Introducing Myself.

I was realizing that when I read a blog, I like to get to know about the person who wrote it, and I haven't really properly introduced myself. So here's a bit about Elizabeth.

My history in a nutshell:
I grew up in Texas, but have also lived in Idaho, Italy, China, and New York City. Now we (me and my cool husband Chris) live in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

I am a girl.

I grew up with one awesome little sister named Mary. Everyone thinks she's older because she has this calm wise presence about her...and I generally act like a nut. Nah, that's silly. She's a nut, too, just not as many people know about it.

My husband, Chris, and I got to know each other on a Mexico mission trip one spring break in college. One prophetic memory especially sticks out from that trip: We were walking at night by a field in the small town of San Lorenzo, Mexico, with a few adorable Mexican kids at our side, and he made this joke and called me, "mi esposa" (my wife) and the kids giggled. And I probably blushed.

I am pretty sensitive, which I thought was a curse, but now I see, as I am getting healed by Jesus, that it is a blessing and a key component of who He has made me.

My first and middle names, when stuck together, roughly mean, "My God is a vow of grace and favor."

I love Blue Bell ice cream, which comes from a fantastic creamery in the town of Brenham, Texas. Not from Texas or a surrounding state? SORRY. That's the only word of comfort I have for you. To get Blue Bell, you will have to shell out about 50 smackeroos to have it dry ice shipped to you. Again, sorry.

Austin is an amazing city to have as a hometown, and a big part of it is woven into me--a love of trees and the arts and a sort of laid back, friendly attitude towards people.

My second home in Texas is Camp Lone Star in LaGrange. That place shaped me and my faith growing up in lifelong, deeply enduring ways, and I have some incredible community from it--the kind you get from spending time in the trenches together.

College Station, where I went to college, put me in touch more with the good ol' boy side of being a Texan. It also gave me a couple of my closest friends.

In Italy I absorbed a deeper appreciation of art and history...and gelato. My most fluent Italian phrase is, "Io violo straciatella," ("I want chocolate chip"). Oh, and of course, "Bacciame cretino!" You'll have to check out a previous post to have that one translated.

In Idaho, I discovered grace afresh, made some wonderful friends, and learned how to pack a canoe. I was working at a summer camp by a lake.

China was tough--I ain't gonna lie--but now, every time I see an Asian, I get really happy inside. And I don't mean that to be racist at all. I just feel like I get Chinese people now, you know?

NYC was tough and absolutely amazing. That city will make you bitter or it will make you better, and I will never regret going there, as I can see, coming back much closer now to my culture of origin, that I am coming back a different person, an Elizabeth who now has New York woven into the fibers of her cloth. I'm a different shade of material now, and it's wonderful.

When I was in 11th grade, my junior English teacher was great, and his name was Coach Faseler--well, he had a first name, but we all just called him Coach Fas ("Foz"). I was sitting in the library one day, and he came up to me and said that all of these girls my age wanted to get married and start having babies, but that he thought I was different from that and that I should go out and see the world, have adventures...something to that effect. I listened. Are you out there, Coach Fas? You affected me. And I'm glad. I still think babies will be worthwhile, and I love my husband, but I'm also glad I listened.

Here's a quote from my 7th grade English teacher's wall, which is another thread in my cloth:

"All growth is the result of risk taking."

And to wrap up this post, I want to say that in our college Bible study, Rev K said one time that "Your favorite Bible verse is a part of who you are and who He's called you to be." He said this on August 27, 2000. I know because I wrote this quote in the front of my beloved Concordia Study Bible (shout out to all Lutheran confirmation kids).

I guess I have a lot of favorite verses, but I associate these words from Rev K with my confirmation verse, which I picked as sort of a life verse in 10th grade. This verse, woven into the blanket of me, I think does say a lot about who I am and who He's called me to be:



"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us."
-Hebrews 12:1 (The Bible)