new shoes

 I usually don't get excited about new clothes.  I am pumped for my new shoes though.  Shane showed me a web site nikeid.com where you can design your own shoes.  I love the idea of having a one of a kind shoe.  I picked a casual style and made them Carolina blue and orange on white.  I have lots of casual clothes in those colors.  I must admit they are a bit ugly but I like them.  I also personalized them with 23eve on the side (mostly because I couldn't think of anything else to put there).  This particular style of shoe had a design on the side that you can personlize.  I made mine religious.  They wings represent god/angels, the circle of thorns represents Jesus, and the fire is symbolic of the Holy Spirit.  I think they are cool.  Hopefully the picture will copy so you can check them out. 

lunch time get away….

Nearly every clinic day (every mon & Thurs) my fellow residents and I go out to eat. We usually discuss our options, jokingly argue about it and then decide where to go. It is nice to get away from the clinic for an hour or so and the conversation is good. Some of our options are Jimmy Johns Subs, Coney Island, Subway, the coffee beanery, and Thai. I hate Thai food so I no longer take the trip on Thai days. We did take a very long trip to Chipotle a couple weeks ago because I absolutely had to have it. I really enjoy working with the residents on my days: Shree, Erika, Kristen, and IA. In a few weeks all but Erika and I will graduate and we will have a new Monday-Thursday crew. The first years that are joining our day are cool though so I am sure the lunchtime get togethers will continue. Still I will miss Shree, IA, and Kristen when they are gone. One more year and a couple of months and I’ll be gone too.

Taught by the Holy Spirit

have you ever read a quote that just jumped of the page and you knew it was something you would be saying to others.  I just finished reading a book that Shane & Alli got me about Grace.  I'll do my review in a future blog but I want to focus on a particular quote.  When Jesus was on earth he never promised a written document for his followers (ie Bible) but he did promise the Holy Spirit who would teach us all things.  This lines up perfect with my personal theology.  I have always put more stock in my experiences with the Holy Spirit than I have with my knowledge of scripture.  I have never been a Biblical literalist but we have friends who are.  Next time it comes up I will be able to challenge them with this quote.  Don't get me wrong I think knowledge of the scripture is very important.  It is one place where our generation falls short.  But what scripture reveals to us has to be balanced with what the Holy Spirit reveals to us.  when I thought about it more, it occurred to me that this is also what the Community of Christ affrims.  we are called to be a prophetic people and our D&C is a written account of the the Holy Spirit teaching us.  cool huh?

passionate preaching

I read a book last year that stated to be a really effective preacher you should only preach about things you are passionate about. That was reaffirmed to me yesterday when Sarah spoke. She talked about God’s creation and how we are called to be good stewards over the earth and its resources. This is a topic Sarah is very passionate about and she was able to illustrate it by destroying a painting of a sunset. She is probably the only one I know who could have delivered this message in such an effective manner. For those of us who do preach from time to time, I bet we will find our most effective sermons will be about things we are pasionate about.

Graceland Rep

It dawned on me a few days ago that this summer will represent the 10 year anniversary of the summer I spent as a Graceland rep.  As Sarah would say “that is just wrong”.  It doesn’t seem like that long ago but when I think of how my life as changed since then I guess it is.  I met and married Sarah, I got my degree from Graceland and from medical school, started working, was called to the priesthood etc.  Isn’t it funny how so much can happen in ten years but it can still seem like yesterday in a lot of ways.  My summer as a graceland rep was great.  I got to travel to Nauvoo, Oklahoma, Lake of the Ozarks, Doniphan and still attend Bluewater.  I met lots of great people, had tons of fun, and had some terrific spiritual expereinces.  It was exhausting though.  Unless you have done it I think it is hard to explain how draining it is to make new friends, experience an emotional & spiritual high and then have to jump on a plane and do it all over again.  Back then there were not very many of us (Julie, Karen, Brooks, katie, Jen, ?, and me) so it was 9 straight weeks of camp followed by a week of Spec.  Now I hear they have like 20 reps and some weeks are spent making phone calls asking for donations.  that doesn’t sound fun at all.  My summer as a Graceland rep made me appreciate my experiences growing up at Bluewater even more.  Camps are done very differently around the country.  Some were awesome but not every camp strives to be fun AND allow for spiritual growth of the kids.  A couple I was at had no expectation of anything spiritual happening; it was almost like a YMCA camp.  I did my best to have them look at things differently.  All in all it was one of tbe best summers of my life I just can’t believe it was 10 years ago.

23eve

What is 23eve you might ask.  It is the age that I jokingly tell people that I am.  No it is not a real number,  so it can represent any age I want it to.  I recently turned 30 and have no problem being that old but 23eve is just something I made up one day.  It’s origin comes from the fact that 23 is my favorite/lucky number.  Michael Jordan was my favorite athlete as a kid and I wore 23 as my jersey number.  I have also won prizes and money betting on 23.  On a trip to Vegas I placed only one bet on a roulette wheel.  I spread my $5 on and around 23 and it hit.  For those of you who do not gamble, the odds of that happening are 1 in 38.  I think I won about 150 but we celebrated like it was a million.  Perhaps in a future blog I’ll retell the whole story.  It is quite funny how it went down.  I also like 23 because it was when I was in the best shape of my life.  I was working out with my friend Koss nearly every day and it was just a fun time before the stress of med school started.  The eve part of 23eve I stole from Saturday Night Live.  My favorite sketches of all time are the celebrity Jeopardy sketches.  On one of them the contestants are asked to list any number for their final jeopardy answer.  One of them put THREeve.  I found it hilarious.  So that’s where 23eve comes from. 

I’m bloggin’ now…..

Well I've decided to join the world of bloggers.  Our best friends in Kansas City have been blogging for a long time and now my wife and her sister are also blogging.  I really enjoy reading their blogs so I figured it was time to do one of my own.  I imagine it won't be an every day occurance but it should be fun.  I know I will never post anything near as funny as my friend Alli.  She posted one about "foreheads" that is just hilarious.  From time to time my blogs may take on a serious spin too.  I guess that is the nature of the blog.  What you read is just so random.  That randomness and variety appeals to me.