Saturday morning’s losing hockey games were topped off with a award for mom! What’s that you say? Was I awarded most geeky hockey player mom? Best hair? Stinkiest hockey bags? Certainly I was in the running for any of those … especially stinkiest equipment bag. Peee yew!!

No, I arrived home to an e-mail from Phil Wyman at Square No More (aka, Phil The Why-Man), informing me that I have been awarded a Thinking Blogger Award!! Well. Check. That’s one evil plot I’ve fulfilled. Hehehehe … j/k. On a serious note, I am honored and more than a little stunned. It would seem that I am becoming more and more like my father (as the LightChildren say, “That’s what Grampy does, he thinks.”). So, thank you, Phil. I do appreciate the compliment and encouragement more than you know.

Now it is my turn to pass it forward as they say and award 5 more bloggers who make me think. So here are my Five Amazing Muses:

• Igneous Quill – Adam Gonnerman
• More than Stone – Jamie Stone
• One for the Road – Paul Mayers
• Present Matters – Patrick Oden
• Swinging from the Vine – Makeesha Fisher

Your mission (if you are one of the tagged), should you choose to accept it, is to pay it forward as well … the rules are simple and they are three:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme
3. Optional: Proudly display the ‘Thinking Blogger Award’ with a link to the post that you wrote (here is the gold version and the silver).
Oh … and enjoy the new blogs you get to read 😀

Over the weekend Brother Maynard (that dastardly monk) got a bee in his cowl and started a new meme. At least this time we know the source … hehehe. In any case, here’s the dealio …

Here’s what we’re going to do. Think of between 3 and 5 blogs which you think are under-rated, under-appreciated, or under-valued. More people should be reading them, in other words. They need to be blogging largely on EMC themes and topics, and they should not be on the list of leading blogs on these areas, say 150ish+ links on Technorati. Got your list? I’ll wait. If you come up with 7, that’s fine… you can borrow 2 from someone else. ;^)

You’ll find below a list of blogs that I feel deserve more attention. Yes, some are compadres, but others are people I’ve never met, I just read their blogs. To participate, copy this list into a new post on your own blog, and add the names you have to the bottom of the list, and encourage others to do the same. Your list will be about twice the length of mine, and people who follow you will have lists three times this length. It could get fairly long, but that’s part of the point — each link will help boost the undervalued blog’s profile… and you might even get some link love from it too! Include these instructions (this and the preceding paragraph). When you’ve done that, leave a trackback or comment below, or link to this post so we can keep track of who ends up participating. Sound like fun for the weekend? Okay, here we go, in no particular order:

As of Monday … taking the list from Matt Weibe (and adding my picks to it):

• Emerging Grace
• Robbymac
• Lily
• Nathan Colquhoun
• John Smulo
• Todd Hiestand
• Theopraxis
• Chuck Warnock
• John Lunt
• Webb Kline
• Mark Wilson
• Rick Meigs
• Brother Maynard
• Mak
• Glenn Hager
• Paul Mayers
• Jamie Swann
• Paul Walker
• Mark Hadfield
• Fernando Gros
• Ryhmes with Kerouac
• Jerry Frear
• Phil Wyman
• Rainer Halonen
• Shannon
• Matt Stone
• Erika Haub
• John Santic
• Colin Lamm
• Julie Clawson
• Duncan McFadzean
• Adam Gonnerman
• Les Chatwin
• Matt Wiebe
• Jesus Trips
• Notions
• Kevin Shinn
• Alien Drums
• Aaron Monts
• Holly Dolezalek
• Mark Van Steenwyk
• Phil Johnson
• Andii Bowsher
• John Moorehead
• Paul Fromont & Alan Jamieson
• David Fisher
• Calacirian
• Ariah Fine
• Pernell Goodyear
• peregrinatio
• Present Matters
• P3T3RK3Y5
• Quirky Grace
• The Center Holds

So … leave a comment here if you decide to play. Or a trackback. Or just enjoy these links. Have fun …

I’ve been double-tagged (this time by Brother Maynard), which is not to say double-teamed, because it was done independently and innocently.  I guess this means I have friends.  Which is a very nice thing to have …

1) What’s the most fun work you’ve ever done, and why? (two sentences max)

Scoring LightGirl’s hockey games.  I’ve just trained for it, but I know I’ll have a ball and better still it will force me to pay attention.

2) Name one thing you did in the past that you no longer do but wish you did? (one sentence max)

Continue learning Arabic and languages in general; I pick up languages really easily and I’d love to keep up with Arabic it’s a beautiful language.

3) Name one thing you’ve always wanted to do but keep putting it off? (one sentence max)

Paint my bedroom … and make into a safe haven; it’s always been the last room in the house to get decorated (that’s a euphemism for never).

4) What two things would you most like to learn or be better at, and why? (two sentences max)

Arabic because I want to get back to my first love, Middle Eastern studies, and to be able to work towards reconciliation in the Middle East.   Art quilting theory to move towards more art sense in my quilting.

5) If you could take a class/workshop/apprentice from anyone in the world living or dead, who would it be and what would you hope to learn? (two more sentences, max)

Georgia O’Keefe to learn how she looked at the world and to see it through her eyes and with her sense of color and light.

6) What three words might your best friends or family use to describe you?

funny, creative, generous (two of my best friends came up with these for me 😉 ) a fourth word is “tease” … they are so fond of me.

7) Now list two more words you wish described you…

wise (again with the wise), skinny

8) What are your top three passions? (can be current or past, work, hobbies, or causes– three sentences max)

redemption, history, fabric (not necessarily in that order)

9) Write–and answer–one more question that YOU would ask someone (with answer in three sentences max)

What’s your background, as in where do you come from?
I was born in western Massachusetts, spent time in Kansas and then raised in Vermont.  Went to college in upstate New York and I’ve lived in northern Virginia for most of my adult life after a couple of years in Washington DC.

Now … who to spread this virus, I mean, who to tag?

Hmmmm … GoldenGirl, BrickDude, LinusLetters, StaplerGuy, WittyPoet

… or how I didn’t keep my mouth shut and got some well-deserved negative behavior modification as a result.

JJ the Smu posted yet another meme on his blog recently. This one was sort of learned and dense. It was about the must-reads of apologetics and theology. But he only tagged men. I’ve lately noticed this. Some of my very fondest friends of the male persuasion who are so very sensitive and egalitarian on many different levels and who would never ever think of discriminating against anyone … even if said person were pink with purple polka-dots … do this. They are inclusive on everything … everything that is … until the conversation turns to deeper magic (as Aslan might say). Then, in complete innocence they turn to other men. And they are innocent in this. They have no clue about what they are doing. Until they are gently made aware. This is difficult because these kind and wonderful men then feel horrible.

Of course we all know that I am not gentle. Tact is not a word associated with me 😉 so JJ gave me a taste of my own. And tagged me back.

So here is my list for must reads:

Three Most Influential Works on Contemporary Apologetics/Theology

Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard – I have had to read this book very, very slowly. It takes time to let the concepts that Willard speaks of simmer and percolate deep into your soul. Then, you must read them again. He flips what you think you know on it’s head and then you fly upside down with it. But once you can embrace that, you’ll never look at Jesus or God in quite the same light again and it’s very, very good.
Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight – If Jesus came now, I think He’d write this book. Except that He probably wouldn’t be a professor at a university. So, He wouldn’t. But this book makes all the hard theology and apologetics about Jesus oh, so approachable … for regular people. Which is what Jesus is really all about.
The Body by Charles Colson – Imagine a hard core rightwing bastard with a soul. Then he writes a book. Here is that book. Colson aches for the Kingdom and the Church. He writes winsomely of it here. If only more rightwing fundamentalists read this side of Colson (not that I’m bitter).

Three Lesser Known Books Almost Everyone Should Read

The Gospel According to Moses by Athol Dickinson – This book was written by an evangelical Christian who went to an outreach event sponsored by a schul. That is a Torah-study. After the event, he found himself enthralled by the study of the Torah and asked to be included. He continued (undercover) for 5 years. He did not convert to Judaism, but thoroughly retained his Christian focus. This book is the result of his study and it is an amazing look at the foreshadowing of Christ in the Old Testament.
Colossians Remixed by Brian J. Walsh and Sylvia C. Keesmat – I almost think this book has to be read in conjunction with Walter Wink’s The Powers That Be. This idea of subversion has to be tempered with creative and devoted non-violence.
Rumors of Another World by Philip Yancey – Wonderful description of the Kingdom and Kingdom work; it’s tied with The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning in my book. I loved both of them.

Because this is my blog and I can, I’m going to add to the meme:

Three Most Influential Works on Women In Ministry

Women in the Maze by Ruth Tucker – this book is a wonderful description of the conundrum women face at home and in churches when they attempt to live out the call they feel in their hearts from God. It is both painful and liberating.
Paul, Women & Wives by Craig S. Keener – Very approachable scholarly work on what Paul was saying **in context** in those much debated texts that have been used for centuries to keep women “in their place.”
Equal To The Task by Ruth Haley Barton – I have to cop to not reading this … yet. It was lent to me by WittyPoet whom I admire for her ability to befriend everyone on equal footing. She told me that this book revolutionized her ability to have friendships with men. I’ve read a little of it. The chapter headings alone are intriguing and tell me that this book has redemption of the male-female relationship at it’s heart.

Now … because I was tagged as the result of a male-female thing to start. I’m going to to tag 3 women and 3 men.

Dee at Next Corner Brother Maynard
Molly the Merciful Mike at Awakening
Ari is Swinging David the Revolutionary