No such thing as a dumb question

Growing up in Alaska and working with teenagers have provided the opportunity for me respond to some rather interesting questions. So, I thought I'd share some of the questions that I have been asked or have actually heard someone ask. I can't think of 10, so here are 8 that I can remember.

1. How do you spell DNA? (And as a teacher I have actually said that there is no such thing as a stupid question. I guess there are exceptions to every rule.)
2. Is this the radio or a CD? (Asked as the radio station was giving its call letters and logo?)
3. How much longer before we get to the church?(as we are parking right next to the church sign)
4. How long have you been cousins? (This wasn't asked to me, but I witnessed a student ask this question)
5. Why is Alaska so cold and Hawaii so warm since they are next to each other? (Referring to many U.S. maps that place Alaska and Hawaii in the lower corner)
6. How cold is -100?
7. What's for dinner? (as the student stood in front of 15 pizza boxes)
8. Does Minnesota Ave go to Minnesota? (I was asked this while driving on Minnesota Ave in Anchorage, AK)

Perfect Timing

Timing is everything. I just walked into my school building and seconds later it quite literally began pouring down rain. It's almost as if someone turned on a water faucet over our building. Speaking of timing, my wife likes going to Wal-mart or the store with me because I almost always get great parking spots. I turn the corner to go down a row of cars and a car almost always seems to back out at just the right moment.

This leads me to consider God's timing in my life. It has always been perfect. More than great parking places or not getting wet walking into a building, God seems to know exactly what I need and when I need it. Sometimes I get impatient or don't understand, but in the end, He always works for the best.

Well dressed

Sitting in worship Sunday morning I was admiring how good I looked. I had made sure I picked out a clean, ironed shirt that matched my coat and pants. My tie coordinated with it all bringing it all together in the perfect complement of colors. My socks coordinated with my shoes and pants. My hair was just right. I had adorned my favorite cologne. I made sure all obvious pimples were gone. Everything was just right. But as I sat in my typical spot I slowly realized that all was not right. Why don’t I spend as much time examining my heart, my life, my soul like I do getting dressed and making sure I look just right? Why don’t I spend more time baring my soul to God and being real with him and others rather than pretending to be something I’m not? If Sunday mornings are only about putting on the right clothes, singing a few songs, half way listening to a sermon and prayers, and socializing then I’ve wasted many Sunday mornings. Instead, Sunday should be about the resurrection, transformation, God’s power to save us. It’s about our daily struggle with sin and God’s forgiveness. It’s about surrender and victory. It’s about coming together with other wounded people, exposing our wounds to God and celebrating his power to heal. It’s about being real.
This world doesn’t need anymore well-dressed, great looking followers of Christ. Your friends at school don’t need someone who appears to have all the answers. Your peers need a follower willing to lay it all on the line, someone willing to show both the amazing joys of following Christ, and the reality of struggling with sin every day. Your friends need someone willing to listen and love in a different way than the world shows love. They need disciples willing to get dirty and be less concerned with looking the part. Our youth ministry needs that. So, by the end of the worship time I was disgusted with myself, for I have played this Christian game far too long. It’s time to trade in my fine clothes for some overalls and gloves.

The Things I've Done

Inspired by my wife's recent post on the 50 things she has never done, I thought I'd list 25 things I HAVE done.

1. I have taken a bath in a 45 degree lake.
2. I have spent 2 hours in a basement with B.B. King during a tornado
3. I have high-centered a car on a snow bank
4. I have walked into a "massage parlor" to use the telephone
5. I have dropped a pizza on a date's lap
6. I have been on a double date to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show
7. I have seen the Anson Lights
8. I have mispronounced stunt kite three times to my mother-in-law (resulting in a really bad word)
9. I have been chased by a moose
10. I have eaten two boxes of Little Debbie Macaroos in an afternoon
11. I have slept on 3000 lbs of salmon
12. I have turned down an intimate moment with my wife to play NBA Basketball on Sega
13. I have run around the outside of my house in only my briefs when it was -10 outside
14. I have been 15 feet away from a grizzly bear as it hopped into a 10 foot tall dumpster
15. I have been tubing down the Guadalupe River with a screaming 4 year-old on my stomach
16. I have accidentally put my arm around my girlfriend's roommate instead of my girlfriend
17. I have done the "hanky panky" dance in my church parking lot in front of 3 teenagers
18. I have lost my wedding band four days into my marriage
19. I lost it again
20. I found it again a year and a half later
21. I have flipped 23 snow geese upside down and looked at their bottoms to determine their gender
22. I have seen a bald eagle snatch a fish right out of a river
23. I have run 13.1 miles in less than 2 hours
24. I have skinny dipped with 35 other naked guys
25. I have locked my keys in my car while it was running when picking up a girl for a date on my birthday

A homecoming of sorts

It's nearly 1:00 a.m. and the rest of my family is in bed like most normal people. But I can't sleep. I got off the phone about an hour ago after talking with a friend in Alaska about going back for a visit. This summer, I plan to return to the place I was raised for the first time in 11 years. As I tried to sleep so much filled my mind that I had to get up and write about it.

When we're growing up we can't wait for the next thing. We can't wait to start kindergarten, then start junior high. We can't wait for that first kiss or to get our driver's license. We look forward to college and beginning a career. It even continues on in adulthood as we anticipate that job promotion, or new home or car. We're so busy looking ahead that we fail to look around. We can get tunnel vision.

Tonight is about not only looking around, but also about stopping long enough to turn around a look behind to see the amazing things God has done. As I plan to head home this summer I can look back and see the amazing things God did. So, I'm going home in a few months and hope to let those who were (and are) so significant in my life know just how much they have meant to me and thank God for what He has done in me. It'll be an emotional time as it already is just thinking about it, but it's a time I know god is calling me to and I look forward to. For those of you from there who might read this, words can't express my deep abiding love and appreciation to you.

A Julia story

Julia told me a story of something that happened in PE today. She was stretching in PE and couldn't touch her toes, only her knees. She informed her teacher that it must be in her DNA because her daddy couldn't touch his toes either. She proceeded to explain to him what DNA was and he gave her a sticker. I wish I could be rewarded from not being able to touch my toes.

My passion

Yesterday I watched an IMAX film called Adrenaline Rush with a group of students. As I watched I felt my heart race, my pulse quicken. By the end of the movie I wanted to be a base jumper. It looked exciting. The risks they took just for that rush were astounding. Today, I received an email from a friend who shared a poem with several of his friends that has seriously challenged me. It forced me to close my office door and consider the question "What gets my heart racing? What pumps me up?" The honest answer to my question in this moment is sleep. Right now, I'm not pumped up about anything. Nothing seems to get me excited. I'm simply living in survival mode. So, something must give. I need to dream, I need to be consumed by those things that consume the heart of God. So, please pray for me that God once again becomes my consuming passion. That my heart races when I consider his mission. Pray that I develop vision once again and dare to dream and take risks. The life he has is too exciting to simply live in survival mode. I want to be a major risk-taker in his kingdom. Thanks Pistol for the poem. I needed it.

mud pit

Ok, I'm annoyed. There's not a whole lot that really gets to me, but when your road has been torn up for 6 weeks and you look like you've been wallowing in the mud every time you walk in the door it gets old. It all ebgan between Christmas and New Year's when work crews tore up the asphalt on our section of N Burnett. The next day it rained..and it rained..and it rained. Then it dried up for a few days and work crews returned to work. Come to find out, they couldn't continue working because there was too much sand in our dirt, which was causing these giant pits that were swallowing up one-ton trucks. So, our dirt road sat for about three weeks. They finally came up with a solution to fix the problem, so they did. Then they paved one half of the road. But it has rained since then. I guess that's what I get for washing both cars and shampooing my carpets just before Christmas. I won't try to be so clean from now on.