Reunion rewind

If you read my post a few weeks back about my upcoming 10 year high school reunion you know that despite seeming awkwardness I was excited. Maybe at the time I was excited to get out of Florida though? Who knows.

The reunion was all the fun awkwardness that I could handle and more. There was little to no organization to the whole event. Although it was neat to see my former classmates with their children the "picnic at the park" event was weird. I'm sorry but since I don't have kids I maybe shouldn't have gone. It was the place were conversations centered around potty training and ages being shared in months instead of years??? Though there was plenty of cuteness walking around it just felt weird walking up to someone and not having a child to talk about. I suppose that for some parents this becomes a norm, but it certainly is not a norm for me.

The portion of the event was for a dinner at a local restaurant/bar. I greeted most people as they walked in as you can imagine this was a good fit for me- I could get a "hello, how ya doin?" out before they even saw who was asking. For the most part after entering people went straight to the bar, and after returning pretty much sat with the same people they did in high school in the cafeteria at lunch. It was strange to see how we've grown up but not really changed all that much. Maybe its because we are from a super small town where most of us have kept in touch with our high school friends over the years and those are the ones that we wanted to see anyway?? Or maybe I wanted to have an opportunity to share how past our small town I was as I've moved onto the "beaches of Florida..." I was asked to MC the evening but there was no microphone or an order of events. This is where the awkward moments begin. Everything that I had planned and wanted to do to shake the crowd up was blown up. And the longer it took to figure out what we were gonna do the more awkward it got.

I let down everyone who was counting on me to break the invisible ice. I got nervous and when the time came to take charge I cracked under pressure...Turns out I haven't come as far as I thought I had in the last 10 years? #reunionfail

'Hunger' for my time

Soo its a week out from YFCamp! And I can't wait, I'm so excited not only to be going but about the group of students that I have coming along with me! However my time this past week/weekend has had me reading the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins, every spare minute I have.

I usually don't read and when I do its almost always a non-fiction, spiritual enhancing type book. I have a hard time reading fiction books mostly because if I really get into them I have a hard time fitting my normal life around getting to the end of the story. I haven't gotten to sleep before 3am in the last 3 days...but I just can't put it down. A couple of months ago I had a friend rave to me about the book, but as she described it as a little "sci-fi-ish" I was turned off though the story did sound somewhat interesting. I somehow, (probably from a celebrity news show,) figured out that they were making these books into movies. I almost never hop on a band wagon before everyone else is on it too, so I thought to myself as I perused a bookstore last weekend "why not" just see what all this is about and if its any good. I had a gift card so I wasn't going to necessarily lose money on the book if I didn't like it.

I should probably step back and share how I got to the bookstore on a Friday evening. I am moving yet again and in an effort to save a little on this last month we (my roommate and I) decided to turn off cable and internet. On Friday evening I was sitting at home finishing a book I was already reading and decided to shop and see if I could find another book to occupy my time in the absence of TV, internet, and even the dvd has been packed away. Either way its Tuesday and I'm about to finish the second book in the series, "Catching Fire." I'm hooked and I'm not only eager and persistent to finish the book series I'm also looking forward to the movies that will be coming out. Unlike the "Twilight" book series, and "Harry Potter" (which I have never even read a word,) I am ahead. I may not be ahead of a lot of people but for once I can join in before previews in the movie theaters are getting others to buy the books.

In observation I guess really the main point isn't that I have read a book before the movie comes out but really how much time I have on my hands without television and internet in my home. Not only have I read these books, I've also spent more time with the Lord and read some of those non-fiction, spiritually enlightening books. By not having TV and internet I have not only enhanced my life spiritually, and personally for my ministry, but I have also taken up a hobby which I had always considered myself too busy for.

So in closing I would challenge you to really unplug, and not just from phone, or email, unplug from the distractions you may have at home. Read a book...find a hobby?