The Unlikely Disciple

Lately I’ve been feeling kind of stupid. I noticed I’ve been making up weird sentence structures and using words that I’m mostly sure don’t exist. I typically will chock it up to the fact that I’m from Texas, and…well…we talk differently down there. Lucky for me my wife thinks a Texas accent is hot.

All this to say I’ve started reading again. After a couple year hiatus I finally started reading books for the sheer pleasure of reading them. One of my buddies at work recommended a book to me called “The Unlikely Disciple.” (Thanks Aaron). If you haven’t heard about this book it was a great read for someone like me who went to a Bible college and has no experience at a secular school. The book is about a Brown student, Kevin Roose, who decides rather than spend a semester abroad studying he would go to the polar opposite of his school. Liberty University.

Before reading I didn’t know much about Liberty, or Brown. However Liberty wasn’t terribly different than my time at a bible college. There are prayer groups, chapel, curfews, and an enormous amount of rules. On the other end Brown is known for being the polar opposite.

So the book walks through Kevin’s time at Liberty and I was surprised at how many false assumptions I had about secular schools while seeing some things that I missed/appreciated about my school. There isn’t a lot of spiritual depth in the book. Just a read about some random guy’s semester “abroad,” and the things he experienced and was challenged by. I won’t ruin the book for you and tell you that Kevin does or does not convert, but I will recommend it to you. If you went to college there is something that you will learn/laugh about no matter where you went to school. There are some hilarious things in there, as well as a little love interest. Something for everyone. Kevin also struggles with having a family that doesn’t fully support him while he is there, and he struggles with some things. Who knows his thoughts may trigger something in your life…?

There is my lame attempt at a book review. I’ll post more on books that I read as I finish them.

Laughter in the Skies
Over the past couple of weeks, no doubt, many of you have traveled from where you live to be with family and friends for the holidays. I know there are some that just wish they would have stayed home, but it's important to spend time with family.

In the month of December I flew to visit my older brother and his wife two times. Once for her graduation, and then once again to meet the rest of our family for our vacation. The important part of this story is that I flew on Southwest Airlines. There are some Southwest haters out there, and they do have their moments, but I didn't realize how fun one of their flights would be.
If you are not familiar with Southwest let me give you a little refresher. There is no assigned seating. When you get to the gate your ticket will have an 'A, B, or C' with a number beside it. That is your place in line. When it is your turn to scan your ticket then you board the plane and sit wherever you like, or wherever there is a seat. There are ways that you can be in the 'A' group but that is not the point here. Once on the plane the flight attendants will then go through the long and boring announcements that are the same every plane you will ever get on. There isn't a lot of things that will make you feel dumber than someone telling you how to put a seat belt on. Surely everyone rode to the airport in a vehicle of sorts. Unless they have only ridden on a city bus their entire life they can probably figure it out.

Well on Southwest, this is my favorite part of the flight because you never know what they are going to say when they pick up the intercom. On one of my four flights this past month during the spill about the oxygen masks, the flight attendant started talking crazy..."We do not anticipate a loss in cabin pressure but should one occur a mask will drop from above you...after you stop screaming pull the mask over your head...if you traveled with children, it's time to pick a favorite or the one that you think stands the best chance and help them out."

It was one of those things that I heard, but then I really heard it, and well if you know me...I started giggling. Something that would normally stop by time the plane takes off, but not for me. There are plenty of other one liners that happened throughout my flights from Tulsa to Lubbock, but I won't be writing them down. I think it would be better if next time you flew, you flew Southwest and just heard it for yourself.