1. Though I no longer believe in monsters (and tell my kids such nearly every night), I still cannot sleep with any body part protruding from the covers and hanging over the edge of the bed. Just in case.
2. All those parties I went to in high school when I would end up stumbling outside and passing out in someone’s yard? I wasn’t drunk, and I’ve always hated alcohol. I just wanted to be by myself and watch the stars.
3. Up until the third grade, I thought there was only one letter in the alphabet between k and p, and that it was pronounced “ellemenna.” Seriously.
5. I’ve seen an angel. Honestly.
6. I’m not one of those End Times people who pour over magazines and newspapers for evidence of Armageddon. Still, when I look at this world and all this mess, I can’t help but think that something is about to happen. Good or bad, I suppose, is largely up to us.
7. I can honestly say that God will allow us to suffer just so we can better understand the pains other people feel.
8. My fifth grade teacher once told me I would never amount to anything. On the last day of school, I wrote my name down on a piece of paper, handed it to her, and told her to hang on to it. It might be worth something one day, I said. So far, it’s not. But I figure I have a lot of living left, and you just never know…
9. I can honestly say that faith will always overcome doubt, love will always conquer hate, and that there is as much power in a smile as there is in a bomb.
10. And finally, I honestly believe that out of all the thousands of years of human existence, God chose to place us here, now. Not by chance, but by reason. By holy purpose. And the sooner we realize that, the better off our world will be.
