I think that the unanimous vote is that everybody loves reading my Friday updates. Not only did I get several blog comments recommending that I keep them, but I got a hoard of messages of Facebook also. You guys really like reading these updates. I suppose it’s a glimpse into my normal everyday life and people must love reading that kind of stuff. And I’m okay with that. I really am.
1. Hallelurjah. Yes, I chose to write that the way that Tyler Perry’s character “Madea” would say it. For the record, I love those movies. Not only are they hilarious, but they pack powerful messages… really powerful messages. What I’m really trying to hint at is that I played with the youth worship team this past Sunday morning at Cross Current. Why, yes, I do help with worship (from time to time) here in Michigan. I really like playing with those guys. In fact, I really enjoyed it this last Sunday. I feel like I’m just now starting to mesh with them.
2. I have a problem. I’ve written about this before, about my excursions to the gym, but I think when I do that I’m subliminally asking for some kind of advice. I think I’ve been going there since March or something. That’s when I started lifting weights. Do you want to know how much weight I’ve gained? Zero. That’s right, I haven’t gained any weight. In the last two weeks I started drinking protein shakes and all of that. Nothing. I’ve actually lost weight. Why is this a big deal? I made a bet with my friend Braedon Tabor, who is also tall and skinny, that whoever gained the least amount of weight next time we see each other has to buy the other one dinner. I’m losing.
3. Pancakes. Who doesn’t love pancakes? Because I love pancakes. How did I get on the pancake train? I posted a status on Facebook last night asking for some creative and unique ideas for support raising in 2010. (Just a heads up, this thing isn’t over and I’m in this for yet another year. So if you want to begin supporting me – please do so here!) One of my friends suggested that I dress up as a hot dog and pass out fliers (I vetoed that idea) and another suggested that I have a pancake feed. That suggestion made me hungry… hungry for pancakes. So what did I do? I tapped into my inner-ambition, drove to the grocery store, bought pancake mix, came home and cooked up some pancakes. They hit the spot. Hit-the-spot-ambition-pancakes.
4. Delivering Babies in the Back of Vans. This is probably my favorite World Race story, perhaps my favorite World Race story of the year. And trust me, I’ve read a lot of stories. We actually heard about this one earlier in the week and have been talking about it all week. But one of our World Race teams delivered a baby in the back of a car in Swaziland. The cool part? The mother let the girls name her child! They chose such a prophetic name. To read more about it, check out my friend Tiffany’s blog here.
5. Taylor Swift and the Country Music Awards (CMAs). Before you throw rocks at me for even entertaining the thought of liking country music in the least bit, let me just say that I’m really proud of Taylor Swift. She cleaned house at the CMAs! Second of all, I think that Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley’s mocking-skit of Kanye West with Little Jimmy Dickens was brilliant, but even more brilliant was their little duo. Let’s just say that if you mess with somebody in the country music industry, you mess with all of ’em. And all of this to say… country music might be growing on me. I probably have two Keith Urban albums in my iTunes now. Compliments to Kelly Chadwick.
*And a special thanks to Kelly Chadwick today for helping me come up with Number 5 for this week’s highlights. She’s a creative genius.
