So over Thanksgiving I went to Springfield, IL. I traveled to the deep south to visit my girlfriends parents. That's right! Holiday's at the In-Laws! Well not quite the in-laws... how do you say that... the dating-laws?
So I always feel a bit intimidated down there, but you would never know it. Charissa's parents are world travelers, previous missionaries, and her dad is a college professor. Last time we visited, her dad and I had a 20 minute discussion about proteins. I think it was a test. At this time I would like to send a shout out to my college Biology professor... Thank you Scott Jones for all your biology wisdom. Don't get me wrong I graduated with honors, but we just don't seem to read the same books, if you know what I mean. But even though, sometimes I feel like I may have the smallest brain pan in the room I always just try to relax and keep up as best I can.
So for Thanksgiving dinner we go to Charissa's grandparents house and her Aunt, Uncle, and 3 cousins came over. Charissa is an English major, her dad a professor, her G-pa is a doctor, one cousin is pre-med, etc, etc. Clearly the gene pool is stacked. So what game do we play... Scrabble. Actually we played speed scrabble which is a lot of fun. It's kind of like scrabble, but faster and there is no board. I didn't think I would have a prayer.
There were words like meerkats, and roadsigns, and I'm pretty sure someone spelled an 11 letter words with only 10 tiles. But when it came to the last round, who was ahead by 34 points. ME! So the last round myself and her pre-med cousin brent were still true to the task, but everyone else got a teammate. And so I lost by 1 point. The Holland Family had to team up to beat me!?!
The greatest Irony is that I achieved victory by spelling words like "zoo", "pits", "go", and "jig". Suckas. Don't mess.
This post contained 6 grammatical errors previous to spell check.
Lucas flexes at you... Ooohh So Strong
May Angels Wing You To Your Rest
She's dead.
My heart hurts and it is pounding through my chest. Betty Jo Bidner has died of respiratory failure. I haven't seen her in two years. Not since my brother's wedding. She was one of the kindest women I have ever known. She had time to teach a squirming six year old piano. Even when he didn't, couldn't play she never made him feel bad. She just kept encouraging. When the whole world was looking to my brother as "the musical one" she would tell me that I was gifted and should pick up another instrument and another.
I moved away when I was 10 years old. Every year I got a birthday card. Every year, a Christmas card. She came to my graduation. She came to my ordination.
She's dead. She leaves behind, a loving husband, two children, grandchildren, and a very grateful 25 year old boy.
You owe me on this one...
So this weekend Jonikay invited my roommate and I to movie. I wasn't going to go, but my roommate begged me because I think he owed Joni money or something... I don't know. So I got dragged to this movie... little did I know that the reason my roommate and I were asked to go is that Jonikay had plans of her own.
Half way through the movie there began to be quite a few naked men and penises gracing the screen with their presence. Joni told us that Bre had highly recommended this movie. This made me slightly uncomfortable in and of itself, however, every time one of these scenes took place I looked over and Jonikay was "making eyes" and "making obscene gestures" in my general direction. I was shocked! It seems miss Jonikay was trying to seduce me while my girlfriend (her roommate) is in Florida. I felt so violated and ashamed. My roommate was pissed. He also felt used and embarrassed. Nothing happened, I swear! I told Joni she should be ashamed and go home. Tyler had to drive her home because she was drunk. So I strapped Tyler's chastity belt on him and told him not to make baby Jesus cry. All in all, an eventful evening I would say.
And now a true story...
So Tyler and I got to the movie early to get tickets and seats. It's a good thing, because the show quickly sold out and seats filled up fast. I went in to save seats while Tylo waited for Jonikay. She was late, because she had to put on her leopard stretch pants.
So as I sat alone in the theatre, the crowd started to get restless "THerE ARen't EnOUgh Seats!!" A group of three came into the theatre and after being deny twice they frantically looked at me and said, "YOU!" (who me?) "yeah, are those seats taken?" (the three on my left were open) "Oh thanks, thanks so much!" They continued this praise every time they passed me which was 2 concession runs and 4 bathroom breaks. "Thanks so much!"
Did those seats belong to me? Did I wield such power? Could I have shattered their very lives? Was I deserving of such praise? People are freaks.
No... It's Spelled F-L-U-X Capacitor
How do you feel about who you've become?
I don't mean who you are... I mean how do you feel about who you have become? How does it compare? How do you feel about the difference between (you) now and (you) then?
A lot of times we feel complacent or disappointed about who we are: I'm too fat, I don't like my hair, I'm not pretty enough, I'm not smart enough, etc, etc, etc. But it's funny to me, that as most of us at times don't like who we are or where we are, we are usually pleased with the comparison to who we were. How about you? Would you want to go back? Did you like who you were better?
There have been seasons in my life of joy, sorrow, melancholy, unadulterated ecstasy, overwhelming depression, and undeniable goofiness (and I'm not even bi-polar). I've seen the rise and fall of 5 and 1/2 girlfriends, the coming and going of countless friends, and the near breaking of my heart at the hands of those I trusted. But was it worth it?
I think about it sometimes. Who would I be? What would I be doing? Did I waste my heart on dating, or did it make me better at relationships? Was it worth it? Would I have traded the good to avoid the bad? Have my experiences in ministry helped me to be better or worse? I think I'm certainly less naive. But am I jaded? Could I have learned the same lessons with out the pain? Is the fact that I don't keep up with everyone I've hung out with or befriended make our friendship void and a waste of time? Did it shape me? Would I want to go back and be the man I was two, three, six years ago?
I think about the guy I used to be. I miss him sometimes. But I don't know if I would want to be him. I think about the guys I could have been...