some like it hot

In light of recent attempts to raise Christian dating from the pits of modern society (matchmaking sites, personality tests, IM, etc.), I was awakened today to the reality that my church has an amusing alternative. After service today, all the single people in the church were invited to a chili cook-off in the fellowship hall, and were told it would be a time of meeting and greeting other young adults. Initially my students were skeptical, as they wondered what such an interaction, formed by the hands of an obviously crafty gray-haired pastor, would entail. But they were even more skeptical when they found out that they had to bring their own chili and offer it to everyone else. Some thought this was just too strange. For starters, with the timing of the lunch, you couldn't just go out and buy some beans and beef after service. You had to bring it with you in the morning beforehand, and how many 20-something single guys own a crock-pot?

Well despite a few noticeable boycotts, we had a decent turnout, and the chili was all very good. I must say though, it was more than a little odd when they made everyone in the room stand and say something about themselves (these are my hobbies, etc.). I think it might have even been weirder if they would have had each dainty, pretty girl stand around the outside with her pride in a pot, and have the guys come around saying: "Hey baby, can I try some of yours? Spicy? That's okay. I like 'em hot!"

I was asked to get up and talk for a couple of minutes (either because I'm single and still know how to smile, or because I work with people who are), and I honestly just told them about our upcoming missions trip and our Chi Alpha group. If they wanted anything moral or insightful about living as a Christian single, I seriously bombed. And if they wanted me to say, "Let's have all the guys on this side of the room, all the ladies over there. Okay, now we're going to blindfold you, and we want you to take your pot and your spoon, and we want you to see if you can get your chili into another person's mouth across the room. If you do, you're in super luck, because you win a nice dinner for two at Lupo's on Main Street. Ready? GO!" Yep, I really bombed.

conundrums, and other things nuns play

Okay, enough with the funny side. Tonight is the night for us to dig down deep. We're talking major seriousness. Life and death could hang in the balance. You have to make a big decision for me. I'm counting on you!

So let's say I was going to choose one of three options (remember this is heavy).

A.

B.

C.

Which one should I pick? Which one would you pick? I'm in need of some help.

PS I really don't like C. Please don't pick that one.

if some answers in life are buried, aren't muddy ones easier to find?

Here is the answer to my Hillbilly Hangman riddle.



For another look, click here.

And here.

so if I was a real boy . . . . (Pinnochio)

Okay, so I stole this idea from Courtney (the second time I've done that for a post). It's a Johari Window, and you use it to map the personality profile of another person. See if you can pick me out. Use whatever adjectives you think fit.

Click here.

confessions of a hillbilly

This past weekend I had the privilege of helping plan a large party for college students in West Virginia. It was a lot of work, but the benefits were many, and the joys plentiful. One such benefit was being in charge of a game called Hillbilly Hangman, which, to the dismay of certain moonshiner traditionalists, didn't actually involve hanging anyone. We simply used the childhood game to express and explore a variety of mountain man traditions. Here were some of my favorite words:

little brown jug
tractor pull
Everthung's A Doler Store
"skinny little feller"
cars on blocks
Moonshine Market
"you've been pitsnoggled!!"

My favorite word though, and the one I used most often (when new people came up), was the following word:

M _ D _ O _ _ I N ' (this is after the letters they would usually guess)

Now a certain young man from the hills of Virginia took one look at that phrase and declared the answer with such volicious certainty that I was taken aback. I couldn't believe he got it so quickly, mainly because no one else had. At one point, a group of over-educated students from a top-rated university were in such a feverish debate over the possibilities of this word, that they resorted to mathematical equations and Old English grammar books. The debate kept going on and on, and they couldn't decide what to pick. One would suggest something and another would say, "No, that's not possible. According to the laws of . . . ." It was hilarious, especially when their poor cowboy got hung, and they still were missing three letters.

So, let's see if you're smarter than they are. Any ideas?
Think hillbilly and it shouldn't be too hard.

just me and cupid

To all well-wishers of fabled charm:

May your Februaries to come be filled with enchantment and romance. May your Christmases be white, your Valentine's red, and may you always take extreme caution with where you point that bow.

and so, with a little practice

On Wednesday night, I had a group of guys at my house for a class investigating the finer elements of investment banking. We had a fun time and I want to share a question with you.

If you could lead ANY organization or group in the world, what would you lead?

And here are some random answers (kudos to stacy for picking me out on the first try):


President of the NFL
Director of Operation Smile
Chancellor of Duke University
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
President of Japan
Owner of Honda
Secretery General of the United Nations
Owner/President of Cingular Wireless


Sooo, if you could lead ANY organization in the world, what would you lead?

a thought for my memiors

I'm always amazed at how creative and wishful people can be when given the opportunity. Part of my job as an investment banker is to get my clients to see life from another angle, from a bigger, god-like perspective. So we talk about things that are here and real and prima-facie, and we also talk about things that might be and could be, and even things that aren't but we want to be. And I'm surprised at how well, with a little prodding, people move between the two, and how easy it is, as a leader, to instill a measure of balance with a simple allusion to the other side. Often my job is to pull a person from the stern and calculated into the vast, unsearchable wonder of God, and to pull another who is dreamy-eyed and fanatically irrelevant back in unision with day-to-day life.

We are so prone to view ourselves and life's happenings through one of these lenses. What a joy to appreciate both.