Given my recent success interviewing real, living persons, asking them actual questions and receiving genuine responses, I thought it would be nice to bring in my good friend at Longing for a Holiday at Sea (hereafter referred to as LHS). I first visited LHS’s site some time ago and have found it to be refreshingly honest and searchingly spiritual. Her posts include such classics as “Spiritual Formation and Crap.”, “How Not to Divorce” and “Sinning as I Post.” I must say she doesn’t post as frequently as I would like but, unlike many of us, she has a life.
Pistol Pete: LHS, welcome to my world. Let’s start with an essential question for any good interview. If you were a Beatle, would you be John, Paul, George, or Ringo? And why?
LHS: If I were a male, I would be Paul. My personality dictates that I’d be one of the leaders. And my musical tastes run a little closer to Paul’s than to John’s. Which is to say, I like my pop more than my rock.
PP: Good answer. OK. Let’s put aside the gender thing. If you were a Spice girl, who would you be (and why)?
LHS: Truthfully, I would need to know more about the girls than I care to know. I do know about the one who married a soccer player and moved to LA. I for sure wouldn’t be her. Too thin. Too blonde. And didn’t another one have Eddie Murray’s baby? Not a fit, either. Other than that, can’t help you. Just too old to know more. Sigh.
(for more information on the Spice Girls, visit the Spice Girls Fan Site)
PP: I don’t know anything about the Spice Girls, either. But if I were a Spice Girl, I think I would be Cumin. I love Middle Eastern food. Tell me, you lived in NYC right. What is the best restaurant for a reasonable price?
LHS: I like the hot stuff, too. It’s been too long to remember names, but my friends and I regularly patronized a Chinese restaurant around 60th and 2nd and a Mexican restaurant down in the 30s and 3rd. For dessert, there’s nothing like Serendipity. The great thing about NYC is that you can find almost any kind of food… and it’s often the real stuff, not some chain or an Americanized version.
PP: It sounds like you really enjoyed NYC. What do you miss most about it? And, did you ever meet Woody Allen or Spike Lee?
LHS: I loved NYC. I miss my friends and church the most. Never met Woody, but recall seeing the fake cow on his penthouse patio. One of my favorite star sightings was Tina Louise (who attended church briefly). Apparently someone rescued her from Gilligan’s Island only to land on Manhattan Island.
LHS: Believe me, she didn’t look like that when I met her. The thing about my community in NYC, is that it was what many Christians long for, but few find. I had no idea how blessed I’ve been with deep, real friendships until the last 10 years (when I found it difficult to have such friends).. I’ve had wonderful community, not just in NYC, but many times in my life. One of my desires for the church in America is that more of us could experience life-transforming deep friendships where the Spirit in me touches the Spirit in you and we leave the encounter closer to Jesus in some new way.
PP: Speaking of encounters, how did you ask your husband to marry you? Or, how did you get him to ask you?
LHS: In one of my blogs I do talk about how we met. An interesting story… (more interesting than the proposal one…)
{PP note: The story can be found here.}
PP: Studies have shown that we can tell a lot about our brain functioning by what position we sleep in. What position do you sleep in?
LHS: On my brain. It takes a lot of work (you know, a pulley on the ceiling and all), but it’s worth the effort.
PP: What is one of the worst movies you’ve ever seen?
LHS: Some movie about a duck - Howard the Duck. Walked out in the middle. The second worse was Austin Powers (the second one, I never saw the first). Love Mike Myers in general, but we only stayed ’til the end of this one to see if it got better. It didn’t.
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PP: Tell me, what inspired you to start a blog?
LHS: I started my blog on a whim one day, but realized soon thereafter I would use it to share things that I’m passionate about. I think that what we see in the press – and too often in the pew – is not what “mere” Christianity really looks like. I am not saying I have a corner on the Christian life, by any means, but I wanted to write stuff that would challenge Christians and attract seekers, skeptics, and unbelievers.
I greatly desire Christians to realize that it’s not about them, but it’s about Jesus: about knowing Him, desiring Him, worshipping Him, serving Him. He is the Holiday at Sea that we most deeply long for. And I hope that seekers, skeptics, and unbelievers would look at what I write and think: “Hm. This seems different than what I typically think about Christianity. Maybe it’s worth another look.” I’ve been told many times that my transparency speaks to others, so I try and share these thoughts in the context of my own spiritual struggles.
PP: Well, it certainly seems to me you’re doing a good job of that at Longing for a Holiday at Sea. I’ve found you very transparent in revealing your faith and life struggles. You have joy, but you are still longing.
PP: Is there anything about blogging that has unexpectedly surprised you?
LHS: One of the surprises about blogging was that I’ve found this cool community. I didn’t expect this, but it’s been a great benefit, especially when it’s hard (as a working Mom) to get out more. Another thing about my blogging: I know some of the topics I write about are heavy – and some Christians take life way too seriously. However, I love a good laugh, so I try and throw in the witty phrase here and there. No match for you or Laurie Kendrick, but I do entertain myself on occasion!
PP: (blushing) Aw, shucks. We’d better wrap it up here or I’m going to start to cry.
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more friends in Therapy…
Just wanted to add that I feel that LHS has hit the nail on the head when she says: "I greatly desire Christians to realize that it’s not about them, but it’s about Jesus: about knowing Him, desiring Him, worshipping Him, serving Him."
I think that this statement also holds true in our relationships with others as well. Not necessarily always the case, but, important when people need lifting up or support. There is sometimes a greater need to put off our selves for the sake of souls needing validation that they are loved and concerned.
The Pistol fires back: Very well said.
Thanks for the comment, got fruit man. After I saw that statement of mine in print, I see it could be read legalistically, like Jesus saying: YOU BETTER PUT ME FIRST!!!
But that’s not what I meant at all. I think something insidious has creeped into the church that says very quietly underneath all we do: “It’s all about me, Jesus…” We hear that He came to make us rich, to make our lives work, or to save us from hell. The last is true, but the focus is still US. God’s goal ALWAYS is His glory first.
John Piper (and he learned it from Jonathan Edwards) taught me that “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.” What that means to me is that when I focus on Jesus, on the amazing person HE is, I will find that He is the only thing that satisfies (my Holiday). Service and sanctification flow from that love relationship - they don’t precede it. When I turn to Jesus to fufill me, that glorifies God because it honors Him as the utmost source of my happiness.
And of course, when I am tight with Jesus, when He is my satisfaction, I don’t need to take from others, I can give to them.
PS I am part Irish too. I have red head (I hear from the Today show that there will be no more of us in 100 years… just about the time your daughter is dating)
The Pistol fires back: Glad to see a spritiual friendship forming here. You are two of my favorite gospel bloggers.
Bosgel cloggers, you said? no dancin’ here.