Annual Report

InterVarsity’s annual report from around the country : http://www.intervarsity.org/annualreport/

Aging

Some of you will be upset with me for this post, but I think it is a story worth telling…

On Saturday afternoon I spent half an hour playing hide-and-seek at West Market Park with some friends and one of my good friends six year old daughter. This park is a giant wooden playground. Take a peek into my consciousness.

“I was here, hmmmm, what was it? I’m 26 now…I was probably about 12 or 13 then…13 years ago. Oh my. Oh I jumped this gap all the time…wow, how did I do that? Oh man this is my favorite hiding spot. Here I g…oh my gosh I don’t even come close to fitting. Hmm, well maybe I will use my backup, climb into the top of the tower…why is this so hard? Are their spiders up here? I bet. Oh well it should be much easier to suspend myself in this ceiling just like I used to, now that I am so much stronger…wow, this is impossible, really, how was I capable of doing this as a child? That is actually amazing.”

You see, the majority of my first years in Pella were spent playing “don’t-touch-the-wood-chips” tag throughout this complex maze of passages and jumps and nooks and crannies. If we were not playing tag, we were playing “who can do the more daring athletic jump from really high onto a small board” or “climb the more difficult structure.” Here I was, 26, playing tag with my friends CHILD.

She ran and giggled and hid in all my favorite spaces. I ran and got light headed and awkwardly stood behind the swings.

It was a genuine “I’m finally starting to age” experience. It was also wonderful. Through my friends little girl’s utter delight and imagination, skipping effortlessly over tires and through tunnels, I felt memories long dormant remind me of the child within.  I was here. I mastered this place. Just like 007 for Nintendo 64 (grenade launchers in the complex), no one could compete with child Jordan because I knew just how to take the high ground and bounce grenades in every possible angle in order to ensure your instant death…. woops, rather, there was no conceivable athletic action, jump from one structure to the next, or hiding space that was off limits to my young spirit and younger body.

And so yes, life really does go on through the years.  I woke up today and I wasn’t effortlessly scaling the walls of a make-shift fortress at West Market anymore.  On the bright side, I now have a thoroughly genuine “when I was your age” story to tell to middle schoolers.  And I am thankful for moments like this when I realize just how weird – and wonderful – life is.

The Death of a Legend

A more practical update….

My ’96 Ford Taurus is on its last legs.  I’m afraid years of hauling all my earthly belongings from NC to Iowa and everywhere in-between has finally conquered him.  It still runs, kind of – but a veteran mechanic in town has predicted its death is near after he was unable to fix a major engine problem.  So, if anyone in the Iowa area has any leads on a low mileage used car, let me know!  I’m hoping not to get stuck in the Iowa winter without a reliable vehicle.

Enjoy the chilly fall weather.