Two Truths and a Lie

This is the first post to follow my new formatting change. I hope that it works out!

Story 1:

On Thursday I went to an event at the Dallas arboretum with a friend. I haven't ever been to the arboretum before, so I was really excited to get to go. The event was a really neat pops type band that played everything from Biance to Elton John to Outkast! We got to sit on the lawn, see all the vegetation, and look out on the lake while drinking wine and eating yummy strawberries!

The interesting thing, is that before the show we went to eat at this Mexican food restaurant where they always have a live band on Thursday through Saturday. The band was playing their music and let these two young girls play maracas. I would guess that the girls were about five or six years old. They were so cute! One of the girls didn't want to sing into the microphone when the singer would hand it to them to sing the chorus.

The problem was that I became more entertained by the band at the Mexican restaurant than I was with my food. I didn't end up eating much food, and I certainly wasn't full after eating a few strawberries. This meant that after the music at the arboretum was finished, we decided to run by the Sonic on the way back home.

By this point it was a little after nine, so the sun had completely set. However, the moon was bright enough that you couldn't hide yourself very well. As we were driving around the parking lot, I noticed that in one of the cars parked at the back two people were really going at it. As we approached the car it became clear that they were having a lot more fun than you're supposed to have at a Sonic's parking lot. We left...

Story 2:

After witnessing that event on Thursday, I decided that it was high time to get myself to Church. I go to church every time that I go home to visit family, and I go a few times on my own here in Dallas. However, I haven't been able to go with the frequency that I really would like to go.

Today I went to church after finishing a bar review class. However, being the heathen sort of a person I am, I realized that I had about an hour to spare before I went to church. Instead of going and browsing the church bookstore and grabbing a coffee in their coffee shop (yes, it's a mega-church); I stopped at a sports bar and grabbed a beer. I was good and went for the 16 ounce draft instead of the 25 ounce beer!

Anyhow, I went to church and remembered part of why I don't get to church nearly as often as I like. I start to feel lonely when I'm at church in Dallas. When I was growing up, church was always a family experience with a lot of friends and family always meeting at church. During college, church was always with friends and people who I cared about and loved. Now I go to a huge church where I don't know anyone. I love the pastor of the church and really connect with the sermons, but I feel completely alone when I'm there. I mean, I love the experience because I do connect, and I think the people are nice, but I just don't know any of the people at this point. They have home teams and singles classes that I could join in with, but I haven't had enough free time to do that. Now that I'm out of law school, I think that I might start to do some of those activities.

The service was really nice. The title was "Go" and it was based on Matthew 28, which is the chapter that has the Great Commission. Of course, this is where you are told to go out and spread the gospel. The sermon started with a video of the pastor and two of the younger pastors meeting a missionary in Belize. They traveled through Belize into the jungle to spend a few days with some of the tribal people. The first night they ate Iguana! Then the second night they had roasted rat! It was fun to watch them spend time with people who care so much about building churches and spreading the good news.

As I watched the video, I started to think about how much I've wasted my time with law school. Why am I not out there doing something like that? When I was in high school my dream was to become a pastor of a church. Then life sort of led me to Dallas instead of a small Christian school. Then I started to think about going to law school, and I've ended up where I am now. It started to make me a little sad when I watched their passion.

However, I quickly changed my mind when I really thought about it. I'm blessed with the opportunity I have to help people here in America who are coming from far and wide to find comfort, care, and shelter. How could you find a better place to show love, care and support. The sort of thing that people take note of and want to know better? I mean, the head pastor and the two other guys were having a round table sort of discussion about the Great Commission and they made a good point. Preaching the gospel and leading people to Christ doesn't mean you have to walk up to strangers and tell them that they are going to hell if they don't accept Christ. What it means is that you plant seeds and you build relationships. That is the activity we are called to do. When the time is right, Christ will work through that or through you or through the church to fulfill the commission.

Story 3:

Finally, this week I went on about four runs around the lake. It was nice because I really was able to get some good work outs in. However, I was freaked out by one couple that I saw out at the lake. Now, couples at the lake don't normally bother me because it's a romantic and fun sort of location. You can lay on blankets out there together, walk, play Frisbee, run, bike, etc. What's not to love about the park if you're a couple?

I run about 2 miles out and then I turn around to return. At the turning around point I saw a couple making out by the car. They weren't in the car or anything but groping all over each other and doing everything they shouldn't be doing. I turned around soon after passing them. I would imagine, if they noticed, they thought I was turning around for a second look at their mini-porn display.

What's weird is that when I was nearing the end of my run I saw them again. It was like an unlucky deja vu, but a really weird one. They were standing outside the car making out again. This time they had a little more privacy so I guess the figured they could take a few more liberties. Her leg was sort of wrapped around the guy and he had his hands places they shouldn't be when you're outside. Sure enough, they noticed me running by again.

Now I've got to make it clear that I didn't follow them anywhere. At some point they drove away from where they originally were and took a road that goes back towards where I finish my run. The roads and the running/biking paths don't follow the same route, so I don't think either of us saw each other when we were moving. They did notice me when they were passionately embraced though.


Ok, those are the three stories. One is a lie...