At the writing of this post, I find myself in the middle of nowhere, which roughly translates into a place called Seward, Nebraska, which has an odd, cow-like smell in the air that gives a lot of credence to its name. We are at what I assume has to be the only hotel around, the local Seward Super 8, and let me tell you, should this hotel burn down, yours truly is gonna be mighty cold tonight, because there's absolutely no place else to go! (There's a Wal-Mart off in the distance, but I've heard of people who've gotten kicked out for trying to temporarily live there, so that won't be attempted should anything go wrong). The town claims to have a population of six thousand, but I'm having trouble finding the other 5, 880...(maybe they've gone off to get an early start for the Fourth of July Parade, which apparently is a pretty big deal in this town, judging by the local signs).
The only (and I do mean ONLY) reason we are here is for a speech and debate tournament this weekend at Concordia University, which is supposed to be a few miles up the road. Judging from the looks of things, that may be misleading information. There is absolutely nothing around here except cornfields and country roads. There's a restaurant in the vicinity called Vallentino's which claims to serve Italian food, but out here in the Midwest, and especially here in the Midwest, I'm not taking any chances! I'm sort of afraid to wander too far off for fear of getting lost...there's a very good chance you may never be heard from again (I'm not entirely joking).
Well, I guess I'd better sign off for now...Once again I have procrastinated as far as memorizing my speeches (a habit that has oddly gotten stronger as the years go by), and I must now attempt to get them ready for the tournament. I don't know what it is...I always do better when I don't have the speech memorized until the final round...oh well, no sense tempting fate!
By the way, I would just like to go on the record by saying that I love global warming right now...it is absolutely freezing out here!!!
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Friday, January 12, 2007
Memory Lane
About a week ago I was asked to speak at the chapel service of my old high school, Anchored Christian School in Bowling Green, KY. I just finished speaking this morning, and it was really good to be back. Many of the faces were easy to recognize ( there are some who will probably never leave, much less graduate!), and there were quite a few I didn't know, as well. It sure is strange how our worlds can change over four years...high school seems so long ago! For those of you that don't know, Anchored is a small, Christian school (100 or so grades K-12 when I was there), and I tend to embellish the fact that I graduated seventh in my class...the only problem with that, of course, was that there were only eight, but hey, that's beside the point!
At last count, one of those in my class has already married, and two are engaged (we'll see if that holds up...I'm pulling for them!!). Three or four people I went to school with in different classes are also engaged, and a couple of them have asked me to marry them...of all things! I told both couples that the only legal power I possess to marry them is about the same as Michael Jackson has to adopt children right now, but it was nice of them to ask. I'm ordained as a deacon at church, but not as a preacher (I just preach as a layman, which means that I don't have a certificate or official license).
I really enjoy the place where I'm at right now, and I feel like God is guiding my path, but at the same time, it's hard not to feel a nostalgia for things gone by. Sometimes I miss having to go to school with the same people, seven hours a day, five days a week, with basketball games and church services on the weekends...it just really gives you an opportunity to get to know and enjoy people in a different atmosphere. College is great, but you don't always get to see the same people every day (which can be a blessing in some cases!), and some of the people you would like to see, you almost never run into...But no complaints here! Shakespeare, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle...they're all gone. This is our place and our time, and that's exciting.
At last count, one of those in my class has already married, and two are engaged (we'll see if that holds up...I'm pulling for them!!). Three or four people I went to school with in different classes are also engaged, and a couple of them have asked me to marry them...of all things! I told both couples that the only legal power I possess to marry them is about the same as Michael Jackson has to adopt children right now, but it was nice of them to ask. I'm ordained as a deacon at church, but not as a preacher (I just preach as a layman, which means that I don't have a certificate or official license).
I really enjoy the place where I'm at right now, and I feel like God is guiding my path, but at the same time, it's hard not to feel a nostalgia for things gone by. Sometimes I miss having to go to school with the same people, seven hours a day, five days a week, with basketball games and church services on the weekends...it just really gives you an opportunity to get to know and enjoy people in a different atmosphere. College is great, but you don't always get to see the same people every day (which can be a blessing in some cases!), and some of the people you would like to see, you almost never run into...But no complaints here! Shakespeare, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle...they're all gone. This is our place and our time, and that's exciting.
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