Allyson from Crossing the T tagged me. The meme is to write a six word memoir and then tag five people to do the same.

I am not a simple person, and so often these simplistic memes make my head hurt. Things like, “sum me up in one word!” and “Describe yourself in a single sentence!” (which, of course, took a run-on sentence to put Dickens to shame)and many others. I do them, because I feel a sense of debt to people who actually tag me. I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s because as the youngest of four, three of them boys, I’m still a little taken aback when someone actually wants to know ME, just me, instead of my family or my friends and me as an appetizer or dessert.

See, I’m already struggling to find ways to give you more of me than just six words, because I’m not sure there are any six words that will suffice. But, I will try.

Like Allyson, I’ll post several shots in the dark and let you all decide which is the best. The first is:

Mennonite girl learns bravery, eventually blogs.

Anyone who has been reading this blog for very long already knows that.

I wanted death, God said no.

Or:
I didn’t want me, God did.

Which, while simple, is also as true as any 400 page autobiography is.  Then there’s:

Pastor’s daughter leaves church, returns, stays.

Again, true, too simple, but there it is.

Psalmist’s heart, artist’s fingers, mother’s life.

Which are all ways others see me, but not necessarily how I see myself, or the final:

Stumbling forward, surprised by the future.

Because while everyone else in my life takes it for granted that I will be successful, I don’t. My life is like buying a crystal at a thrift store only to discover it was a diamond. I settle for what I feel I CAN afford, only to discover I’ve been given what I could have never paid for on my own. I’ve always thought of myself as a fortunate hobbyist. Imagine my surprise to be told I am so much more, by people I actually believe.

I don’t really have five people to tag, so if you’re lurking ’round these parts, speak up! You’re it!