March 27th has arrived

My mom calls me last week saying "Martin, I was hoping you could do me a favor and be my date on March 27th."
Martin: Yeah that sounds fine. Where to?
Mom: I don't know if you've heard of Celtic Woman, but they're playing at the Fox and I have two tickets.
Martin: Well OK, but you owe me.

(in other words, my mom does not read my blog: evidence 1 and evidence 2)

A side note, MARTA has become one of my good friends. The station is 1 minute away so I can get to almost anywhere in the ATL for $3.50 ($1.75 if I walk all the way home).

So I shall soon embark on a night with my lovely mother, my future wives, and one of my new friends.

I'm starting to enjoy being around people more

At Wolseley Recruiting Program in Kansas City March 21-22, these are some of the people I met; my encounters with them were incredibly fascinating to me for some reason.

Guy from Nigeria, Daree, been in the states for 6 years to go to college in Texas. In a room of 200+ people, he wasn't afraid to ask a stupid question, and then didn't seem phased when people gave him the dumb-question-look. I got to chat with him for about 45 min. To me, he seemed completely free to be himself more than I've ever seen any American.

Guy from Colorado State Univ. was stereotyped by myself as being too cool for school. He was a pretty boy, bad-ass, who wore sunglasses on his head while indoors. Out of the 70+ people I personally chatted with, he ended up being the guy I hung out with and got along with most.

Guy from Chicago, Glen, had never heard of Chick-fi-la or the concept of Sweet Tea. Yes, he's lived in America his whole life. No, he was not home schooled.

Guy who was my roommate...cool guy, looked like he played football in his hay-day, well liked by everyone. While in our room, I said "You go ahead to the reception, I'm going to be late b/c I have to poop." He insisted that he waited on me so he wouldn't have to walk down there by himself. Meaning he would rather look bad by being late than have the feeling of being alone. I point this out not to put him down, but it makes these people I often find intimidating, more real and human.

For your FYI

The correct response to the Irish greeting, "Top of the morning to you," is "and the rest of the day to yourself."

In other words, I wish other people would respond that way instead of saying "Martin, you're not Irish."

Epiphany part 27

A while back, I chatted with this guy I know through mutual friends. He, in my opinion, is one of the godliest guys I've ever met. He understands the Gospel pretty much more than anyone I know. The following has since completely changed my outlook on godliness.

He asked me for my advice on a spiritual topic, then on how to communicate it, then seemed genuinely gracious for my sub-par wisdom. I was like "are you kidding me? you want MY advice? I should be asking and learning from YOU." You're thinking that I'm going to say how complimented I was that this guy would come to me. No, not at all. I was confused. That's like Alex Rodriguez coming to me for advice on hitting a baseball. I think the answer is that he genuinely saw himself as Christians are supposed to see themselves: not having arrived and desperately needing Jesus; and that whatever we are, it is completely by the grace of God, so we can boast in nothing. Meaning, his humility was real.

Conclusion:
If we could somehow ask God who the 10 holiest people in the world were, I bet those 10 have not the slightest clue that they'd even be considered in the top million.

Warm woolen mittens? me too

Watched the Sound of Music last week. Maybe it was the Budweiser, maybe it was the great catchy music, but we definitely sang along with all the songs. Man, I'm in love with those characters. I may even name my kids after them someday (i'm currently leaning towards Brigitta and Fraulein). But I then watched their 40th anniversary reunion (the second DVD in the case).


These things caught my attention for some reason:
-It was mind blowing how different they look now
-They chatted about how they consider each other their best friends in the world even though they haven't seen each other in years.
-There seemed to be a sadness among them as their reunion came to an end. Not the sadness that comes from your spoon hitting the bottom of the ice cream tub, but the sadness of thinking happiness has left and won't come again for a long time.

It hit me that all our good times, our good looks, and time with our good friends are so fleeting and last for such a short time. There's got to be more to life than this. Thankfully, I think there is.
(realistically, it is so hard for me to believe this. I am more sad that good times and good friends are diminishing than I am excited about the 'there's more to life' part. Would God help me grow less attatched to these earthly pleasures that only moderately satisfy and tap in to "the pleasures forever more that are at God's right hand.")

Laughter is the best medicine

This makes me laugh every time. The look on the injured guy's face at the end is priceless. Like Mastercard priceless.
(Speaking of my new Mastercard:5416 4533 9037 3348...use it wisely)

Jesus is real

Everyone in the world is betting their life on the fact that he is or that he isn't.