"What the world needs now..."

Bloggy-

So today I have a final. Guess who hasn't studied? That's right, me. And what am I doing? Blogging (something I've done with regular inconsistency since September), so we know where I stand on the whole studying issue. Anyway, I've got an ethical issue that I'm sorting out. And it's this kind of ethical dilemma (?) that will bar me from hiring a single youth pastor if, God forbid, I become a real pastor. I'm not attracted to a student or former student (just to clear that up for everyone), so it's nothing like that. I just - what's the wisdom of asking out one of your adult sponsors? Probably not very. Especially if she seems the type who doesn't date all that much. She's much quieter than I am - that's for sure. I'm not even positive why (by the way, I am studying right now as I blog...yay...) I'm attracted to her. She's very sweet, very kind, she connects well with students - - - I think she's funny. But heck, I think this about a ton of people. And to prove my shallowness as a man, yes, she is very pretty. I don't know. The best way to solve this quandary is by dating lot's of women who aren't her and aren't volunteers in my youth group. First, that'll prove my manly prowess and virility (right?) and show that I shouldn't date someone who is much quieter than I am because I would just dominate them in conversation and everything else. Okay, so in that last sentence, I just ran the course of the 'what if' and it seems like a good decision to not ever date for any reason. Awesome.

Okay, maybe that was a bit over the top. But seriously. I won't be asking her out. Yes. That realization came to me as I typed. Why won't I? Basic reasoning - it would be amazingly awkward if she said no. Second, that would totally be an abuse of authority for me to do so. Third, it'd raise (unwarranted) suspicions as to why I ask any woman to help out with the youth group. Fourth, I fear rejection. Fifth, she's way younger than I am (did I mention she's a freshman?). Sixth, if she says yes and then we do date and things click really well, then the other women (and possibly men) would feel threatened by her continued presence. Seventh, picking up on the last point, my relationship past is dotted with breakups (hence singless now...logic! It's so wonderful!), so if that trend continues (and someday I hope it'll break) what happens to the students when we break up? You see how smart I am? Very. Eighth, asking her out would be a tactic admission of either a)laziness b) lack of options or c) lack of creativity, because I mean, seriously, she's one of only six or seven collegiate women I see on a regular basis.

Wow. I'm amazing. I didn't even need you bloggy. Okay, so I did, but only to process. For a long string of one's and zero's you're a great listener. I'm the man. That's right, I Da Man!

Bloggy-

So it's been forever since I checked in last and let you know what was going on in my life and we did a little processing, so this may be short, it may be long or it just may be...itself. We'll see.

Anyhow, on the relationship front, I finished the fight in Halo 3. I know - sounds ridiculous, but seriously, it's freaking Halo 3! And what gamer doesn't fall a little in love with Cortona? Or at least want to make sure she's okay? If you don't, then I don't think you deserve to play the game. So I went over to John C. Wengatz and played with a bunch of the guys on the floor for about a total of seven hours and I was amazed at the graphics, the game play, and most importantly, the story. Halo the series, as much of an action game as it is, actually has a very compelling narrative before - I don't think it'll go down in the annuls of history as on par with "The Great Gadsby", "The Divine Comedy" or "The Song of Roland", but it's better than most video games that I've heard of or played. Anyway, I could go on about the Master Chief for awhile, but I won't. Let's just say that the game is amazing.

In other news, well...let's see...I don't have a lot of other news. Let me assure that my life has been pretty boring. Youth group is going pretty well for High School and Middle School and that's kept me pretty busy. Hmmm...that about covers it yo.

Alright, I'm out.

Dr. J

"I can't lie, I sometimes cry, when I think of how it used to be..."

Bloggy-

Recently, I've spent a lot of time thinking about relationships because my best friend is getting married this weekend, and I know how you love to hear my rants about relationships, but this one is going to be short(er)...I wonder, have I missed her? There've been one or two gals in the past few years that have had an interest in me, but for whatever reason (usually timing or some other dumb reason), I've said I'm not interested, and now I'm looking back and just thinking, man, whatif? What if I missed something really good? The two that spring to mind are beautiful women with great personalities and everything - so yeah...anyway...at this point, it's probably too late to even start talking about this with anyone about that, but that's what I've been thinking about. Okay, it's time to go back to work.

Dr. J

"Came down like fire from heaven"

Bloggy-

I wonder if anyone could identify all the random film/musical/literary quotes that I use to title you? Anyway, I gave the message at Grace and NCW today, and it went pretty well. We talked about Psalm 51 and 2 Corinthians 5 - I think the delivery was better at NCW (I was able to wear jeans with holes and my 1Life T-shirt) because I had time and didn't feel rushed by having to cram a bunch of stuff in. Anyhoo, I'm tired. My mom came up and we had lunch with two families from church, which leads to an interesting conversation I had with interesting consequences. One of hte families that came over for lunch works with kids at Riley Hospital who have cancer, and one of the families that they help has a dying daughter. Long story short, she was getting better, then got worse, she will die in the next month and then her family goes back to Kenya without her in her body. So tommorow I'm going to go to Indy and counsel this family on matters of death, talk to this little girl and prep her for eternity. Let me say, Bloggy, if you were ever considering stopping being a cyber entity and move into youth ministry, remember you'll tell a little girl she's going to die because she asked to see you. And then remember that you're going to tell her mom that her daughter is going to die and what that means. And remember, Bloggy, that death is always an enemy as much as we try to church it up - it sucks. Very much. Anyway, I'm sitting at Payne's realizing today would have been a glorious day to crawl up on a couch with my girlfriend and watch some chick flick that I secretly wanted to watch - and then I realized as I was reading the Zombie Survival Guide that she didn't exist. I hate rainy afternoons because I love them so much.

My room is almost clean. Almost. And I think that it's almost time for me to urinate. A lot. Like a drunk. Hmmm...a coffee drunk though. Anyway, have a great night kid.

Dr. J

"I put your picture away..."

Hey, here's the link for the slideshow of the wedding I just performed not to long ago!

http://voninsphotography.com/html/hope_slideshow.shtml