How do I define myself?

In the comments to my last post, Priscilla asked me what my deal is - how I see myself or how I define myself. She wanted me to sum up in a short paragraph what I'm all about.

I'm not sure what her motivation is for asking or wanting to know, but I think it's rather obvious if you've read any part of my blog over the last two years. I think you can tell a lot about a person by how they write. I really can't sum myself up in just one paragraph and don't think I could if I tried.

First and foremost, I am a Bible-believing Christian. I hold to a literal interpretation of the Bible, relying on the basic principals of exegesis and hermeneutics when I read and study it. I do not just consider it a collection of allegorical stories and think you do yourself a great disservice if you do. I am a Protestant Christian and affiliate myself with a Baptist church, if religious denomination means anything to you. Over the last seven or so years, my faith has become more important to me than it ever has in the past, and is the foundation on which my life is built. Of course there's much more depth to my faith than what can possibly be described here. Let's just say I'm an unfinished and imperfect work in progress. For more on this, you can read what I wrote last year.

With me, what you see is what you get. I'm not politically correct and never will be. If I think you're wrong, I'm going to tell you so, even if my opinion is not asked for. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, sounds like a duck and flies like a duck, I'm going to call it a duck. I'm not going to blow sunshine where it doesn't belong just to make you feel good. I know I'm not going to be able to please every one, all of the time, so I don't try to. Either you like me for what I am or you don't. Some people take my attitude as arrogance and that's fine. If you do though then you don't really know me at all.

Since my faith is such an important part of my life, I've become curious about the faiths of others and why you believe the way that you do. Even if you are never asked to defend your beliefs publicly, I believe you should know why you believe the way that you do and at least be able to defend it to yourself. If you didn't believe what you believe was correct, would you still believe it?

I'm a father of two wonderful kids and I think that they are a partial reflection of who I am. I'm very proud of and fiercely loyal to them. I love them more than I can possibly tell you, and they know it. My family is a very important part of who I am.

I love sports and games, which I think shows that I have a competetive side. However, as I always tell V amd M, it doesn't matter if you win or lose. What matters is that you had fun playing. Sports and games are meant to be fun and entertaining and should be enjoyed as such.

I'm a great person to have on your side. If I consider you a friend, then you're pretty much stuck with me for life. Most of the friends I have I have known for a long time. I consider myself to be a compassionate person, always ready to give you the benefit of the doubt. I also consider myself to be a very good listener and am very laid back in my personality. I also can be a bit of a goofball. I like to fool around and am always trying to find the humor in things. My kids, perceptive as they are, recognize what they call my "silly voice."

At work, I'm very organized but in the privacy of home, not so much. Some things more than others, though.

I'm a saver when it comes to possessions. I know that material possessions are not the measure of a person or the key to happiness. That being said, I definitely keep more stuff than I should. My ex would call it clutter. My philosophy is as soon as you throw something away, you're going to need it and if you don't need it now then it's better to be safe than sorry. I love going into Sam's Club, Costco or BJ's and buying in bulk.

I'm a bit of a greenie in that I am very passionate about recycling. Plastic, glass, paper, whatever can be recycled gets recycled. I even have one of those soap molds. When I accumulate enough soap slivers, I'll mold them into new bars of soap.

So there you have it. The basics of me summarized as succinctly as I can manage.


Let me turn the question back on you now. How do you define yourself? Can you summarize yourself as I have tried to do? I'd love to see each of you who read this to take up the challenge yourself and post it on your blogs. And don't forget to tell me that you've done it, so I can come and learn more about YOU.