Random Facts, Random Thoughts on a Random Life

There is a penguin in this picture for a reason--when I was pregnant with my son, a new (at the time) friend told me that if I had a girl, I should name her Pen so she could be Pen Guinn (you are allowed to groan now, if you choose).  When I did have a girl, I didn't name her Pen, because I wanted her to like me when she grew up.  

• I read--a LOT.  When I was getting ready to start school, I had heard a lot about learning to read and I couldn't wait.  For the first two weeks of school in first grade, I only went half days.  Mama came to pick me up after school the first day and I came to the car in tears.  When she asked me what was wrong, I told her they didn't teach me how to read.  I was devastated. 
• My tasted in music is quite eclectic.  Mozart is one of my best-loved classical composers (Eine Kleine Nachtmusik is a particular favorite).  Fur Elise is the Beethoven composition I like best.  Peter and the Wolf by Prokofiev will always touch my heart, because I grew up listening to it ALL THE TIME.  But I will listen to the "oldies" of the 1960 to70s, too. 
• I love listening to singers who can reach the low registers--Bass voices.  Tim Foust from the a capella group Home Free is one I love listening to.
• The reason I love bass voices is that I imagine that's what the voice of God sounds like.  My favorite Psalm is Psalm 29--The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.  The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox.  The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire. The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth and strips the forests bare, and in His temple all cry, "Glory!" (verses 3-9 ESV)
• I love thunderstorms, the deep rumble of the thunder, the cleansing of the rain, and I love bundling up in a blanket with a good book while it is storming outside. 
• My all-time Christian artists are Buddy Greene, Fernando Ortega, and Michael Card.  I've gotten to see Buddy and Fernando in person and I have even engaged in conversation with Buddy.  I find him to be quite personable.  What these three men do in their music is they sing truth. 
• I believe Calendar Girls is a movie EVERY cancer patient should see.  The husband of one of the girls is diagnosed with cancer and he "named this evil thing within him Saddam Hussein." It is a freeing thing to think about cancer as a terrorist (in the truest sense of the word).  Because I have multiple tumors, I named mine Al Qaeda--it's a group of terrorists, not just a single extremist.  
• One quote I love from the movie, Calendar Girls, is meaningful.  "I don't think there's anything on this planet that more trumpets life that the sunflower. For me that's because of the reason behind its name. Not because it looks like the sun but because it follows the sun. During the course of the day, the head tracks the journey of the sun across the sky. A satellite dish for sunshine. Wherever light is, no matter how weak, these flowers will find it. And that's such an admirable thing. And such a lesson in life."
• Why Zebras?  Every cancer has its ribbon color or its symbol for inspiration. Zebras are the symbol for Carcinoid cancers because they are rare, hard to detect, and not the norm.  In medical school, doctors are told, "When you hear hoofbeats, assume horses." Zebras are the hoofbeats of the rare cancers.  
• I love questions that make me think, questions that have no right or wrong answers except for the answers that are right for the answerer.  One of those questions I have come across  and held onto for a number of years is this:  If you could choose someone from the Bible to be your prayer partner (other than Jesus Christ, who always lives to intercede for us), whom would you choose and why?  Being the little renegade I am, I chose two--Aaron and Hur from Exodus 17. The Israelites are fighting the Amalekites and Moses is standing at the top of the hill praying with his arms upraised.  As long as his arms are up, the Israelites prevail.  If he lowers his arms, the Amalekites prevail. Aaron and Hur bring a stone for Moses to sit on and each one stands on either side of him to keep his arms upraised until the final victory is won.  That's what I need, Aaron and Hur to stand beside me until the final victory is won. 
• I have personally known four other people with this disease, one of whom was cured by simply removing the one tumor she had.  
• One of my cousins says I have a "wicked sense of humor." 

There is my randomness for today.  I thank God for each and every one of my friends who stand by me, and y'all are those!