The 24 Hour Call Rule

To start out, let me give props to Intern Kristen for the inspiration for this post in her talk last night.

Now that the credits are out of the way…

I know I’m old and all, but I’ve found that the more traumatic memories have stuck with me pretty well over the years. One category of memories in particular, “first date” memories, are aromatic (pungent?) enough that I still remember several of them quite clearly. You know the drill. I would finally get that date with someone really incredible. We’re talking serious prep-time here. Best shirt, plenty of deo, and in my day, a dab of Polo, Drakkar Noir , or maybe even Obsession for Men (depending on which decade it was) were all required equipment. Off I go to a restaurant I can’t afford and a movie I don’t really want to see (big secret here ladies: if Julia Roberts is in it, we ain’t going for OUR entertainment). Things go well, maybe a smile, some hand holding, or depending on the date, a kiss before the drop off.

And then it starts. The 24 hour clock. It’s not like I can lose my man-card for disclosing this, cuz everyone knows already. You don’t call the girl back in the first 24 hours becuase (everyone together now) “you’ll look desparate“.

Now, if this is a take-her-or-leave-her kind of a date, the time is no problem. I spend the next day playing video games, hanging out with my buddies, watching MASH reruns, whatever. But if she is one of those girls (going back to the Drakkar Noir, et.al.) this was the most miserable 24 hours of my life. I would spend the entire time rehashing the date, trying to figure out whether she dug me or not. Was that zit there during the date, or was that the after effect of that Bennigan’s Monte Cristo I had for dinner? What did she really mean by “Oh, I didn’t know you liked Goobers instead of Jujubees“? Was that fear in her eyes when I reached for her hand? On and on it goes, the worries and preoccupations grow larger and larger, not unlike the monster under the bed.

Meanwhile, while I obsess on the failings, miscommunications, and missed signs from the date, SHE is playing video games, hanging out with her buddies, watching MASH reruns, or whatever equivilents girls do. Furthermore, she never saw the zit, thought it was cool that I preferred peanut products to fruit-flavored recycled horse hoofs, and was pleasantly suprised that such a clearly shy person had the nerve to hold her hand (and was nervous I would notice that it was a bit chafed and in need of lotion), but in general, she hasn’t thought about the date since I dropped her off.
“Are you going somewhere with this?” you are no doubt asking by now. I hope so. This whole idea came up as part of Kristen’s talk about Christian doubt last night. I’m not saying that either you or I are necessarily on a metaphorical “first date” with Christ, but what I am suggesting is that the source of our doubts in our relationship with him are similar in nature. With the dating situation mentioned above, as I got to know each of the people I dated better, I became less concerned about my flaws as I grew to understand their acceptance of me. The same will be true if we invest this kind of dedication in getting to know Christ and opening ourselves to Him. In James 4:8, we are promised that if we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. If we just hang around worrying about whether God likes us or not, are we really fulfilling our part of the relationship? I’m not saying that doubts aren’t real or trying to belittle them. There are times that all of us feel disconnected from our Creator. I’m just saying that if there is distance there, it’s not because He moved away from us. Draw closer to Him though prayer or by reading His word, and He WILL draw closer to you.

I don’t know if waiting 24 hours keeps us from looking desparate in the dating world or not. I AM confident that this rule should not and cannot apply in matters of faith.

Budget Gameage

For those of you that nurture your inner child by continuing with the video game addiction you developed in grade school, but lack the 5-c’s required to get up and running on the 360, check out the discount bin at Circuit City. As of Friday, they had a large crate of excellent games for the original X-Box for less that $9 each. These included Fight Night 2, NCAA Basketball 2005, and Tiger Woods 2005. If you get the golf, let me know and I’ll meet you online for a round…

Super Reality

I’ll be the first to admit it. Yes, I watch reality TV. No, I’m not an addict by any stretch, but I have discovered that I find the goofiness and occasionally good music displayed on American Idol to be entertaining. More importantly, it’s a show that Becky and I can watch together and enjoy. Beyond that, I find TLC, HGTV, and especially Food Network (all of which are arguably reality TV) to be about the best TV regularly available. I was once a Survivor guy, but that lost its magic a while back. I will still watch the Amazing Race if I catch it on when I have time (after all, I have to do research for my second youth retreat based on this concept).

Having said all of that, I have to admit I am at least a little intrigued by the concept of a super hero reality show. Check the story out here. If you happen to catch the show, post and let me know what you thought of it.

To The Pain

Whoever said that good youth ministy doesn’t hurt has obviously never been mountain biking as a youth activity. As a last “official” activity with my high school guys fuel group at C-Stone, a couple of other youth workers and I took them camping at Indian Springs State Park and mountain biking at Dausett Trails. It was an AWESOME trip. For most of the guys, it was their first time on a real mountain bike trail. Some struggled more than others, but all handled it better than I did on my first trail ride.

A few highlights from the ride:

• Just before hitting a little downhill (the Pine Mountain trail), I made a MAJOR point of telling the guys “Ride within your ability”. Did I mention that I said this multiple times? With emphasis? I then proceeded to lead them down the trail. There are several opportunities on this section of the trail to launch oneself and ones bike into the air at great personal risk. In a demonstration of my guidance to “ride within your ability”, this professional desk jockey launched off the first 3 hits with increasing height, speed, and abandon. There are a total of 4 hits on this section of trail. I now know my “ability” to rest somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd hits, as I discovered upon attempting the 3rd one. Takeoff went well, but somewhere between flight and landing, something went squirelly. My handlebars got cocked on landing, and I performed what I can only describe as a barrell roll and slide. The bicycle handled this unplanned horizontal encounter with the trail beautifully, with no noticeable after-effects. My hide, on the other hand, was not so free of effect. I’m trying to get a better “on-the-trail” picture from Wally, but for now, here’s the cleaned-up version of some of the damage: The good news is, the doctor tells me my ribs should heal in 4-8 weeks.
• Throughout the ride, I would yell out any and all hazards to the guys behind me. They, in turn, were instructed to yell the hazards out to the folks behind them as they saw the hazards for themselves. In practice, this worked something like this: ME: “Roots” 2ND: “Roots” 3RD: “Roots.” etc… ME: “Drop off” 2ND:”Drop…OH CRAP!!!!!” This was usually followed by the sounds of laughter and the occassional sounds of bicycles entering the underbrush.
• One particularly amusing version of this effect was sharp turns. Michael had more trouble than most getting his bicycle around sharp turns, so folks would take extra care (read: sarcasm) pointing these out to him. On at least one occasion, Mike straightened a turn out and “ran over” an unsuspecting tree whose only crime was to grow where Mike wanted to ride. It is unclear at this time if that circular bruise on his chest was from the stem of his bike, the handlebars, or a tree branch seeking retribution.
• I was suprised to learn that a number of our young men (I’ll mention no names here) scream like girls when confronted with unexpected stuff on the trails. I find this amusing.
• Props to Andy. He kept up with me better than anyone on the ride, and as the first guy on the scene of the accident mentioned above, kept the laughter to a minimum.

By all reports, a good time was had by all. Funny how so many folk wanted a nap after the ride. I suppose I might have wanted one as well, but my discomfort from my various scrapes and bruises made sleep virtually impossible. A couple of other general observations made over the course of the weekend camping:

1. When NO ONE showers, the BO isn’t as noticable. Or then again, maybe I was just congested.
2. Not everyone in high school is familiar with smoke shifters and snipe hunting. I find this a tragedy of significant scale.
3. White gasoline should be used in moderation as a campfire starting accelerant.
4. Matches never cease to be interesting to young men.
5. Frisbees and playing cards are the number one and two camping accessory.
6. As always, all food tastes better when camping.
7. Whenever possible, put Daniel in charge of planning and purchasing the food for your camping trip. He did an awesome job, particularly in cooking burgers over a fire in the middle of a rain storm.

I really enjoyed the time spent with these guys that I have grown to know so well over the past four years, and whose company I have so grown to enjoy. I hope they continue to feel free to call or drop by, even as I follow God’s call to a new role at Lighthouse. They will remain in my thoughts and prayers.