OK — I’ll do it.

I’ve been tagged for the Seven Sevens by Carmen and Mary, who were both inspired by B.J. Hoff’s Grace Notes. I’ve put it off because everybody else seems to have such witty, creative answers. But that’s prideful. I’ll just be honest — so here goes!

Seven Things to Do Before I Die:

1. Go visit all the continents of the world with my husband and children — and worship with people who live there — yes, I’m dreaming big! (Which is why I love to travel through books.)

Specifically, I want to visit the largest church in the world in Seoul, Korea (700,000 members), walk on the Great Wall of China, see Michelangelo’s artwork in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, hear the sound of Victoria Falls in Africa that David Livingstone wrote about, climb Mt. Ranier (I’ve listened to a sermon tape about Mt. Ranier dozens of times), ride through a canal in Venice, show my children where my husband proposed to me on a mountain in Japan — and let’s also toss in Shakespeare’s house in England, tulips in the Netherlands, pyramids in Egypt, and the Holy Lands — oh, I want to see Mount Carmel where Elijah saw the miracle of fire coming down from heaven! And the places where Jesus walked. I LOVE hearing Eva Marie Everson tell the story of her Falling into the Bible — she says this:

Something happens to you when you’re there. You hear God’s heartbeat … you feel His breath. You know beyond all other knowledge that you’ve been called home … and have arrived.

2. Go live on an island with my family for at least several months, watching the kids explore along the beach, and write, write, write!

3. Watch my children grow up, be strong in their Christian faith, and marry wonderful people who also love Jesus and will make them happy (and give me lots of grandchildren! Ooh…I feel older already just writing that.)

4. Get all my scrapbooks and the kids’ babybooks caught up and make each child a book that tells their life story from my point of view. (Don’t even ASK how far behind I am…)

5. Publish something that changes someone’s life — and find out about it!

6. Tour all around the United States in an RV like Lisa Whelchel did during her Family Dream book tour. This would be the funnest thing! Go visit all those people we send Christmas cards to but never get to see. And homeschool our kids from the RV so they can document their journey.

7. Ride a horse on the beach somewhere with my family — where we can see mountains in the background.

Seven Things I Cannot Do:

I cannot…
1. Go for a whole day without reading or writing.
2. Bake bread without my timer on — or I’ll get distracted until I smell smoke.
3. Watch TV without getting bored, unless I’m also doing something else, like cooking or reading.
4. Fathom why anybody plays Solitaire on the computer — I just don’t get it! There are too many blogs to read if I have a spare minute — which is never!
5. Get our family dressed and out the door to church on time.
6. Say I’m sorry and admit I was wrong without help from the Holy Spirit.
7. Snow ski. I’ve done it twice — in North Carolina and Japan — and both times it was the scariest thing I’ve ever done, and my legs will not do what they’re supposed to do so I can slow down or stop. So I didn’t slow down or stop when I wanted to — and ended up in a crumpled heap at the bottom of the mountain.

Seven Things I Admire About My Husband:

1. He loves to read. And he gets me to read stuff that I would never have read on my own, and it’s usually way over my head — but he tries to get me to understand.
2. He’s the smartest person I know, but also the most humble.
3. He’s known me since I was 8, and still loves me!
4. He listens to me talk — a lot — even when I ramble on and on, and his “ears are full.” And he’s even learned to make appropriate comments such as “Oh, that’s a good idea” when it looks like I won’t ever stop.
5. He’s a great father and reads out loud every night to our kids.
6. He always has cool ideas about the Bible or about what God is teaching him.
7. He helps me on the computer and stays calm when I say, “I think it’s LOST forever!”

Seven Things I Say Most Often:

1. Has anybody seen my scotch tape?
2. Time to go! On y va! Ikimasho!
3. Y’all come eat!
4. Who did this?
5. How was your day?
6. I love you.
7. Please, Lord. Help me to [do all those things I can’t do on my own.]

Seven Books and Series I Love:

1. Anne of Green Gables series
2. Little Women
3. Anything Shakespeare (plays and sonnets)
4. The Chronicles of Narnia
5. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
6. A Wrinkle in Time
7. The Bible, of course.
(And I’ve run out of room for Catherine Marshall’s books — and I also can’t read Frog and Toad books without laughing every time!)

Seven Movies I Would Watch Over and Over Again:

1. The Sound of Music
2. The Breakfast Club
3. Swiss Family Robinson
4. South Pacific (love the song, “One Enchanted Evening.”)
5. Hamlet (with Mel Gibson)
6. Gone With the Wind (of course!)
7. My new favorite that I want to see again: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe!

Seven People I Want to Join in Too:

1. Sally
2. Kara
3. Stacy
4. Lanier
5. Lorna
6. Jenny
7. Terry
(and you, the reader.)