YouTubesday! Hawkeye Edition

Iowa plays Georgia Tech in a few hours at the Orange Bowl. In the meantime, here’s Iowa entering Kinnick on 10/10/09 vs. Michigan.

I’m On A Plane

I’m currently 10,000+ feet in the air, sitting on a plane, heading to Florida for the Orange Bowl. Delta gave away free promo codes to use their wi-fi service.

Free wi-fi? Yes, please.

Someone behind me is watching episodes of Seinfeld. I keep hearing the sound that plays in-between scenes. The flight attendents are serving beverages. (One of them is grouchy & no one around me knows why. We all commented on it when we boarded though.) And I’m on my phone, posting a blog.

We don’t sit still as a society very well, do we? We run ourselves into the ground, trying to get ahead, and now that we get the chance to escape from the world, we don’t necessarily take it. It’s non-stop.

Maybe that’s why God demanded we take Sabbaths. It’s the opposite of what we “naturally” seem to do.

For me, a goal for 2010 is to have no fewer than 4 Sabbaths a month. I can usually get 2-3 days in that require nothing to do with my job, but if I’m not taking at least 4 (one a week), I think I’m subtly telling God, “Rest is important, but I’m more important than rest.” So, if I have to work on my normal day off, I will take a different day off during that same week. And if it’s impossible for me to do that, then I need to do a better job of training people so I can.

Enjoy what remains of 2009. I look forwrd to seeing how God provides in 2010. He’s consistent, you know. He shows up, year after year after year after year….

Things I’m Not Worried About…

It’s the week of Christmas. It’s also Finals week at the high school. College students are on break. A winter storm is coming–maybe. The meteorologists can’t seem to decide when we’ll get hit and/or how bad it’s going to be. And Facebook statuses have been full for the past two weeks of students stressed out with studying, people trying to find time to shop for presents, tummies that are too full of food, and complaints and fears about the weather. I decided to do my own thing. (Shocking, I know.) I’m going to create a list of Things I’m Not Worried About instead. Feel free to add some of the things you’re not worried about, or ask questions about something I list. This is off-the-cuff and spontaneous. Grammar Nazis need not apply.

I AM NOT WORRIED ABOUT….

• having a warm place to sleep tonight.
• running out of cookies, candy, and assorted items dipped in chocolate within the next 2 weeks.
• starving.
• my grades from high school. Or college.
• my family & friends because they can beat up your family & friends. Figuratively speaking, of course. But they really are quite awesome. And at least one of them knows tae kwon do. So there.
• making the 2012 US Olympic team in gymnastics.
• making any US Olympic team in any sport, any year. Unless it’s for TCM Scene It. I’m really good at that game.
• seeing Elvis Presley in concert.
• the ending of movies I’ve already watched.
• finding new books to read.
• running out of things to learn.
• if there will be a white Christmas this year. Just like the ones I used to know….
• not finding clean water to drink.
• embarrassing myself at a basketball game. I got over that fear a long, long time ago. Much to other people’s dismay.
• getting bored at a soccer game. (Sorry, soccer players. I couldn’t resist.)
• halftime entertainment at soccer games. Go Bananagrams!
• my overall safety. I have God + the US Military watching my back. Take that, bin Laden!
• MySpace becoming popular again.
• if Jennifer Knapp will release a new album ever again. (She is in 2010. Happy new year to me!)
• texting becoming obsolete in the next 6 months.
• no new music being written ever again.
• if Taylor Swift will be famous in 2 months.
• LOST frustrating me during the Final Season.
• the Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball team winning the National Title.
• Donald Trump asking me for money.
• winning American Idol or Dancing With the Stars.
• singing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl.
• someone mistaking me for Kate Gosselin.
• winning an award for anything remotely associated with science.
• a tsunami hitting Iowa.
• Lady Gaga’s outfits becoming the new standard for Business Casual.
• my salvation through Jesus.
• Jay-Z asking me to produce his next album.
• getting named Best Dressed by People Magazine.
• running out of lame jokes to tell that make teenagers roll their eyes at me.

What are you not worried about right now?

YouTubesday! Linus Edition

What Christmas is all about….

Book Review

I signed up with Multnomah Books to get a free book, read it, and review it on my blog. I chose Pastor Mark Batterson’s book, Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity. I follow Mark on Twitter and liked what he had to say. He’s a senior pastor in Washington DC, and anyone who willing lives in the same town as thousands of diplomats and politicians is brave, in my opinion.

The book was a challenging read. It’s not long (only 170 pages) but full of ideas that will make the reader say, “Huh. Hadn’t thought it about that way before.” The main premise behind the book is that the current generation of Christians is in need of a reformation, but in order to truly experience one, we’ll need to “go back” and really search for our identities in Christ.

On page 3, Batterson asks this question: When all the superficialities are stripped away, what is the primal essence of Christianity?

I wouldn’t say that he officially answers the question over the course of the book, but I don’t think that was his intent, either. He offers stories of people leading reformations around the world for Jesus in little ways which lead into HUGE ways. He tells the story of how World Vision got started (I’m not going to retell it, though. Go buy the book instead). It’s an easy read in the sense that it feels like a conversation between you and the author, but it’s a hard read because he asks good questions and challenges assumptions. Which is great, in my opinion.

I would highly recommend the book for those readers who look at the Church today and think, “Is this really the best we can do? Isn’t there something better? How can I help the Church get there?”

If you are a Christian who likes the status quo, who doesn’t want to ask the tough questions, and who isn’t comfortable rolling up your sleeves and getting to work, avoid this book. The book will just make you uncomfortable.

Which is probably exactly why you should read it.