A few months ago, MrsDarwin got me thinking about it with her post about love languages.

And then there was a discussion on Twitter a while back, in which I realized I was the only ENTJ in the bunch.

It’s been fueled by Elizabeth Esther’s mentions of her own ENFP tendencies, and her latest post on the subject, a collection of fun photos, put me over the top.

I did some studying of Myers-Briggs personality typing, coupled with its effect on learning style, back when I was studying agricultural education at Ohio State and still planning to actually teach high school students. (I’m getting all geared up for finding some online resources, but don’t have the time right now to do that…it’s been 15 or so years since I’ve touched this, and the internet wasn’t then what it is now.)

I loved it. For one thing, it explained some of my own challenges in life.

For another, it was just…fun. It put people into neat little buckets (which I know is not completely accurate all the time, but still…the J in me LOVES THE BUCKETS). It gave me some reasoning for why people did what they did (which, again, I know is not always completely trustworthy).

In other words, it helped me to understand…first myself and then others. Even if it was only a glimpse, it was more than what I’d had before (or so I felt at the time).

Here are some fun stuff related to being an ENTJ:

How about prayers suitable for the personality types?

ENTJ: Lord, help me slow downandnotrushthroughwatIdo.

Amen.

Loved this graphic found at Lady of the Beard:

And this analysis of ENTJ brain activity from Jamin Hegeman? Great.

These are my favorite finds in the search for “ENTJ photos” on Google Images (credited underneath):

Sarah vs. Housework [source]

Sarah as a child [from ENTJ photos *language alert*]

My mental reaction to group therapy of any kind [from ENTJ photos *language alert*]

This must be why I am so impatient, right? [from ENTJ photos *language alert*]

I’m married to an INTJ. I mentioned that long ago, but just found this and couldn’t resist linking, laughing, and following the rabbit trail…

I had to type my blog, too, in part because I found this old post typing my blog as ESFP. It has changed a bit over the years and is now ESTP.

(click to enlarge)

YOUR TURN!

What personality type are you?

You can take the test here or here. Be sure to let me know, wouldja? I found, when I retook it as I worked on this post, that I’ve become more moderate over the years. I used to be off the chart on a few aspects, and now the strongest I am is “moderately.” I suspect that’s at least partially a consequence of age and parenthood.

Here we have the awesome Elizabeth Duffy and Mrs. Darwin, who let me tag along with them. It was great road trippin’ fun, I tell ya!

Kate Wicker and her cutie patootie, Thomas

Danielle Bean was as lovely as ever. And her shoes? Incomparable (and terrifyingly high).

Lisa Schmidt and baby Jude. Lisa gained my respect as someone who can appreciate coffee.

Arwen Mosher (sans twins, who were with her!) and Hallie Lord, who, as you can see, have an effect on me…

Jen Fulwiler, who really is as tall as she says she is (and twice as hilarious)

The conference was good, inspirational, and all of that. How could it not be? They had incredible speakers and the team put in a tremendous effort on every aspect of things.

The real highlight for me, though, was the one-on-one time I had with these and some other ladies over the course of the day-and-a-half I spent there.

It comes back to why face-time is so important for all of us, why we show up at these events in the end.

It’s not for the speakers. It’s not even for the bag of goodies.

It’s for the people. Period.

I don’t know, really, how I became friends with Walt Staples. We were both members of the Catholic Writers Guild, and I suppose that’s where it started.

At one of the online conferences, we became crit partners.

What that means, with someone like Walt, is that I got a first glimpse at his hilarious and insightful stories. I’d tell him where to add a comma, catch where he left off closing quotes, and other incidental items like that.

He read my stuff, too, and he was really helpful with suggestions and tips. He told me, when he read the early versions of both Welcome Baby Jesus and Welcome Risen Jesus that he found them invaluable for himself.

I treasured that praise–it was deeply meant and it came from a fellow writer, working from the trenches as I was.

Over the course of our friendship, we became pen pals. I haven’t had a pen pal since my girlhood, and I must say…it was delightful. My seven-year-old got involved at one point, and sent him a picture. He sent her back a story based on her picture.

We treasure those two stories, written by Walt for us.

Walt became a hero of mine over the years. He was so amazing that, though we’d never met in person, he could recommend movies for our family and send me books. He loved John Deere and railroads and his Catholic faith.

I suspect he was a boy at heart, all his days. His delight when he shared about how he loaded a couple of different railway game programs on his daughter’s computer was…well, it reminded me of the ornery look my mancub gets when he’s standing in the middle of the table.

Walt saw Catholicism everywhere. He won me over to the way of speculative fiction: he made it funny and relevant and, well, good. I was so looking forward to the day when he would write a book-length work, though his short work was always so GOOD. (I know, too much “good” in one paragraph, but it WAS!)

The life Walt lived is one I think we would all strive for. He was caring for his wife and was the rock in his family’s life. I have no doubt he laughed as much in real life as I did when I read his letters, emails, news clips, or stories.

Walt savored life, and he always, always found a way to smile.

He became friends with my husband through their shared love of cleverness in Words with Friends. My mother-in-law loved him to pieces and had, at last count, TEN games going on with him.

On Wednesday night, as I was collapsed in bed from a version of sickness I’ve not seen the like of in YEARS, my phone rang. Twice. From someone who doesn’t ever call me.

I listened to the voice mail and had a fleeting thought of Walt.

Then I called this friend back and she told me the news: Walt had been found dead at the bus stop. No foul play was suspected.

My first thought was that I owed him a letter.

My second thought was for his family.

My life is better for having known Walt. I’m grateful, more than usual, for the communion of saints, because I know that Walt is there, probably chucking it up with Mama Mary and a handful of other saints.

I can’t wait to see him again.

Please join me in praying for Walt’s soul and for his family.

Some of my favorite of Walt’s writing: Real-Life Romance, part 1, part 2, part 3

People wonder why the novel is the most popular form of literature; people wonder why it is read more than books of science or books of metaphysics. The reason is very simple; it is merely that the novel is more true than they are. Life may sometimes legitimately appear as a book of science. Life may sometimes appear, and with a much greater legitimacy, as a book of metaphysics. But life is always a novel.

As I look around at the ridiculous events surrounding us with the HHS mandate, I want to scream.

I can sign a petition and promote common sense–and so can you!

Other people, though, do better. Karina Fabian shared this brilliant parable-like story with me, and when I read it, I nodded. And when she offered to let me share it here, I couldn’t refuse.

Life is always a novel, indeed.

Government Pork, by Karina Fabian

Once there was a wonderful town full of people who loved to eat, and many wonderful and varied restaurants that served excellent food:  Italian and French, Japanese and Mongolian, Middle Eastern and even a kosher delicatessen.  Not everyone liked every restaurant, of course, and some people even thought particular restaurants were odd, but they appreciated the variety available to all.

There were also a lot of pig farmers in the area, and people enjoyed the fresh pork.  One year, they had a mayor who loved fresh pork.  He thought it was the right of everyone in the town to have pork at any meal they wanted.  “Why,” he’d say,” if there was only one meal I could give my kids, it’d be pork chops!”  Of course, lots of the people loved pork as well, and they applauded his enthusiasm.

One day he sat in his office, thinking about how much he and others liked pork, and he decided that every restaurant should serve pork, at every meal.  Oh, maybe not every individual would want to eat pork, but they deserved the right to have it on their plate so they could choose!  And so, he set out a decree that all restaurants would serve some form of pork in every meal.

Well, the delicatessen and the Middle Eastern restaurant were upset by this.  They couldn’t serve pork—it was against their religions.  So they went to the Mayor and asked to be excused from this rule. “After all,” they said, “people know we never serve pork.”

“But you should.  People have the right to pork.  Some of your customers eat pork.  Even some of your employees enjoy a good ham!”

“And if they wish to, they may–but not in our restaurants,” the owners said.  “It’s against the kind of restaurants we are to serve pork.  And we have customers who do not want pork, who would be offended and do not want to pay for pork.”

“Well, I’m offended that you won’t serve it—and I’m sure other pork lovers agree that your attitude is most disagreeable.”

“Our customers and our employees know where we stand, and they continue to frequent our restaurants and work for us.  We serve them well, but we do not serve them pork.  We have the right to our own menus.   We should not be forced.”

But the mayor stood firm.  “No,” he said.  “Everyone has the right to have pork, and it’s my duty to make sure it’s always available, whether you agree or not.  It’s healthier than beef anyway.  If you don’t like it, you can pay a fine and stop serving food—or you can close down.”

The restaurant managers refused to change their menus.  Many people stood by them—because they, too, would not eat pork and didn’t want to pay for it; or because they agreed that restaurants should choose their own menus; or because they didn’t like the mayor telling people how to run their own businesses.  The movie theaters stood by him, because they were afraid if the Mayor could change menus, he might also start dictating what shows would be played.

The pork lovers, however, were incensed.  How dare the restaurants not give them pork if they wanted it?

“I can’t eat beef; what should I do then?” one demanded.  “Do you just want to send me away to starve?”

“We have other dishes,” they said.  “Our menu and service would be no different than before.  We can feed you many things; just not pork.”

Nonetheless, the press, too, said that the two restaurants would rather let people starve rather than eat pork.

Despite the outcry of the pork lovers, more and more people said, “Let them choose their own menu!”

One day, the Mayor called the restaurant owners into his office.  He had a compromise, he said.

“I won’t make you buy pork.  You don’t have to prepare it, or touch it.  Instead, all restaurant suppliers will have to supply pork to every restaurant, free of charge, and for those that don’t want to serve the pork, suppliers will cook it and put it on every plate themselves.”

“But there would still be pork in our restaurant!” the owners cried.  “Besides, they will increase the price of meat to cover their new expenses.”

“Oh, they wouldn’t do that.  I’d tell them not to.  Besides, the point is you wouldn’t be actually serving pork.  See how well that works?  Everyone gets pork and you can say you never provided it.  And if your patrons don’t want to eat it, they don’t have to; it’s enough that it’s there for them.”

A note from Karina: The HHS compromise is no compromise—it’s an escalation, making it impossible not only for the Catholic Church to live according to its beliefs, but any small business that may also believe as the Church does.  I wrote this parable to try to put the debate out of the “contraception/women’s health” light and show the other issues at stake.  Feel free to copy this story and use it on your own blogs.  If you do, please include this link to sign a petition to stop the HHS mandate (or if you know of another petition, include it)

By Katharine Grubb

At Christmastime in years past, I’ve received the World Vision catalog in the mail. And unlike the other catalogs, like American Girl, there’s a part of me that would be moved. World Vision’s catalog is filled with gifts to give that could save lives, that could combat world hunger, that could lift a family out of poverty, like a goat. In years past, I would sigh, put the catalog in the recycling bin and pray that someday my family would be able to do something bigger for the world.  Christmas, I would reason to myself, was stressful enough. I’ll get to it one day.

Today is that one day. We just as many expectations on us as there were last year, but this year, we want to not just pick up the World Vision catalog, but do something with it. This year, my family and I want to buy goats.

This year, my family and I want to buy 100 goats.

This idea came to us in a whirlwind. We were given a little money to do good with and we thought, yes! Goats from World Vision! But that seemed too easy, and certainly it did help ease our burden for the world a little, but surely there was a way to multiply our  money, or multiply our efforts, so that it wasn’t just one goat bought. Could we get our friends to buy goats too?

So we’re launching a campaign. It’s called 100 Goats.

Our goal is to have 100 Goats bought through World Vision by December 25, 2011. A goat costs $75. As a family, we’re going to have bake sales and do yard work to raise money. But by ourselves,  the best we could hope for is two or three goats. We’d like to invite you, our readers, to consider how you could help us. We know that lots of organizations are asking for help at this time of year and we don’t want to take away from them. But we believe that there are friends of ours who will get excited about this with us. We believe that God will bless those excited people. We believe that nothing is too audacious for God.

Are you excited yet? What you can do:

3) EASY: Tell your friends about 100 Goats. Link back to this blog. Link to the facebook page. Tweet about this. You never know, weirder things than this have gone viral.

4) ALSO EASY: Allow us to guest blog on your website. I’d love to be interviewed. Or better still, interview my kids. Corbin’s making business cards to pass out at church. Miranda’s making bread to sell and raise money. Ariel’s blogging about this. I’ll put the younger two in a video. I’m not above using their cuteness to change the world.

Regardless of how you help, please pray that my kids get a heart for the world, that their compassion for others grows, that they don’t get so wrapped up in the latest video game that they forget what Christmas is really about.

And pray for me, that I don’t get stressed.

–

Katharine Grubb is a successful homeschooling mother of five, bread baker, reluctant dish washer and part-time novelist. She’s also amazing and constantly making me laugh with her posts on Twitter.

I’ve come to know the owners, Larry and Phyllis, over the years, thanks to my employment at our parish and my own interest in stocking up my home with things Catholic.

There’s something about being able to go and touch and browse. Even I, the poster child for shopping on Amazon and avoiding retail outlets (I really do hate to shop), see the value and necessity of the service Catholic bookstores provide.

It’s a risky business. Earlier this year, the other Catholic bookstore in our metro area went out of business. It’s frustrating, if you’re a small business owner, to see how the Big Guys seem to come in and slash prices. I think it’s even more disappointing, though, when you start to see parishes ordering supplies from Amazon because of a perceived convenience or lower price.

I’ve started telling people (loudly, at times) that there are many books on Amazon — Welcome Baby Jesus, for example — that cost NO LESS than they would from your Catholic bookstore. There are behind-the-scenes reasons for this, and I don’t even know them all.

I have been, for years, trying to keep as much of my business as local as I can. It’s not easy: the local grocery doesn’t have exactly what I want sometimes, or they’re out, or the other store has a wait that just infuriates me.

Back when I worked at the local John Deere dealership, one of my bosses always said, “People buy from people.” As I’ve gotten older, and especially now that I have kids and a stricter budget, I see just how right he was.

Without customers, our local Catholic bookstores can’t stay in business. They just can’t. And that hurts all of us. The online retailers provide a service, I agree.

What if that Catholic bookstore wasn’t there? I challenge you, as you plan your Christmas shopping, to purchase at least one thing from your local Catholic retailer. Maybe you’ll spend a bit more, and maybe you’ll go out of your way. We could argue economics, but let’s not (neither of us will win).

Your Catholic retailer provides a service as real as the local pharmacy does. Here in central Ohio, Larry and Phyllis do what they do because they love their faith. They’re not out to fleece anyone, and I have seen them go out of their way to provide service that’s above and beyond. At the Catholic Marketing Network this summer, I met quite a few other Catholic store owners who do it, not for the fortune they’re not making, but because of a passion for their faith and their fellow Catholics.

Let’s show them some support. Let’s speak with our dollars this shopping season and tell them “thank you” for the long hours they work, the many products they carry, and the witness they provide in the marketplace.

UPDATE: As it turns out, we DO have a second Catholic retailer here in central Ohio, Catholica. I haven’t had a chance to visit them (they’re in Westerville), but I plan to at some point. If you’ve been there, I’d love to hear what you think!

If you’re a Catholic writer (or aspiring to be one), be sure to consider this great opportunity:

St. Francis Retreat Center, in collaboration with FAITH Catholic Publishing and Communications and The Catholic Writers Guild, will sponsor Your Word is My Delight, a Catholic writers’ retreat, October 5-9, 2011. Come and delight in God’s word and sacrament, and pray in a beautiful and serene retreat setting.

The retreat’s key presenter is Pat Gohn, Catholic columnist, podcaster and catechist. Other presenters are Father Charles E. Irvin, David Krajewski, Father David Rosenberg, and Father Larry Delaney.

Writers will enjoy three spiritually-enriching days of daily Mass, adoration, the sacrament of reconciliation and many hours of writing time. Talks will explore how God speaks to and encourages writers through Scripture, papal writings and other topics in order to promote faith-filled writing.

Opportunities for networking also will be offered through an informal “book bash and social hour” Wednesday evening and Faith Catholic’s one-on-one “pitch sessions” that give writers the chance to sell their current writing projects.

Cost for the four-day retreat is $450, which includes meals and accommodations. Deadline for registration is September 28. A nonrefundable deposit of $45 is required at registration.

Here’s the schedule of events (link opens a PDF) and here’s the registration. I know I can’t attend this particular writing retreat, but I hope it’s the first of many!

At the Catholic Writers Conference and Catholic Marketing Network trade show last week, the baby made his rounds. I’ll post more pictures later this week at the Catholic Writers Guild blog.

 He was quite a fan of Karina Fabian (and I don’t blame him):

Jerry Webster was a source of ongoing amusement for him, which is attributable in part to the Grandpa Magic that Jerry has:

Ellen Gable Hrkach had a chance to see his “squishy face” in action:

Lisa Mladinich and her daughter (who I have blog-named “Rose”) were favorites through the week, and we were so blessed to room with them:

Lisa Hendey is a big fan of babies, and, as it turns out, so is Jen Minson (right), who made a special trip to have coffee with us (and she brought her two girls, who were utterly delightful):

John Michael Talbot refused to disturb the sleeping baby. His wife, pictured right, loves babies, so I didn’t have to twist hard to have them pose for a picture. (Yes, it was shameless of me. But…isn’t this a great picture? They were really that reflective about it.)

It’s been quite a week: 1,015 miles to the Catholic Marketing Network show and the Catholic Writers Conference Live and hundreds of hugs, pictures, and memories.

I have pictures to share, but I also have the “from the floor” experiences chronicled, a bit, at the Catholic Writers Guild blog this week. I plan to write more about it next week (because there just wasn’t time to live blog all that I wanted to capture and share).

I met so many great people, got so many wonderful ideas, and, best of all, had a road trip with a niece who is every bit as awesome as everyone thought she was. I think, in fact, that she’s my new road trip companion (not that I expect a whole lot of these road trips in my life, what with home life being what it is and should be).

At CatholicMom.com, we kicked off a contest that YOU WILL WANT TO ENTER. There are 59 items and it’s only lasting through August 15. (Bet you know why I chose that date, too, don’t you?)

Now, I have to go clean up the mess known as “the stuff I should have been doing but didn’t” (like an interview with the incredible Brandon Vogt! whose new book is WORTH YOUR TIME! which I failed to schedule and thus failed to share!) and enjoy the interactions with my girls, who, Daddy says, earned some BIG PRIZES for their excellent behavior while I was gone this week.

It starts on Friday evening, July 22, and continues through Sunday, July 24, at Ohio Dominican University. The line-up of speakers is enough to make anyone jump up and down…it’s like a who’s who listing!

I hear registration is still open (the website says space is limited, but I have it on good authority that there’s room left). If you’re in the area, check it out!

I so wish I could attend! If you’ll be there, let me know…I’d love to hear your thoughts on it!