Do I have the best job ever?

Absofruitly I do. This weekend this kid bobbed for marshmallows in 5 gallons of mayonnaise.

Archibald, the '97 Honda

Something noteworthy from the auto arena.

Last week Archie (my car) got a facial. Someone decide they didn't like the way his back window looked. So they removed it.

Touchez UT Tyler. Touchez.

walking sticks

i am currently in barnes and noble with a friend.  he's studying for the GRE, i'm just clearing my mind for a skosh.

two tables in front of us are four old men (65 and up) sitting around a table, two of them playing chess.  two of the four have walking sticks...one of them is a giant one, about 5 feet tall.  three of the four have large mustaches.  four of the four wear spectacles.

why do i want to be like these men in forty years?

what a thought.

things i want to be like when i'm 65.

fun
fun to be around
story telling
jovial
interested in people
encouraging
prankster
in shape
active
relaxed
a people person
black coffee drinker
thumbs up giver
BIG hugger
argument diffuser
nose haired
smiler
intentional
wise

i'll log back on in forty and see how i'm doing.

Yikes.

Just a little refresher for myself about what I claim to be all about.




A new command I give to you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.

May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance.

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

this one's cool...stay with it.

...for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.  The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not covet," "and whatever other commandments there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor.  Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind: This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself."

If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar.  For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.  And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

We love because he first loved us.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

Greater love has no one that this, that he may lay down his life for his friends.

But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.



Like I said, Yikes.

Roadkill Rabbit

Do you ever wake up in a strange bed and have absolutely no idea where you are?

This is my life the last couple of weeks.  For sure.

Lindsay had a little bit of an accident a couple of weeks ago, bad enough that I decided to take a quick trip to Nebraska to see everyone and spend some time with them while that all was going down.  No worries, she is making a speedy recovery.  Nebraska farm girls tend to do that, ya know.  After that, I flew back down to TX and went straight back to work until Friday, when I went to Dallas/Arlington/Grand Prairie for a buddy's wedding.  I spent a couple of nights on a couch over there.  Bed count: 4 to this point if you include the hotel I stayed in the night before I flew to Nebraska.  After this I went back to Tyler for a solid week before I left for Tennessee to see Taylor get married.  In Tennessee, I stayed in a room that enshrined the University of Tennessee's football team, it was interesting to say the least.  That's five.  We aren't quite finished yet because this last week I traveled down to College Station where I interviewed several college students for spots on Pine Cove's summer staff.  Hotel bed #2, bringing the two week bed total to 6.  I think I'm in Tyler for the next couple of weeks, and I'm thankful.  It's always a little unsettling waking up in the morning or the middle of the night and having no clue where you are.

I also learned last week that Nyquil makes you talk funny.

Texas Life!

I have reached my indefinite destination of Tyler, TX!  It will be my new home for the foreseeable future, and it is finally starting to feel like a home and not a vacation spot!  For the past six years, Tyler has been where I would visit my camp friends and have reunions at conferences and such.  Now, I've been hired to host these conferences, and I couldn't be more excited!

Update in a nutshell.

I am now a conference director at my second home, the Pine Cove Ranch.

Creating extreme weekends full of huge games, legit speakers/worship bands, and frequent encounters with Christ for Jr Highers is my full-time job.

I moved in with 5 other dudes in Tyler.  (quite reminiscent of the "man-plex" of my sophomore year)

Jarratt and Jon work for me and are an unstoppable force.

My honda has no air-conditioning.  Yikes.

I'm officially a Bingo addict, and I've only been once.

My friends down here have welcomed me with open arms.


Biggest Differences b/t Lincoln and Tyler:

Weather.  It's quite warmish here.  No a/c in my car = back sweat.  Sick, I know.

Everyone, and I mean everyone uses an iPhone.

Saturdays are not centered around Husker football for everyone.  Just me and Craig.

Cornfields are non-existent.

Sweet tea is a requirement, not an option.

Yes ma'am, yes sir.  All the time.

Tyler: home of the U-turn.

Run Rabbit, Run.

I think I'm anti-bandwagon when it comes to a lot of things.  Then again, after I hate said bandwagon item for a time, I usually give it a chance.  At certain times in my life they have become some of my most favorite things.  I did not read a single Harry Potter book until I was in college (several years after the book craze), and I sort of wore this as a badge of honor.  Having an interest in literature and seeing that the craze was only growing and growing with the release of the movies, I figured I'd give them a shot.  Now I'm not afraid to say that they are without a doubt my favorite series of books.  Love them.  A couple of friends and I often refer to ourselves by what Harry Potter character our personality reflects.  I'm Harry and my other two friends are Hermione and Ron.  Like I said, I'm a huge nerd, and I love it.  

All this to say, I resist these bandwagon movements and I guess I really don't know why, because most of the time I end up enjoying them.  There are times that I don't, but usually I end up liking whatever it is.  Harry Potter, iPods, MacBooks, v-necks, The Shack, Skype, texting, snowboarding and Vans (the shoes, not the soccer mom vehicles) are just a few of these trends in the past few years that I resisted for a time (for reasons unknown) but eventually was won over.  It's one of those things that you may have vehemently opposed even outspokenly, so when you try it out it has to be a secret...so no one finds out and makes fun of you for it.  I feel like this happens about once every couple of months or so for me.  

Last night I started a Twitter account.  And some of you may think this to be completely laughable, but I figured what the heck, and the jury is still out on it, I'll keep you posted though.  So far I feel like it's just another great way for me to stay connected with all of my friends wherever they may be.  It could be some kids that are following me in the youth group, or staffers from camp that are all over the US.  We can just keep tabs on each other, nothing creepy about it, just a fun light hearted way to keep people posted on the happenings of everyday life.  So far, if it had a button on facebook, I'd "like" it.  

Eventually I'd like to transition from a person who stands against these movements for a time into a person who readily gives them a shot and weighs them out while they're gaining momentum.  A lot of times I tend to pass judgment on these sorts of things and the people who use them.  Maybe that mindset will be a thing of the past.  

In other news, I need to decide if I'm going to Texas over fall break or to stick around in Lincoln for the big Texas game that weekend.  Hmmmm....