News Flash: They lip sync at the Macey's Thanksgiving Day Parade. This information could be life altering, so be careful with who you share this information. I remember when I first found out that Santa Claus wasn't real. It was right before Christmas, but I HAD to know. So I went up to my mom while she saw doing laundry (I still remember this very vividly), and I told her that I needed to know whether or not Santa Claus was real. She dropped the bomb shell, and life was never the same. Luckily, Santa still comes to the Landis household. Every Christmas Eve, we go to sleep with our stockings empty, and the next morning they are filled to the brim with little goodies! Also, Santa comes in the night and drops off presents wrapped in all red wrapping paper with special hand writing. So am I upset about the lip syncing going on at the parade today? Not really. Am I upset about Santa still coming to visit even though I'm 22-years-old and can grow chest hair? Never.
I just wanted to write a quick blog about different things I'm thankful for. It is nothing to elaborate...just a quick list.
THE REASON FOR THANKS IN THANKSGIVING
- My internship at Southeast Christian Church
- The Lincks (my family away from home)
- Q-Tips
- Christine, I'm berry thankful for you
- Friends who help me strive to become a more mature follower of Christ
- My brothers who I love hanging out with. I can't wait to celebrate future thanksgiving with all of our families...its going to be so fun
- My mom and dad who have never stop supporting and caring for me.
- And most of all, the blood of Jesus!
I love you guys, and I hope you are all having a good thanksgiving day with your family and friends. And tomorrow you will now be allowed to listen to Christmas music. Yay!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Drowning in Jeans and a Sweater
Right now I'm typing in an environment that is hectic. There are bullets flying, claymores are being planted, and AC-130's are in the air. You might think I'm on the front line of a battlefield, but I'm actually in my basement. I'm playing Modern Warfare with my brothers at my house in Topeka! Yesterday I left southern Indiana at 5:30 in the morning to drive about 9 hours to good ole Kansas to hangout with my family for Thanksgiving. I'm so excited to be around family! Even though I got up early and drove 9 hours, I was re-energized when I hung out with my brothers. I ended up staying up until about 2 in the morning just playing x-box and talking with Jim and Sam. Its good to be back in Kansas.
Often when I tell people that I'm from Kansas, the person will quickly say, "I hate driving through that state." Usually, I apologize for the boring-ness of my state's geography and quickly bring up the fact that Wizard of Oz was set in Kansas to try and leave a positive thought about Kansas in the person's mind. But no matter how flat and boring it might be to drive through it, I will always love Kansas!
In my previous post I said that I carried my Driver's License with me where ever I go, and I said I would discuss this in a later post. Well, here is the later post. My girlfriend, God bless her, has a very morbid outlook on life. After typing that I feel like I picture Christine as some kind of girl who dresses in black all the time and mopes around contemplating death all the time. This is not Christine at all. She always smiles and is one of the most optimistic people I know, but she does think about death a little more than the average homo sapien...which isn't a bad thing.
On one occasion she told me her three tops ways NOT to die. Personally, I just think about how I don't want to die, but Christine likes to take it a little farther. (Drum Roll Please) Christine's #3 way not to die is......Suffocation! Honestly, I think this would be a horrible way to kick the can. Number 2 "Way-Not-To-Die" for her is being caught on fire. Death by fire kind of makes me sweat just thinking about it. And her number one way not to die is the exact opposite from death by fire. Christine would hate more than anything in the world to die by falling into a large body of water and drowning. But that isn't it...she has told me that she would hate to drown while wearing a sweater and jeans. Why? I have no clue, but Christine is terrified to go out that way.
But that is not all. One time we were getting ready to go somewhere, and Christine said, "Hey...hold on. I need to go get my I.D." As she was getting out of my car, I realized I was driving and she had no reason to have her I.D. with her. When she got back in the car, I questioned her about my observation and she quickly replied, "I need my I.D. so that in case I die, they can identify my body." Who thinks of that? My beautiful girlfriend.
But on a serious note, even though I make fun of her for her heightened sense of death, I think Christine is on to something. When I brought up this whole thing to her she gave a very insightful answer. She said, "I think life is precious. I just know I am not guaranteed a certain amount of time, and I need to be ready." Life is so precious! God of the universe has decided to breath life into these bodies that came from dust, so why not be careful and realize how good we have it? Now I like to make fun of Christine about this whole death thing, but I agree with her. We really do not know how much time we have on this earth.
Christine might sound a little morbid (but she isn't!) but in the New Testament, James calls us mist. James 4:14 says, "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." James says our lives are very short and we can't take it for granted, because we might not be here tomorrow. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that my girlfriend and the half-brother of Jesus agree on that life is very short and that we shouldn't take it for granted. So just remember that you are mist...and be happy about it!
Also, I just realized I used 8 hyphens in this post. If I don't watch out, I'll turn into the Message.
Often when I tell people that I'm from Kansas, the person will quickly say, "I hate driving through that state." Usually, I apologize for the boring-ness of my state's geography and quickly bring up the fact that Wizard of Oz was set in Kansas to try and leave a positive thought about Kansas in the person's mind. But no matter how flat and boring it might be to drive through it, I will always love Kansas!
In my previous post I said that I carried my Driver's License with me where ever I go, and I said I would discuss this in a later post. Well, here is the later post. My girlfriend, God bless her, has a very morbid outlook on life. After typing that I feel like I picture Christine as some kind of girl who dresses in black all the time and mopes around contemplating death all the time. This is not Christine at all. She always smiles and is one of the most optimistic people I know, but she does think about death a little more than the average homo sapien...which isn't a bad thing.
On one occasion she told me her three tops ways NOT to die. Personally, I just think about how I don't want to die, but Christine likes to take it a little farther. (Drum Roll Please) Christine's #3 way not to die is......Suffocation! Honestly, I think this would be a horrible way to kick the can. Number 2 "Way-Not-To-Die" for her is being caught on fire. Death by fire kind of makes me sweat just thinking about it. And her number one way not to die is the exact opposite from death by fire. Christine would hate more than anything in the world to die by falling into a large body of water and drowning. But that isn't it...she has told me that she would hate to drown while wearing a sweater and jeans. Why? I have no clue, but Christine is terrified to go out that way.
But that is not all. One time we were getting ready to go somewhere, and Christine said, "Hey...hold on. I need to go get my I.D." As she was getting out of my car, I realized I was driving and she had no reason to have her I.D. with her. When she got back in the car, I questioned her about my observation and she quickly replied, "I need my I.D. so that in case I die, they can identify my body." Who thinks of that? My beautiful girlfriend.
But on a serious note, even though I make fun of her for her heightened sense of death, I think Christine is on to something. When I brought up this whole thing to her she gave a very insightful answer. She said, "I think life is precious. I just know I am not guaranteed a certain amount of time, and I need to be ready." Life is so precious! God of the universe has decided to breath life into these bodies that came from dust, so why not be careful and realize how good we have it? Now I like to make fun of Christine about this whole death thing, but I agree with her. We really do not know how much time we have on this earth.
Christine might sound a little morbid (but she isn't!) but in the New Testament, James calls us mist. James 4:14 says, "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." James says our lives are very short and we can't take it for granted, because we might not be here tomorrow. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that my girlfriend and the half-brother of Jesus agree on that life is very short and that we shouldn't take it for granted. So just remember that you are mist...and be happy about it!
Also, I just realized I used 8 hyphens in this post. If I don't watch out, I'll turn into the Message.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
What If...
A scholar of culture once said, "Mo money Mo Problems." I have to agree with Notorious B.I.G. on this one. I'm currently in a stage of my life where I am making money, and I don't have to pay bills or rent. Unfortunately, like Biggie Smalls says, the bigger my bank account becomes, the bigger my problems. About 2 months ago, my 2001 Grand Am needed a new fuel pump. That one cost me almost $600. This past weekend, I wrote my friend a $470 check to repay him for an airplane ticket he bought me. And for some reason, my ignition switch decided to quit working. There goes another $350. Now please don't mistake this for complaining...I'm simply stating facts. To be honest, the only things I'm really spending money on is gas, grub, and girlfriend. But I actually think all three of those things are worth every penny! Gas gets me to where I need to go. Grub gives me energy...and well the Girlfriend is just awesome! I was thinking the other day about all the ways in which Christine has improved my life. This list is in no way exhaustive but it will do the job (I don't think she even knows these things).
1) I now put a napkin on my lap when I eat.
2) I have started to wash my hands more frequently
3) She helps me pray better
4) I now carry my I.D. with me every where I go (more about this in a later post)
5) I eat more Mexican food
6) I always leave a "way out" with my car when stopping at stop lights
So I guess I tell you all of this because the "mo money" the "mo problems," but if you get a girlfriend *cough..David...cough*, your problems won't seem to bad.
But on a serious note, this past week I was able to hang out with the student ministry team over at the main campus in Louisville. We were able to just kind of take a breath and relax, and I had my first ever cinna-crunch bagel from Panera that morning. After doing some casual chatting and bagel-eating, Matt Reagan (the Lead guy over the student ministry department) sat us all down and said, "What if..." He went on to explain how sometimes we get so caught up with how things are currently going that we never take the time to just say, "What if." So we broke up into groups of about 4 people and we all asked ourselves that question. During the meeting I couldn't think of any "what if's" for myself, but after doing some thinking I think i have a couple.
What if I started to get to know students on a more intentional level. Instead of just the casual "hello" or "whats up," what if I got to know their stories?
What if I decided to memorize the book of James?
What if followed Jesus everyday instead of following Him when it is comfortable for me?
What if I depended more heavily on the Holy Spirit?
What if I started exercising?
What if I would have taken a ministry out of college instead of this internship?
What if God was one of us? (Sorry...I had to)
What if my family was not as loving and as encouraging as they are?
What if something terrible happened to me? Would I keep my hope in Jesus my main focus or would I focus on the bad?
I want to encourage you to come up with your own "What If..." list. The good thing about this list is that I can take away the "what if" on some of them and make them a reality. Someone once said, "A man aiming at nothing always hits his target." I think we all need to have goals in order for us to strive towards something...and I think a "What If..." list is perfect for this. If you do go ahead and make a list, please let me know what you thought of it. I thought this exercise was very healthy and encouraging!
1) I now put a napkin on my lap when I eat.
2) I have started to wash my hands more frequently
3) She helps me pray better
4) I now carry my I.D. with me every where I go (more about this in a later post)
5) I eat more Mexican food
6) I always leave a "way out" with my car when stopping at stop lights
So I guess I tell you all of this because the "mo money" the "mo problems," but if you get a girlfriend *cough..David...cough*, your problems won't seem to bad.
But on a serious note, this past week I was able to hang out with the student ministry team over at the main campus in Louisville. We were able to just kind of take a breath and relax, and I had my first ever cinna-crunch bagel from Panera that morning. After doing some casual chatting and bagel-eating, Matt Reagan (the Lead guy over the student ministry department) sat us all down and said, "What if..." He went on to explain how sometimes we get so caught up with how things are currently going that we never take the time to just say, "What if." So we broke up into groups of about 4 people and we all asked ourselves that question. During the meeting I couldn't think of any "what if's" for myself, but after doing some thinking I think i have a couple.
What if I started to get to know students on a more intentional level. Instead of just the casual "hello" or "whats up," what if I got to know their stories?
What if I decided to memorize the book of James?
What if followed Jesus everyday instead of following Him when it is comfortable for me?
What if I depended more heavily on the Holy Spirit?
What if I started exercising?
What if I would have taken a ministry out of college instead of this internship?
What if God was one of us? (Sorry...I had to)
What if my family was not as loving and as encouraging as they are?
What if something terrible happened to me? Would I keep my hope in Jesus my main focus or would I focus on the bad?
I want to encourage you to come up with your own "What If..." list. The good thing about this list is that I can take away the "what if" on some of them and make them a reality. Someone once said, "A man aiming at nothing always hits his target." I think we all need to have goals in order for us to strive towards something...and I think a "What If..." list is perfect for this. If you do go ahead and make a list, please let me know what you thought of it. I thought this exercise was very healthy and encouraging!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
It ain't easy being a Polygamist
There is an epidemic sweeping across America...or atleast Utah. Polygamy is a form of marriage in which a person has more than one spouse at the same time, as opposed to monogamy in which a person has only one spouse at a time. Typically in polygamist marriages, the man usually has multiple wives. I can't imagine living with more than one wife. I've lived without one for about 22 years and counting, but the idea just confuses me why any man would ever do that.
The reason I bring this up is because recently I was watching a show on TV called Sister Wives. It follows around a guy named Kody Brown who has three wives...scratch that. He just married his fourth wife, Robyn. As I was watching this show with my lovely girlfriend (that is singular, not plural), I began to wonder...Could I ever thrive in the plurality lifestyle? The answer came very very quickly. Yes. Just playing! Of course I could not live in a polygamist marriage. But then I began to think of reasons why plurality is not for me. I was able to quickly think of 5 reasons. And just remember that this is in no way a comprehensive list. Just something to start with.
5 Reasons Why Polygamy Ain't for Me
(For the sake of this list lets say I'm married to Rachel McAdams, Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson, and Anna Kornikova)
1) Lets say I'm hanging out with Rachel one night. Jennifer, Scarlett, and Anna will all become jealous because I'm with Rachel. This jealousy does not foster healthy relationships. Of course, all 4 ladies want to be with me, but scientists have not perfected cloning yet. So jealousy is sure to ensue during the marriage(s).
2) As stated in reason #1, one of my wives would get jealous, and they would ask me to send one of my other better halves (or better fifths) away. For example, pretend Jennifer bears me 3 children and Scarlett only has one child with me. My relationship with Scarlett is a lot better than the one I have with Jennifer, so Scarlett secretly asks me to get rid of Jennifer because she is just so jealous that she can give birth to more children. This would be a major dilemma for me and would not be kosher. (this example is not far fetched by the way...its biblical. Check out Genesis 16)
3) There is a saying that goes like this, "Hell hath no furry than a woman scorn." Basically, when a woman is mad...she is really mad! I cannot imagine having 4 women mad at me at the same time.
4) Its against the law. Instead of having 4 wives, in prison I'd have four....ah...nevermind.
5) I would always mix up my wives' names. When talking to Rachel, I would call her Anna. Then once again, reason number one would occur.
I know all of this far fetched, but I feel like its important to know why you believe something is right or wrong. I've tried to lay out my reasons. What are some reasons you would or would not be a polygamist? This is something every person is going to struggle with during some point in their life, so I just thought I'd help to get the ball rolling.
The reason I bring this up is because recently I was watching a show on TV called Sister Wives. It follows around a guy named Kody Brown who has three wives...scratch that. He just married his fourth wife, Robyn. As I was watching this show with my lovely girlfriend (that is singular, not plural), I began to wonder...Could I ever thrive in the plurality lifestyle? The answer came very very quickly. Yes. Just playing! Of course I could not live in a polygamist marriage. But then I began to think of reasons why plurality is not for me. I was able to quickly think of 5 reasons. And just remember that this is in no way a comprehensive list. Just something to start with.
5 Reasons Why Polygamy Ain't for Me
(For the sake of this list lets say I'm married to Rachel McAdams, Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson, and Anna Kornikova)
1) Lets say I'm hanging out with Rachel one night. Jennifer, Scarlett, and Anna will all become jealous because I'm with Rachel. This jealousy does not foster healthy relationships. Of course, all 4 ladies want to be with me, but scientists have not perfected cloning yet. So jealousy is sure to ensue during the marriage(s).
2) As stated in reason #1, one of my wives would get jealous, and they would ask me to send one of my other better halves (or better fifths) away. For example, pretend Jennifer bears me 3 children and Scarlett only has one child with me. My relationship with Scarlett is a lot better than the one I have with Jennifer, so Scarlett secretly asks me to get rid of Jennifer because she is just so jealous that she can give birth to more children. This would be a major dilemma for me and would not be kosher. (this example is not far fetched by the way...its biblical. Check out Genesis 16)
3) There is a saying that goes like this, "Hell hath no furry than a woman scorn." Basically, when a woman is mad...she is really mad! I cannot imagine having 4 women mad at me at the same time.
4) Its against the law. Instead of having 4 wives, in prison I'd have four....ah...nevermind.
5) I would always mix up my wives' names. When talking to Rachel, I would call her Anna. Then once again, reason number one would occur.
I know all of this far fetched, but I feel like its important to know why you believe something is right or wrong. I've tried to lay out my reasons. What are some reasons you would or would not be a polygamist? This is something every person is going to struggle with during some point in their life, so I just thought I'd help to get the ball rolling.
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