Learning to Keep My Mouth Shut – or Trying to Anyway

Hello, my name is Cindy and I have a problem: I am a smart-aleck! Not that there is anything wrong with that, mind you. The problem comes from giving someone ideas, when you are just joking around– mostly anyway.

Okay, here's the scenario: Picture, if you will, two people discussing the upcoming perfomance of the church puppet club. One of these people mentions that it might be fun to have one of the staff take a pie in the face from the kids as a reward for all the hard work those kids did at practice over the summer. Now, the other person, upon realizing that the final performance will take place on her birthday, then smarts off "Hey, if I'm the one getting the pie in the face, maybe you could charge them since it's my birthday!" Well, that gets the first person excited, especially since she's planning ways of raising money for the puppet club anyway. So, she's asks the second person, okay me, if I'd be willing to do that. I can only attribute my response to the extreme heat, since my brain must have been fried, because I actually responded, "Sure!"

So now I find myself asking, "What ON EARTH was I thinking!?" That's not exactly how I pictured spending my birthday. I had pictured a night out with friends– going to a Knuckledraggers show (they are a local improv comedy troupe) and maybe a nice dinner or something. But nooooooo, I went and opened my big mouth! Oh well, it's for the kids, as I keep reminding myself. And I must say, I'm pretty popular with those kids right now– especially those teenagers, and even some adults! They are all looking WAY too forward to that particular fundraiser. I guess all my orneryness is about to catch up with me. I really need to learn to keep my mouth shut...

How to Make God Laugh!

Want to know how to make God laugh? Tell him YOUR plans for the future!

When I was growing up I was very, very shy. As a little girl if anyone besides family talked to me, I would hide behind my mother's leg. However, once I hit high school I really started to come out of my shell (some people are probably trying how to figure out how to get me back into that shell). Now I'm doing ventriloquism, puppetry, gospel illusion, singing in church (that's one of the times I really pity the congregation, let me tell you), and doing public relations stuff at work.As a teenager, I wasn't all that fond of kids and didn't really want anything to do with them. However, a cousin of mine who is as close to me as a sister, ended up having a kid when we were both 17. Wouldn't ya know it? That little squirt wrapped himself all up in my heartstrings and suddenly kids weren't so bad.

I had family members and friends who thought I should become a teacher. I used to say there was no way on earth I was ever going to be a teacher. No Way! Huh uh! Forget it! Then as I'm sitting in church one night, right out of the blue, comes this thought: "Maybe I should try being a Sunday School teacher." On the same night, about 5 minutes or so later, I kid you not, the Sunday School Superintendent came up to me and asked if I would consider being a Sunday School Teacher. That about floored me! Well, I ended up saying yes, and have been doing it ever since. The ironic thing is is that I hated Sunday School growing up. I had some bad experiences with it, but because of that I have been determined that the kids I teach don't go through the same thing I did, if I can help it. Now I can look back and say, of my decision to become a Sunday School teacher, it was one of the best decisions of my life. I have a burden for helping children know God and to get saved. We have a lot of hurting children out there who need to know that someone cares.

I've come to the decision that I would like to have kids someday, I think… uh, maybe…okay so the thought still scares me. I used to say to my youth leaders years ago that I was never having children! One of them said that every time I said that, God was going to give me like six. Boy am I in trouble, cause I said that a lot……yikes!

I still marvel at what God has brought me from – a shy little girl who hated Sunday School and wasn't fond of kids to an outgoing (most of the time, I regress every now & then) Sunday School teacher with a burden and love of kids. Who'da thunk it?

Well, whatever happens in the future, I've got God, and He doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called!

My Music Playlist

Here is a playlist of some of my favorite songs. It is by no means limited to what you see above. There is still a shockingly low amount of southern gospel on the above list which I hope to remedy soon. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these songs as much as I do.

A Slideshow of My Artwork

The above is a slideshow of some of my artwork, which I will continue to add to every so often. The mural of the park that you see in two of the photos was drawn by myself and was painted with the assistance of another lady in my church. We pulled a couple of all-nighters to finish that monster! Thank goodness for Starbucks and energy drinks is all I can say. The mural was created as part of the set for our 2008 Easter drama. I was put in charge of designing the set for the first time this year, but it wouldn't have been possible without the help of the fantastic team I worked with. Feel free to let me know what you think of any of the work you see here.