We're up this morning and getting ready to head out. We'll go grab some of the Thrifty Inn's yummy continental breakfast then pack up the van and head toward Kansas City!

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Wow! What a fun day! After we left the Thrifty Inn we were on our way to Kansas City. We made our way through Illinois and into Missouri right around lunch time. We decided to stop at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. It wa really neat to see the museum under the arch about the United States' westward expansion. We then paid $10 to get in a tiny white pod (that looked like a gas chamber/space ship escape pod) and rode to the top. Once there we were able to see the Mississippi River and St. Louis from 630 feet in the air! It was so amazing. After we were done there we went back to the van and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and chips and candy before we got back in the van and went on our way. As we drove across Missouri we began to see snow on the ground which was really cool and the temperature kept dropping.

We made it into Kansas City around six o'clock and made our way to our host home where we are now. We drove about 30 minutes north of the city to a town called Smithville, Missouri. Once we got here we had to turn around a few times as we looked for the house we would be staying at and we finally found it!

The family we're staying with is soooo amazingly nice. They are so caring and giving and are really hospitable. We have the upstairs of the house to ourselves and now we're just hanging out, playing UNO, the Ben's are using the metal tin from UNO to make tile shapes in the carpet and we're talking about our day!

Some quotes from day two of our adventure:

1. Ben Perdue - "Adult bookstore? What's the deal? There must be a lot of grown-ups here."

2. Tyler - "The elders of the Baptist church are dying out...well the elders of every church are dying out."

3. Ben Perdue - "That toilet sounded like a really wet fart."
Sarajane - "Are you sure you didn't just wet fart?"
Ben Perdue - "No, but I did fart. Did you hear it?"

4. Ben Humphrey - "It's like someone shook a bag of powder sugar all over Missouri."
Ben Perdue - "Powder sugar and porn!"

5. Ben Perdue - "Accidentagious!"

6. Ben Humphrey - "What's that on the woof?"

7. Sarajane - "I have a strong feeling she's infertile."

8. Sarajane & Tyler - "I'm at a slant! I can't think straight! Write that down..."

9. Ben Perdue - "Larry Flintz Hustler Club!!!"

10. Tyler - "I hope they have a porn table..."

Tomorrow we will get up and be on our into the city, about a 30 minutes drive, as we travel to Bartle Hall to check in for onething and start the conference!

Oh, and the BEST quote from the whole day from Ben Perdue:

~if one suffers we all suffer, it's community man~

Labels: Illinois, Kansas City, Missouri, oneThing 2007, Road Trip

The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri!

Labels: Gateway Arch, Missouri, St. Louis

Today was pretty hectic/exciting/nerve-racking as I prepared to leave home and head to Gardner-Webb so we could leave on our ROAD TRIP! Ben Perdue, Ben Humphrey, Sarajane and myself met up at Sarajane's house around 3 o'clock, loaded up the van, grabbed some groceries and we were off!

The first leg of our trip was not a horribly long one. We set out on our way to Tennesse and eventually Paducah, Kentucky, where I now sit in the Thrifty Inn writing this blog. We didn't make it very far to begin with until we had to get some food and we decided that a trip to Cracker Barrel was needed. And, it is Wednesday, so it was Broccoli Cheddar Chicken special night at Cracker Barrel which made the meal even more amazing! So, after we loaded up on the starchy goodness of Southern home cooking, it was into the van and off we went. Tennessee took about four hours and we didn't stop the whole time. It was really neat to drive through Nashville where we were this summer for TheCall Nashville! It brought back fun memories of the heat and sleeping on concrete and eating way too much food at Waffle House when everything was over. As we made our way through Tennessee it was raining and drizzling but not too cold.

Next was Kentucky, a state that we've only seen in the dark so far, but hopefully we'll see more if tomorrow morning. We stopped right over the Kentucky/Tennessee line in a little town called Oak Grove at the local Pilot gas station/rest stop/McDonald's/everything you could possibly cram into a convenience store. We stood at the back of the van for about thirty minutes and ate sugar-filled junk and chips and granola bars.

From the gas station it was about another hour and a half to Paducah. When we got here Ben ran in and checked in for us and we unloaded the car as we also froze! And it's only 36 degrees here now...it's going to be a lot colder in Chicago, but it'll be alright, we can make it.

So, here are some funny quotes from our adventure so far:

1. Ben Perdue - "She went to the door and looked through the pee hole."

2. Tyler McCall - "I forgot to tell you guys I have a black eye."
Ben Perdue - "I thought you said you had a black guy."
Sarajane - "Where is he?!?!"

3. Ben Perdue - "I can't believe I hit that tire!" X 5,000,000

4. Sarajane - "I forgot my coats! All this stuff is useless!"

5. Ben Humphrey - "We didn't have analogies on our SAT."
Sarajane - "Oh...I didn't even know, I thought those were ratios."

6. Ben Perdue - "Are we going to be in Western time?"

7. Ben Perdue - "I feel like Mr. Shuffle has something good for us!"
Sarajane - "Mr. Shellfish?"

8. Tyler McCall - "Lare-in-get-us?"
Ben Perdue - "Laryngitis?!?!"

Tomorrow we'll load up the van pretty early and head on to Kansas City. We plan on stopping in St. Louis to see the arch and then we'll be on our way! We should arrive in Kansas City around 5 or so tomorrow evening then we'll meet up with our host family and begin our time in Kansas City!

Labels: Kansas City, Kentucky, Road Trip, Tennessee

I just finished reading a very interesting article from RELEVANT Magazine entitled "Avoiding Easter at Christmas." It seems like a strange concept, one that may not even make since, but something I now find myself in agreement with. Let me explain.

What is Christmas? No, it's not about the presents, or the food (although that is one of my favorite aspects), the time with family and friends or the winter weather. I know that many of us know that Christmas is about the "birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (that phrase in quotation marks needs to be said in a childish voice for you to get the full effect). It is our time to celebrate that birth, even though Christmas occurs in December and Jesus might have really been born in January, blah blah blah. But Christmas is our time as believers to recognize Christ's birth and to celebrate it.

What is Easter? Again, it's not about the silly bunny, Easter egg hunts (again, another of my favorite aspects), or the cute pastel outfits children wear to church on Easter Sunday. Easter is our time as believers to recognize the pain and suffering Christ was put through. To realize that our sin put him on the cross and that God used the cross as an example of how bad violence in that world, and now this world, is. Easter is our time to remember that Christ not only died, but rose again! And because of the blood he shed we are forgiven.

So, what happens when we put the two together? We FORGET about the life of Christ! We go straight from the manger to the cross. We think that Jesus was born, given some gold and frankincense, then carried his cross to Golgotha, died and rose again in about 17 minutes. We don't remember the signs and wonders, the miracles, the healings. We forget about Jesus loving the unlovable and ministering to the poor and needy. We forget that Christ lived a life that is the perfect example of how we are to live. And we also forget that Christ came to live among us and to learn what it was like to be human from first hand experience.

Now, we don't have a holiday that celebrates the life of Christ. We don't take a season or time of year to read the miracles and parables and reflect upon them. We don't have days out of school or off of work to think about what Jesus accomplished during his years of full blown ministry. Because we lack that type of holiday, what are we to do? Well, we should definitely reflect upon Christ's teachings everyday and that's one reason that we don't need a holiday. But we also must remember Christmas for what it is and Easter for what it is. And I think that we shouldn't put so much effort on trying to fit the two into one.

One of the interesting aspects of this article I read was the author's discussion about the term Messiah and the term Savior. Jesus was both of these. But, first and foremost he was the Messiah! He rescued us by simply arriving! He then becomes our Savior through his death on the cross. The author also discussed how the term Messiah is much more corporate than Savior. We say that Jesus is our "PERSONAL Savior" not that he's our "personal Messiah." By recognizing Jesus as our Messiah we are uniting ourselves under his arrival and celebrating that arrival.

So, there you have it, or at least I hope: what I mean about trying to avoid Easter at Christmas. I think it can be summed up in a pretty simple statement. Jesus did not come to simply die, but to live! And through this life we have the example, we have the prototype, we have the way that we are to live. When we don't live that way, when we screw up, well that's when the power of the cross and Jesus as our Savior comes into play.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas! And, this year, don't worry about Easter until April! :-)

Labels: Christmas, Easter, RELEVANT

I took a personalDNA quiz, here's the link

My personalDNA Report

and here is a little chart that explains in an easy to view way what kind of person I am!

Labels: personality, psychology

Wow...I really can't believe that this semester is pretty much over! It seems like just the other day I was moving into the dorm and getting ready to start classes. My first semester of my sophomore year is over! In just a little over two weeks I'll be celebrating Christmas with my family, and in 17 days I will be getting in a care for 14 hours and going to Kansas City for onething 2007! AHHHHH! I'm so excited. I can't wait to spend some quality time with my family and I really can't wait to go to IHOP for onething.

I really don't know where I am in life right now... I feel like I'm growing a lot. I have felt myself lately not necessarily slipping away from God, but really not being as close as I should be. I think it will be really good to get away for Christmas vacation and not have to worry with classes or work or anything like that. I look forward to just spending time with my family and really soaking in God and letting him teach me and grow me. I know it's only about a month, but I know that he can accomplish a lot in a month and I'm excited about that. This morning in church Pastor James talked about faith and believing, he was talking more about receiving from God and being prosperous, but I think that being faithful is vital to growth too. And really just believing that God is going to grow you and teach you. You have to believe that so it can happen. So, I'm saying, God I am ready for you to teach me. I am believing that you are going to bring me revelation and new knowledge over the next month. I am going to learn more about you than ever before. I know that you have an amazing plan for my life and I am ready for you to begin to reveal that plan to me.

I'm excited...

Labels: Christmas, church, Gardner-Webb, God, home, IHOP, oneThing 2007