Impartiality, please

Leslie Thomlinson (apologies for the spelling) from Junior League of the Shoals was our speaker Monday night. I liked her; I thought she was a lively speaker. However, the organization she was a part of rubbed me the wrong way. You can count me out of any organization that is selective and snotty like the district league was. Now I know the district league turned into the junior league and it isn't exclusive anymore and I appreciate that. It just seemed like that even though the organization changed, the member's mindset didn't. At least for the most part. I don't want to sound judgmental or make assumptions. That's why I'm having a hard time saying all this. And I'm not trying to diminish the goodness of what they do. I even liked the Kids in the Kitchen event that she mentioned. I just didn't like the organization. I'm sorry, it's just not for me. And you know what, that is just fine.

Abandon ship.

The outsider (and no, I'm not talking about the book..that would be The Outsiders). Everybody knows that feeling. The one where you feel like you are the only person in the room who has no idea what is going on and everybody knows something you don't.  It's not a fun feeling. It makes you want to abandon ship and get out of there as fast as possible. I mean it's not like anybody is even going to notice you left, right? Why do we have that feeling? Okay, that's a silly question. Of course you are going to feel out of place in a place you have never been or when you are around people you don't know. But I guess what I'm asking is, why are these feeling so strong? I mean, normally after the initial stage of self-consciousness we realize it's not as bad as we thought. I think Jackie Hendricks summed up why those feelings are strong. It's because we feel like we are the only ones experiencing that phenomenon. And that's what I appreciated the most during Jackie's speech. He reminded us that we aren't alone in those feelings, that everyone is having the same experiences. Kudos for the good advice.

I would be lying if

"You may not live what you profess, but you will undoubtedly live what you believe." How true this is. When I hear this, I can't help but think of how this applies to my life. It's one of those quotes that just makes you say "Hey, whoa now. This means something. This is important." I would be lying if I said I didn't love meaningful or inspirational quotes. So, when Dr. John Lane said this, I listened up. And what he had to say didn't disappoint.

I'm not going to sit here and summarize what Dr. John Lane said. What he said deserves more than a brief synopsis. It deserves attention, an elaboration. There is one thing he said in particular that I am going to focus on. Dr. John Lane mentioned that the feel-good from things has an expiration date. You know how sometimes you can just tell a message was meant for you. Yep, that Monday night for me. I truly believe God was using doc to convey this to me. This was not the first time that this message has popped up. I read this book earlier in the semester called Blue like Jazz by Donald Miller. It is one of those books that makes you reconsider. Reconsider your life, your thoughts, your actions. It's good. While reading that book I realized how stingy I was. How stingy I am. Now, the message of how materialism doesn't result in happiness has been driven into me for years now. However, at certain times, things just click. They  penetrate, go deep down. Blue like Jazz went deep, you hear. It made me realize how much I have, how wasteful I am, how greedy I am. It reiterated how happiness doesn't equal possessions. That old, familiar lesson.  What Dr John Lane's message did, was just reinforce it even more. It was like a friendly little reminder.

Now what's cool is this: I take this reinforcing message, and say where do I go from here? The answer lies in the other point that Dr. John Lane made. The very first quote I mentioned: "You may not live what you profess, but you wil undoubtedly live what you believe." It's time to live it out. Stop professing it.

Live it out.

Where them guys at?

Forum was short and sweet this week because The Civil Wars concert was after it. Yes, I am very bitter about the fact that I was not there and I moped allll night.

Gina Mashburn from Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Shoals was our speaker. She told us the basics of what they do, and one thing she said struck me. She mentioned that she had 30 ladies waiting to be matched up with a little sister, but she had 150 little brothers waiting to be matched up with an big brother. This kind of made me sad. Guys, where are you? All I could think was c'mon now! It kind of bugged met that it seems like guys are not pulling their weight, at least in this context. I talked to my roomie, the Kristen Dunn, about it. I asked her why she thought it was that there was no guy volunteers and she responded that she thinks it's because women have more of the nurturing instinct. This is true. But still, I think it's time for guys to step it up.

That concludes my rant for the week.