The Brick Testament

Have you heard of The Brick Testament?

As a review at Bible Study last night, our instructor showed pictures from this website. We were all laughing so hard - our previous lesson had been from Judges 3 and here are just a few of the pictures she showed:

This is where God "raised up" Ehud in Judges 3:15:

This is where Ehud kills King Eglon:

This is where the Israelites begin their massacre of the Moabites:

Not only are the lego creations amazing and creative, the picture quality is also great. Check it out! Might make you chuckle.

The Singleness Cliche

[Disclaimer: This post is a bit more….snarky….than most I post, so I hesitate, but I think I will post it anyway and I hope it comes across with the same humor I mean it to, and not bitterness, because that is not what I intend….is that disclaimer enough?........]

Let me introduce myself: I’m the singleness cliché. I come in many versions, but one thing is consistent: I’m annoying. Whether it’s “Have you prayed about it?” or “As soon as you stop wanting a relationship, you will get one” or “God will give you a husband when you are ready” or “I can’t believe you haven’t been snatched up yet”, I’m not particularly helpful.

I’m pretty sure I’m mostly uttered by married people who have no idea what to say to a single person who is really struggling, so they just say something that they heard when they were single and they’ve forgotten how exasperating I am. The worst thing about me is that behind the annoying sayings, there’s probably something truthful in what I’m saying. But ultimately I become like that song on the radio that’s played so many times you just can’t stand it and turn the station whenever it comes on. Even if there is good meaning behind the lyrics, you are so fed up with the beat and the presentation that you don’t stick around to glean anything from me.

So instead of asking “Have you prayed about it?” [because, YES, they have prayed about it. Plus, this question comes from “The Big Book of DUH Questions” which also includes the question “Do you love your kids?”], ask “How can I pray for you?” or “What are you struggling with this week?” Instead of saying “God will give you a husband when you are ready”, you might ask what areas that single person is working on to develop more holiness (while keeping in mind that there is certainly no “ready” or particular checklist to accomplish before marriage is possible or ordained). And PLEASE STOP saying that as soon as you stop wanting a relationship, you will get one. A desire for a relationship is not wrong, but you might want to help that single person to make sure a relationship is not becoming an idol. But really – don’t tell them to suppress a desire of their heart!

Because it’s more than just loneliness with those singles. There’s laziness, worry, lust, lack of trust, discontentment, and anger. Not everyone struggles with everything on this list, and this list is also not comprehensive, but it’s a start. And these issues can’t really be addressed with just a cliché. There are singles out there who want to learn from people who are married. They want to play with your kids. They want you to proactively seek out and evaluate potential mates for them, but they do not want to hear any more from me: the singleness cliché!

So, as the singleness cliché, I encourage you to reach out to a single person this week. Try not to use me. This might take a little extra effort on your part. That single person might not have as much in common with your life circumstances as your other friends at MOPS, but I bet there are things you can connect on other than the stage of life you are in. My guess is that singles really look up to you and would love the chance to learn from you, be prayed for by you, and pray for you as well. Just a guess.

Feeling Old

Nothing makes me feel more old than the fact that I was completely looking forward to spending the night in my house by myself to clean and unpack and go to bed by 9 on a Friday. That’s borderline elderly, people.

But I have good cause. I do enjoy time to myself, especially after many, many nights in a row of activity. I got home last night at midnight from spending the week in Dallas for work, and before that trip was a busy week of baby birthday party, adult birthday party, going to a Vikings Game, going to the So You Think You Can Dance Tour (thanks, sisters, for the great bday present!), running a 5K, Welcome Team @ church, basketball league, tennis league, makeover party at the MOA……WHEW! No wonder I am exhausted! It also explains my lack of blogging.....

Plus, I forgot to mention I’ve been sick. It all started last Friday when I left work early (this was a good way for me to take care of myself) and went to bed at 4pm, where I listened to the Twins lose on the radio and got some rest so that I could run a 5k with a friend on Saturday. When I got up on Saturday, I admittedly didn’t feel great, but I also didn’t feel awful, so I went to run the 5k (which I ended up walking, thanks to a combination of the sickness, COLD weather, a dusting of snow on October 10, part trail run [bad ankles do NOT like trail runs], and very icy paths), and I had a good time with my favorite 5k friend. I went home and really didn’t feel that great after a nap, but still went over to a friend’s house for dinner before a makeover party that another friend won @ the MOA. The best part of the party was that is was pajama themed, so I was comfortable, albeit a bit under the weather. My friend made me take my temperature at dinner, and indeed, I had a fever, but proceeded to attend the makeover party anyway (this is not a good way for me to take care of myself). I had to get up early on Sunday to do Welcome Team, so I didn’t stay late for the appetizers (my first good decision of Saturday!) and I went to bed early. Then I proceeded to have the nastiest cold and cough for the entire week in Dallas. Not fun to be sick, very not fun to be sick away from home, and very, very not fun to be sick when you are supposed to be “on” for work meetings everyday. But my new favorite thing I bought is Puffs with the scent of Vicks because A) I LOVE THE SMELL OF VICKS, B) they SERIOUSLY feel so soothing on an aching, red, overblown nose, and C) that scent of Vicks really clears out your sinuses! Anyway, all of this is to say that I wonder if I would have felt better all week if I just would have taken care of myself on Saturday. Problem is, even when I am sick, I still hate missing out on stuff and I REALLY hate letting my friends down, so I don’t want to back out on stuff I promised to be at. And so, combined with the busy schedule, I was under-the-weather, which makes everything more hectic and tiring.

(10 points if you are still reading about my boring life. My apologies)

Toss in just one last factor: I got a new job. Not an entirely new job as in working for a new company, but I picked up a brand new territory on October 5, and I’m desperately trying to forget how extremely busy this experience was when I went through it in January. SO BUSY AT WORK. But I’m thankful for a job, and it’s not like I’m directly responsible for saving peoples’ lives (like my sister is), so things are fine. Just busy. And sick. And socially jam-packed. AND tomorrow is a rare Saturday conference that I have to work, plus a wedding tomorrow night. WHERE IS THE PAUSE BUTTON FOR MY LIFE?!?!?

Friday night in. I NEED IT. You can guarantee I will be screening phone calls, or turning my phone off altogether (that’s how I roll – especially after a week of sales meetings).

(20 points if you read this whole post. You must be a good friend. Or staying in on a Friday night. Or both.)

Metrodome Magic

I realize the blog has been a bit sports-heavy as of late, but I just had to post something about the greatest 54 hours in recent Metrodome history.

Sunday was the final regular season game ever for the Twins in the dome. Not only was that historic, but it also marked the end of a three-week run of the Twins coming back from seven games down to tie for the lead in the division. Pretty awesome. I wasn't there, but I heard there was a nice tribute to stars of the Twins after the game as well.

Last night was the much-anticipated Vikings/Packers game with Favre facing his old team for the first time ever. Plus it was Monday Night Football, which is always exciting. I was lucky enough to be there and the DOME WAS SO LOUD. My dad and I figured that we've gone to the Vikes/Pack game at the dome for the last twenty years, and last night was by far the best one yet. We had tickets in the lower deck and we stood for the entire game. I'm not kidding. Everyone in the lower deck stood the whole time! There was so much energy and excitement! Favre managed to become the first quarterback in NFL history to get a win against all 32 teams in the NFL. Pretty amazing.

And today will be the Twins/Tigers play-in/playoff/tie-breaker game. There have only been nine of these kinds of games in baseball history (and the Twins have had one in back-to-back seasons now). I'm really hoping the Metrodome Magic will hold out for a few more hours to help our boys of summer pull off a big October win!

A topic on a radio show yesterday got me thinking about my own favorite Metrodome moment. Since it's just the Twins that are leaving the Metrodome, we'll stick with baseball. I was very-much-so NOT a baseball fan for the years following the strike (mostly because my dad talked so poorly of baseball because of the strike - though he follows the scores again now), but in recent years I have definitely picked up on my fan-ship, especially with the Twins. I enjoy going to the games and many of my friends are fans, so it is fun to follow the team with them. Most importantly, though, I don't think my Grandpa has EVER missed a Twins game, so it is the best reason for me to follow the team closely: I love talking baseball with my Grandpa.

Anyway, back to the Metrodome moment. My dad and sister were at Game 6 when Puckett hit that famous HR, and I distinctly remember watching that game out at Camp Lebanon. Such a great memory, and, even though I wasn't there in person, it is a great Metrodome moment. I think my favorite moments in person were the following:

• Sept 25th, 2008: The Twins complete a sweep of the Sox to take the lead in the division with only three games left. The dome went crazy and it definitely felt like playoff baseball. (The Twins then went on to self-destruct vs. KC and lose in a play-in/playoff/tie-breaker game vs. the Sox. Boo.)
• The day I played the Dodgeball game. I was SO excited to have a chance to win a truck, and that translated into me COMPLETELY over-throwing the truck as everyone in the Metrodome watched (my depth perception from the upper deck to right field was terribly flawed). I will say that my next two throws were much closer to winning, but the group of us couldn't stop laughing for the rest of the game. Such a good memory.

I realize that I don't have a TON of readers, but if you'd like to share your favorite (Twins) Metrodome memory, please do so!

Undefeated

My basketball team is undefeated so far this season (.....we've only played two games so far......) and a girl from my team sent out this video to us today. Maybe we can pull off some miracle season.