Ordinary Life

One of my internet friends has been tackling the phrase ' worship experience ' lately along with probing the idea that worship is something we "feel" or an environment we can create on Sunday mornings. As a person with a more reserved personality, this topic resonates with me and while I never feel that I have the answers , I am learning to join the conversation . My churched background has afforded many opportunities to feel pressure from the platform or my gathering of friends to 'perform' worship in a way that is more visible and animated than my comfort level. I have prayed beside people offering their prayers in tongues unknown. I have been told that my faith was only genuine if I was willing to pick up a snake. (There were no snakes present in the Kroger where this conversation occurred, thankfully - but it was a real conversation) I have scoffed at fog machines and cameramen running across the stage to get the next shot. I have scoffed at three piece su...

Dear Ryan, Rarely do I feel the word 'quintessential' applies - especially in regards to myself. But you have transposed me into the notes of a song, quintessentially. Thank you. When I was first diagnosed (ha.) as a nine, I didn't think I could be sure of my own results. "Who am I to say, what any of this means..." indeed. I tested a few more times over the past few years, ever and always a nine. But, for some reason I kept my results close, replying to the few people I allowed to know "I tested as a nine" in case maybe later my actual number came to light.  I never shared the visual caricature that captures the key 9 attributes publicly, because... what if there was something I wasn't remembering, something I wasn't letting myself be honest about? What if eventually I would admit that I have always been a five? As I type this now, being a nine stands out to me from every line. You helped me "see myself through someone else's eyes....