical themes, sometimes with video of classes he teaches. David is more knowledgeable about the Old Testament than most Gentile Christians, so his perspective is especially enlightening. He recently reposted video from Israel.
7. Lady Quixote/Linda Lee at “A Blog about Healing from PTSD” (https://ablogabouthealingfromptsd.com/ ) shares her everyday battles and triumphs, relating to her struggle with PTSD. Although I’ve never met her, she’s one of those who feels like an old friend. 🙂
8. eccllibya at “Evangelical Christian Church of Libya” (https://eccllibya.wordpress.com/) This blog caught my eye, because years ago at a conference we committed to praying for a nation, my nation was Libya. Their daily posts are very short, sometimes just a Bible verse, with a picture. There’s always time to read this one. 😉 I guess in countries where the Word of God is not as easy to come by, one verse of Truth can sustain a believer more than you’d think.
9. Kavita Ramlal at “Sunshiny SA Site” (https://sunshinysasite.wordpress.com) is “proudly South African” and posts her unique perspective of current events, the state of her country, and gorgeous photos that make you want to hop the next plane to South Africa.
10. Efua at “Grace Over Pain” (https://graceoverpain.com) has a thoughtful blog that looks at familiar Scriptures and applies them to life today, encouraging us to take a deeper look into our own lives.

Questions for my nominees:

1. If you could ask God one question and receive an immediate, definitive answer, what would you ask Him?
2.  When you get to heaven, who (besides Jesus) is the first person you want to see?

To my nominees, please don’t feel pressured to participate. (Or, if you’ve been nominated before, don’t feel obligated to participate again.) Just know that I appreciate reading your posts, I’m so grateful you read mine, and your comments and feedback help me grow!

If you do participate, send me a link and let me know. I would love to read your answers! Stay healthy!

Blessings,

Annie