My last fact of 2010: I had more blog posts than David John Heffren.
But on a serious note, 2010 was a great year! Here is my quick list of my review of 2010
- I went to New York City at the beginning of the year. I went to a broadway show, saw the Empire State Building, ate New York pizza, and shook Mike Ditka's hand.
- I graduated from College in May. I was the first Landis to graduate from College!!
- I took an internship in southern Indiana. I still have 5 more months left, and I'm pumped to see God move in the Jr. high and high school students.
- I met an amazing girl named Christine
- Walked into a girl's bathroom.
- Got my passport.
- I went to Atlanta for Catalyst, a conference for church leaders. It was a blast!
Basically what I'm trying to say is that God has blessed beyond anything I could ever imagine. There will be a lot in store in 2011, and I can't wait! Next year, I'll be going to Kenya, finding a full-time ministry, and who knows what else 2011 has in store. I love you guys and have a great new year!
Friday, December 31, 2010
A year of Constipation
It takes Food seven minutes to get from your mouth to your stomach.
Too bad food doesn't travel that fast from my stomach to my colon to the toilet...for me anyways. I know a lot of people who have very regular bowel movements. I am about to announce to the blogging world something I have kept hidden from you guys for so long...I have constipation from time to time.
On a brighter note...it was just New Years in the Midwest for you central timers! Enjoy your sparkling grape juice.
Too bad food doesn't travel that fast from my stomach to my colon to the toilet...for me anyways. I know a lot of people who have very regular bowel movements. I am about to announce to the blogging world something I have kept hidden from you guys for so long...I have constipation from time to time.
On a brighter note...it was just New Years in the Midwest for you central timers! Enjoy your sparkling grape juice.
Number Forty-Two
This next Fact is dedicated to my brother Jim. Since a very young age, my little brother has detested feet. If you are feeling a little daring, I dare you to try and put your feet on him.
Anyways...did you know that a pair of human feet contain 250,000 sweat glands? Me neither. So the next time you think about your feet just think, "Wow. I'm standing on a lot of sweat glands."
7 Minutes until New Years on the East coast!
Anyways...did you know that a pair of human feet contain 250,000 sweat glands? Me neither. So the next time you think about your feet just think, "Wow. I'm standing on a lot of sweat glands."
7 Minutes until New Years on the East coast!
Post #41
David said that he was going to beat me in blog posts for 2011...He has 43 and I only have forty. So be prepared for 3 more blogs before Midnight.
So because these next couple posts will be pretty shallow, I will drop a serious bomb shell on you guys....Donald Duck was first banned in Finland because he doesn't wear pants.
Since I'm in Idaho New Years doesn't come here for another 2 1/2 hours...so for those of you on the east coast, Happy New Years in just 30 minutes!!!
So because these next couple posts will be pretty shallow, I will drop a serious bomb shell on you guys....Donald Duck was first banned in Finland because he doesn't wear pants.
Since I'm in Idaho New Years doesn't come here for another 2 1/2 hours...so for those of you on the east coast, Happy New Years in just 30 minutes!!!
Friday, December 24, 2010
What do you get when you put an alzheimer's patient, a colonel, and gothic girl together? The World's Longest Blog Title...and Charlie's Life
Since I haven’t been blogging as much lately, I have quite a few stories I could share. I have never really seen myself as a good storyteller, but here recently I have had several people tell me that I am pretty good at telling stories. This is really encouraging for me, because I think people love to hear stories. Stories are what give me fuel to do what I do in student ministry. To really know if I’m helping make an impact in a student’s life, I want to hear a story. Stories are what drive millions of people to spend a ridiculous amount of money at a movie theater. People love to hear stories.
Right now I have so many stories I could tell you about. I could tell you about how I went to an old folks home with a couple of other college-age students and sang Christmas carols. While we were singing in the Alzheimer’s wing, one of the ladies stood up right in front of us. I honestly thought she was just going to walk out (because 100% of the guys that went were tone-deaf…myself included…I am a guy. I promise) because it was so horrible. Instead she just stared at us for a couple of minutes.
I could tell you all about my flight home from Indiana to Kansas for Christmas. I was pretty scared to fly by myself for the first time. Also, I barely made my flight in Atlanta by three minutes because my first flight from Louisville was 30 minutes delayed. When I finally got on the plane, I sat next to a retired colonel. We talked the entire flight to Kansas City. Turns out he has two grandchildren who play competitive baseball for a team that I used to play against when I was their age. I hated that team, but I didn’t tell him that. We also talked about family and my upcoming trip to Kenya. During our whole conversation I could see an affair brewing in the seats in front of us. There was a lady who was talking to some guy she just met on the plane. She was talking about how on the weekends she goes out and has fun while her husband just stays at home. You could tell the guy she was talking to really wanted something to come out of this conversation on the plane. Maybe it was how he was listening so intently or how he grabbed her and sat her right down on his lap while she was getting up to go the bathroom. I’m not sure what gave away his intentions. Maybe it was him yelling “lap dance.” I’ll never know for sure what those two were thinking or planning to do, but I’m sure her boring husband who patiently waits at home for his wife to come home wouldn’t like it.
Another story I could share with you could be about a gothic girl named Kendra. I met Kendra a long time ago in middle school. She always wore black with a dog-like collar around her neck. She was in my science class in 8th grade, and I had decided to start talking to her about Jesus. I remember one time, we were making marshmallow castles for some reason in class, and she named her castle, “Satan’s Fortress.” Kendra was something else. Slowly, I would start bringing up Jesus in conversation, and she would quickly talked about how she hated Him and that she was an atheist. I can distinctly remember one time when we were talking about God, and she lashed out on me. She said, “If you ever bring up God again, I will scratch your eyeballs out.” So I pulled an Elijah, and ran away. I don’t know where she went to high school, but I never saw her again after middle school. …until yesterday. My mom and I were at the grocery store getting stuff for our Christmas dinner, and we stopped by the coffee shack that was inside the store. I asked for a hot chocolate, and guess who is there to make my hot chocolate…Santa Claus…not really. It was Kendra. She was dressed normal. No dog collar or black eye shadow. As I am writing this, I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t ask her how she was doing. I didn’t really say anything to her besides, “Please” and “thank you.” But I didn’t bring up God, and I didn’t get my eyeballs scratched out.
I could tell you all of these stories, because people love to hear stories. The question is, “Are you living a good story?” If you don’t have any good stories to tell, get out and make one! If you have to go fly on an airplane to make a good story, go do it (but I’m not paying for your ticket)!
I love all you guys and have a great Christmas with family and friends!
Right now I have so many stories I could tell you about. I could tell you about how I went to an old folks home with a couple of other college-age students and sang Christmas carols. While we were singing in the Alzheimer’s wing, one of the ladies stood up right in front of us. I honestly thought she was just going to walk out (because 100% of the guys that went were tone-deaf…myself included…I am a guy. I promise) because it was so horrible. Instead she just stared at us for a couple of minutes.
I could tell you all about my flight home from Indiana to Kansas for Christmas. I was pretty scared to fly by myself for the first time. Also, I barely made my flight in Atlanta by three minutes because my first flight from Louisville was 30 minutes delayed. When I finally got on the plane, I sat next to a retired colonel. We talked the entire flight to Kansas City. Turns out he has two grandchildren who play competitive baseball for a team that I used to play against when I was their age. I hated that team, but I didn’t tell him that. We also talked about family and my upcoming trip to Kenya. During our whole conversation I could see an affair brewing in the seats in front of us. There was a lady who was talking to some guy she just met on the plane. She was talking about how on the weekends she goes out and has fun while her husband just stays at home. You could tell the guy she was talking to really wanted something to come out of this conversation on the plane. Maybe it was how he was listening so intently or how he grabbed her and sat her right down on his lap while she was getting up to go the bathroom. I’m not sure what gave away his intentions. Maybe it was him yelling “lap dance.” I’ll never know for sure what those two were thinking or planning to do, but I’m sure her boring husband who patiently waits at home for his wife to come home wouldn’t like it.
Another story I could share with you could be about a gothic girl named Kendra. I met Kendra a long time ago in middle school. She always wore black with a dog-like collar around her neck. She was in my science class in 8th grade, and I had decided to start talking to her about Jesus. I remember one time, we were making marshmallow castles for some reason in class, and she named her castle, “Satan’s Fortress.” Kendra was something else. Slowly, I would start bringing up Jesus in conversation, and she would quickly talked about how she hated Him and that she was an atheist. I can distinctly remember one time when we were talking about God, and she lashed out on me. She said, “If you ever bring up God again, I will scratch your eyeballs out.” So I pulled an Elijah, and ran away. I don’t know where she went to high school, but I never saw her again after middle school. …until yesterday. My mom and I were at the grocery store getting stuff for our Christmas dinner, and we stopped by the coffee shack that was inside the store. I asked for a hot chocolate, and guess who is there to make my hot chocolate…Santa Claus…not really. It was Kendra. She was dressed normal. No dog collar or black eye shadow. As I am writing this, I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t ask her how she was doing. I didn’t really say anything to her besides, “Please” and “thank you.” But I didn’t bring up God, and I didn’t get my eyeballs scratched out.
I could tell you all of these stories, because people love to hear stories. The question is, “Are you living a good story?” If you don’t have any good stories to tell, get out and make one! If you have to go fly on an airplane to make a good story, go do it (but I’m not paying for your ticket)!
I love all you guys and have a great Christmas with family and friends!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
No Urinals No Love
Last week I attempted to eat a blazin' wing from Buffalo Wild Wings. You see, Blazin' is the hottest sauce B Dubs has to offer. One of the campus pastors ordered 12 Blazin' wings, and he asked if I would try one. Soon the entire staff was urging me to eat one...and since I usually don't give into peer pressure, I ate one. It was one of the hottest things I had ever eaten. My eyes started to water, my lips were on fire, and my throat closed up for a second. I thought I was going to die, but I survived the Blazin' wing. A couple minutes later, I realized I had to go the bathroom, so I got up from the table and made my way to the men's restroom. As soon as I opened the door to the bathroom, I noticed that there were two women washing there hands at the sink. Also, there were no urinals in the bathroom. Because I was still messed-up from the stupid hot wing, I stood there in the doorway for a couple seconds until it hit me. I was in the ladies bathroom. One woman actually had to say, "This is the women's restroom," before I moved. Oops. I blame the wing.
I have finally recovered from the bathroom debacle and have vowed to never eat a Blazin' wing again, but in the meantime I'll continue to live life on the edge.
The past couple of weeks has been kind of crazy. I have been able to preach to the Middle school students on Sunday mornings, and I have been given more responsibility with the whole middle school program. Also, my girlfriend's grandfather passed away. His name was Tom Alvey, and he lived a long, fulfilling life. There were several things that stuck out to me about Tom. First, he must have had a lot of patience because he had 6 daughters and 1 son....SIX daughters! I've been able to get to know all of his daughters (Christine's mama and aunts) and they are awesome ladies. I've never been around a family that has so much fun. Second thing I learned about Tom was that he LOVED his wife, Kitty. I only had a couple of conversations with him, but every time he brought up how much he loved his wife. They had been married for 61 years, and it was just so encouraging and refreshing to see how much they loved each other. Tom would often make jokes about how Nana (Kitty) had to put up with him, but you could tell that wasn't the case. Tom had open heart surgery about 8 or 9 weeks ago, and he never really recovered from it. He spent his last 2 months in the hospital. He wasn't always conscious, but the family was always there at the hospital.
Right after his surgery, he didn't wake up for a little while because the amount of anesthesia they used with a combination of his age. But one time when he wasn't really responding to anyone, Nana gave him a kiss on the cheek and his heart rate went up. It was just really cool to see how much he loved his family and how much they loved him back. It's really neat to see love at work.
Unfortunately, not everyone experiences this kind of love. Two weeks ago at our High school youth group, Cody had a time where students could come up and share what God was doing in their lives. There were some encouraging stories of students who have decided to start following God despite their pasts and how God is giving them strength. Then a girl named Haley stood up and shared her heart...or her broken heart is more like it. Her dad and mom divorced when she was younger, so she has always split time between the two. Just that week she went over to her dad's house, and he looked her straight in the eyes and said, "I don't love you. I haven't loved you for the past 7 years." When she said that, my heart broke for her. I can't imagine whats it like to go through life knowing someone who you care deeply about doesn't care if you were to take another breath.
Why does this happen to a great girl like Haley? I don't know. In the Bible, there is a book called Ecclesiastes. Its all about how Solomon goes through life trying to find fulfillment in wisdom, work, pleasures and riches. However, none of these things can fulfill Solomon. He finds that nothing in this world can fully satisfy the cravings of the human heart. What is interesting is that the very next book in the Bible is Song of Solomon. This entire book is about love between a man and a woman. This entire book talks about love and how much it satisfies him, and it is written by the same person who wrote Ecclesiastes, Solomon.
In Scripture, the love between God and humanity is depicted as a love between a husband and wife. Ephesians 5:25 says, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her..." So I think it is safe to say that Love is the answer to Solomon's quest in Ecclesiastes. Love is the only thing that can truly satisfy the human heart...pure, unadulterated love.
This is the time of the year when it seems to be easy to love people. Everyone is happy because of Christmas, time off of school, or maybe they are getting a Christmas bonus. But just remember that there are some Haleys out there...What can you do to love on someone this Christmas season?
I have finally recovered from the bathroom debacle and have vowed to never eat a Blazin' wing again, but in the meantime I'll continue to live life on the edge.
The past couple of weeks has been kind of crazy. I have been able to preach to the Middle school students on Sunday mornings, and I have been given more responsibility with the whole middle school program. Also, my girlfriend's grandfather passed away. His name was Tom Alvey, and he lived a long, fulfilling life. There were several things that stuck out to me about Tom. First, he must have had a lot of patience because he had 6 daughters and 1 son....SIX daughters! I've been able to get to know all of his daughters (Christine's mama and aunts) and they are awesome ladies. I've never been around a family that has so much fun. Second thing I learned about Tom was that he LOVED his wife, Kitty. I only had a couple of conversations with him, but every time he brought up how much he loved his wife. They had been married for 61 years, and it was just so encouraging and refreshing to see how much they loved each other. Tom would often make jokes about how Nana (Kitty) had to put up with him, but you could tell that wasn't the case. Tom had open heart surgery about 8 or 9 weeks ago, and he never really recovered from it. He spent his last 2 months in the hospital. He wasn't always conscious, but the family was always there at the hospital.
Right after his surgery, he didn't wake up for a little while because the amount of anesthesia they used with a combination of his age. But one time when he wasn't really responding to anyone, Nana gave him a kiss on the cheek and his heart rate went up. It was just really cool to see how much he loved his family and how much they loved him back. It's really neat to see love at work.
Unfortunately, not everyone experiences this kind of love. Two weeks ago at our High school youth group, Cody had a time where students could come up and share what God was doing in their lives. There were some encouraging stories of students who have decided to start following God despite their pasts and how God is giving them strength. Then a girl named Haley stood up and shared her heart...or her broken heart is more like it. Her dad and mom divorced when she was younger, so she has always split time between the two. Just that week she went over to her dad's house, and he looked her straight in the eyes and said, "I don't love you. I haven't loved you for the past 7 years." When she said that, my heart broke for her. I can't imagine whats it like to go through life knowing someone who you care deeply about doesn't care if you were to take another breath.
Why does this happen to a great girl like Haley? I don't know. In the Bible, there is a book called Ecclesiastes. Its all about how Solomon goes through life trying to find fulfillment in wisdom, work, pleasures and riches. However, none of these things can fulfill Solomon. He finds that nothing in this world can fully satisfy the cravings of the human heart. What is interesting is that the very next book in the Bible is Song of Solomon. This entire book is about love between a man and a woman. This entire book talks about love and how much it satisfies him, and it is written by the same person who wrote Ecclesiastes, Solomon.
In Scripture, the love between God and humanity is depicted as a love between a husband and wife. Ephesians 5:25 says, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her..." So I think it is safe to say that Love is the answer to Solomon's quest in Ecclesiastes. Love is the only thing that can truly satisfy the human heart...pure, unadulterated love.
This is the time of the year when it seems to be easy to love people. Everyone is happy because of Christmas, time off of school, or maybe they are getting a Christmas bonus. But just remember that there are some Haleys out there...What can you do to love on someone this Christmas season?
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