progressive ideas

Not really sure how to introduce this material ... guess I'll just copy and paste:

I went into WalMart this afternoon and almost got myself in trouble. Since they are renovating our WalMart into a SuperWalMart they only have one set of bathrooms open. They are in the very back and usually the signs guide the Men to the Left and the Women to the Right. Well today the sign for the Women's restroom fell down. A bunch of 60 something men had gotten off a bus out front and decided they needed to use the facilities. They looked both ways and decided to go into the unmarked door. I was right behind them and started to head that way when it hit me they must have decided to switch the bathrooms. But I couldn't go in the other way because that was clearly marked, "Men's." I stood there staring until I saw a store clerk and ask her which was the Women's. She picked up the sign and put it back on the wall and said the one on the right. By now there was a long line of women behind me wanting to go. We told her that the bathroom was full of men. She was going to go in and tell them that they were in the wrong bathroom but she was young and too intimidated. I said, "Well, I'm not going to wait. I'm going in." I charged in with my eyes mostly down and hollered, "Guys, this is the Women's restroom." They said that it was too late now as they were already doing their business. Several of them hadn't bothered to close their stall doors as if they hadn't a care in the world. I told them that I was doing to go anyway and picked out an empty stall. Sad to say the man before me had peed on the seat. I had to mop it up. But yes, I still went. When I came out I saw that several other women had finally followed me in. As I was washing my hands next to a very puzzled man, I told him, "If they can do it in Germany, why not here." Then I gracefully exited the restroom. Man I'm glad those guys were from far away. I hope they get back on their bus and forget Gillette, Wyoming and the strange lady that was using the restroom with them.

Love, Angel Joey (I think!)

the young and the restless

We spent the past two days helping students move into dorm rooms for the upcoming school year, doing everything from box lifting to direction giving to drink supplying. Today we handed out 600 snowcones to students (the most popular flavors were cherry and imitation blue raspberry), and we came in contact with dozens of new people who wanted info about our ministry.

A funny thing happened though when I was preparing for this day of snowconic madness. In asking for volunteers, I was told that I had two 11 year-old girls who were totally enthusiastic about running a snowcone machine. They wanted to help. One even had her mom offer to drive her over to campus and agree to supervise her for the day.

Now I had no doubt that they could enthusiastically create and hand out snow cones to incoming freshman and fraternity studs, but I had questions in my mind about the wisdom of such a choice. Would that really be a good idea? What image would we be sending?

And in truth it reminded me of my morning's devotions. This morning I ran across this verse:

"Jehoiachin was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord." (II Chr. 36:9)

What would that be like? Your king is eight years old ... and he's bad. He's a bad kid king. What temper tantrum do you suppose he threw to be labeled as bad? I doubt he was having affairs with Egyptian girlfriends. I'm pretty sure he'd stand out like a sore thumb in a Babylonian night club. What did he do?

And that leads me to my question of the week: What would it be like if your boss/leader was eight years old? How would your world be different?

if

a random quiz . . . .

1. If you were in a burning building and you only had time to save one of the following, which would you choose? A. a cute, cuddily cat B. A cute, cuddily dog C. your favorite childhood toy D. your grandmother

2. If you had to listen to one of the following for 24 hours straight, which would you choose? A. Cyndi Lauper B. Kenny G C. Right Said Fred D. Aretha Franklin

3. If you could have one body part that the entire world found allluring, what would it be? A. ears B. hands C. clavicle D. feet E. uvula

4. If you could have one wealthy person donate to a charity of your choice, who would you choose? A. Donald Trump B. Bill Gates C. Martha Stewart D. Oprah Winfrey

5. If you could turn the entire food industry around with the revolution of one singular product, what would you choose? A. the granola bar B. the pork chop C. the bacon bit D. the potato cassarole E. the fruit salad

6. If you could be famous for one of the following, what would it be? A. making hand crafts for children out of dinosaur bones B. eating 10 saltine crackers in a minute without water C. writing a "one size fits all" ballad that works at weddings, funerals, going away parties, and baby showers D. setting the record for "world's longest nap while at work"

7. If you had a dance named after you, what would it be called? A. The Hick-Hopper B. The Southern Jigger C. The Lily Pad Stomp D. The Quaker Shaker E. The Malt-o-Meal Express

8. If you were to create a new pro sports team, which of the following would you choose as your mascot? A. gorilla B. hyena C. parakeet D. penguin E. dafodil

moving on up (to the top)

I traveled to the Windy City last week and had the privilege of making a dozen new friends. tiffkin introduced me to all her college pals, and after a couple days of careful observation, I believe I passed full inspection and was accepted into the family. I felt like I fit right in.

One of the things we seem to talk a lot about though was the places we’re headed, the future, the tomorrow that we’re working hard today to create. I don’t think there’s anything extraordinary about a 20-30 year old wondering what life will be like when they turn 40-50, but what struck me was how different it seemed from my parents’ generation.

We’d be driving through a particular area and someone would say, "Man, I can't wait 'til we live in some place like this," or "We're saving so we can move up a little nicer," or "I would move there in a heartbeat if the price were right." We talked about having fancy house decorations, advancing our resumes, furthering our education, preparing some day to have children, watching our friends to see if they will eventually get married, etc. I liked our conversations, but it was funny to me how much of it centered on things we want to happen, things down the road, or maybe not on the road at all.

The interesting thing is that this seems so counter-cultural to what may parents’ generation wanted (and especially their parents). My mom and dad have lived in the same town for 30 years and, as far as I know, have never had a real desire to leave. I know people who have worked in non-glamour jobs like the Post Office for 30-40 years and stayed faithful every week. “Moving on up” was not a big compulsion, and concern for the future wasn’t so much about the places they’d one day be as much as the people they became.

I struggle sometimes being so enamored with making my tomorrow bright that I forget how important today is. I wonder if there are others out there like me.

Let’s have a little survey: How much of your day do you spend thinking about where you some day will be? How much time do you devote to things that are somewhere far down the line?

Not to be a bully . . . I’d just like to know. Maybe I’m the only one.

life on the open road

This Wednesday, tiffkin and I will embark on a six day road trip to the Windy City. No, it does not usually take six days to get to Chicago and back, but we will be stopping in Michigan for a night, and hopefully meeting lots of friends and skyscrapers along the way. We've been planning this for a while, so obviously, we're excited to go.

I've been on a lot of road trips over the years, and we've always found ways to entertain ourselves when the miles dragged on. We had these car bingo games when I was young, and instead of letters and numbers you had to find objects outside the window, such as a tractor, a fire hydrant, a scarecrow, or a windmill. And instead of just getting one row of five, we played blackout, and the winner was the person who had the most covered spaces by the time we got to wherever we were going. I remember one time I spent over an hour looking for a tow-truck, and I found one just as we were coming into Denver. I was so happy ... I had won the game!

I've also listened to more books on tape and sermons than I can remember. If you get a good one, they can really make the miles pass quickly. Get a bad one and they'll put you to sleep.

Snacks are an important part, as stopping at a gas station every hour seems to make the trip last forever. Loading up at a grocery store beforehand is always preferable to scrounging up something along the way. I've also found that big-rig truck stops are easily twice as good as run of the mill gas stations when it comes to selection and customer service. The good ones make you happy to be taking a trip; the bad ones make you wish you'd stayed home.

I've detailed some bad open road habits in another post, but those all happened when I was by myself and in serious need of entertainment. Hopefully this week will be different with some company (and, I might say, a new car). No puppet shows, no Chinese food from a to-go box, no playing catch while driving.

Very happy to be going. Talk to everyone when I come home.

where seldom is heard a discouraging word

A year ago, I was at a family reunion near Vail, Colorado when I heard my grandfather say something most out of sorts. We were in a resort town way up in the mountains, and surprisingly, most of the workers at our hotel spoke Spanish. I tried to go check on the status of my room one day and come to find out, no one on the floor spoke English. They were all a group of young immigrant girls who were there to turn down rooms for a living, and for the most part, they had little reason to converse with guests.

So my grandfather, recognizing this might be his last opportunity to seek the well-being of his relationally sluggish grandchild, decided to seize the moment and equip me to make a move. Now you have to understand that my grandpa is in his late 70’s and is a missionary to Mexico. He has always been a hardworking father of eight, and I have never heard anything even remotely inappropriate come out of his mouth.

You can imagine my surprise then later when he came up and started to outline the basics of picking up Spanish women. He told me how to say, “You are beautiful,” “I once visited Mexico,” and “Can you bring me another towel?”

My grandpa, my dear, sweet, never-harm-a-fly-in-his-life grandpa, was helping me put the moves on Spanish cleaning ladies. This dear, sweet, missionary-hearted man of God gave me a list of phrases in Spanish, and then he said, “And if that gets you to first base, come back and I’ll give you some more!”

Oh grandpa, I hope you’re doing well this time of year. Thanks for your concern of my singleness. Can’t say the phrases did me much good, but I’m still doing just fine.

To everyone else: Has someone you respect as tender-hearted ever really surprised you with something they said?