Bio: When I think of Matt, several features stand out. He has a wide, cheerful grin that frequently comes out after he’s pulled some kind of mischief. He is tall, towering above most folk. He has a bursting sort of laugh, one that explodes short and quick. And he is kind. This is not a kindness that makes him lame or boring. His kindness does not limit his ability to tease and play pranks. (Trust me on that.) It is a kindness that melds perfectly in with his love of life and of people and of tomfoolery.
Matt is also an athlete, period. He is not limited to one sport. He can school you at basketball, or tennis, or volleyball, or anything in between. But he’s not arrogant or a ball hog. There are two kinds of athletes in the world of team sports. There are those insanely talented individuals who can dominate their sport, and do, overshadowing everyone else and grabbing for all the glory themselves. And there are other, also insanely talented individuals, who make everyone around them play better. When Matt and I used to play volleyball every week, I always came away feeling like I’d played far above my abilities on the games he was on my team.
I met Matt at church several years ago, and somehow, when the Hornets and the NBA came to OKC for the first time, we ended up sharing some season tickets. Every Wednesday we’d go to games together, and then other games he’d get two tickets or I’d get two tickets. It was a great year, for being part of a special piece of NBA history (Chris Paul, you’re my fave no matter what!) and also for getting to know a guy who would become a dear friend. Yo, Elway!
I haven’t even mentioned his wife Julianne, and she is every bit as awesome as he is. Great couple!
Seventh Day Challenge: OK, first of all, Matt wrote a super nice note that he stuck in with his challenge, so thanks for that one dude. And then, when I opened the envelope, 5 $20 bills fell out. WHAT!! “Ben, if you are reading this, it means you are alive. Congrats! You have survived the first six challenges. When I think of you, I think of a nice and giving person. You are always investing in people. So what kind of challenge would make people happy and have the opportunity for you to give? In this envelope you will find FIVE $20 bills. Your challenge is to make Five people feel Happy!
Directions:
1. You will ask a stranger at a gas station if they would like to receive a free gift. If they say “yes,” then let them know you would like to put $20 of gas in their vehicle. Continue asking until someone says yes.
2. Use this $20 to buy a gift for someone you like (not me J) and give it to them in the next 48 hours.
3. Use this $20 to buy as many doughnuts as possible, and take them to your office this morning for you and all your co-workers.
4. Use this $20 to bive to someone / something / a group / a random person or anyone you would like. (Must be creative.)
5. Thursday Night Thunder! Use this $20 to take a friend out to dinner tonight!”
Initial Reaction: Wowee wow! Shut the Front door! This guy gave me $100!! This is super cool, and I’ll get to do so much with this money. But that means I have the opportunity to help people, so I can’t waste that. I need to use this money in the right way, and not waste it. The gas station thing will definitely be the most intimidating one. People don’t trust strangers, and the way the question is worded, I bet people think that I am about to share the gospel with them. Which, maybe I should, huh? Doughnuts will be cool and will make me the King of the Office. And taking friends to dinner – awesome. This is going to be a blast!
Recap:
First $20 - The doughnuts were the easiest, and also the first of the five I completed. I picked up 2 dozen doughnuts and 3 sausage rolls (Wildlife employees like their meat!) for $18. I took them around to my fellow Info section employees, and this blessed everyone. If they accepted, they got a doughnut – sweet! If they refused, they got to feel good about their restraint and self-control – well done! So it was a win-win for me, the distributer. I may have sampled a sausage roll too. For quality control.
Me and Jennifer, enjoying doughnuts!
I had 18 doughnuts left, so I took them downstairs to the break room. Now, I’ve joked about how quick food disappears in the break room, but seriously, it is scary quick. I put the doughnuts down there between 8:30 and 9:00, and in one hour flat they were ALL GONE. My office is down the hall from the break room, and I didn’t even see very many people walk past. The people in my office can just hunt that stuff down. It’s incredible.
Second $20 – The gas purchase was the most daunting, so I resolved to tackle it after work. I worked late, so that put me leaving at 5:30. I’d arranged to meet some friends for supper, so I had one hour to find someone to give gas to. I prayed about it, and I felt like I wanted to watch for a mom with kids, and give it to them. Working by 23rd street, I knew a rough neighborhood gas station, so I went there first. I pulled in and scanned the cars. There was a very bright yellow SUV (looked new) and another dark maroon car, also looked nice. Both were being filled up by men. I got out and put 3 gallons in my tank, watching (lurking) for more cars. Several more pulled in, but the occupants did not have kids with them and went inside the store without getting gas. I started to feel uncomfortable, so I abandoned that gas station and drove down to a more popular one, the OnCue at 23rd and I-235. There were lots of cars there so I pulled in and got 3 more gallons of gas. The vehicles around me where parked but empty when I started, and slowly the owners drifted back out – 2 men, and a woman I at first mistook for a man. No kids. I wondered if perhaps Moms don’t go get gas anymore. Maybe gas stations are unsafe for children so they leave them at home?? A lady pulled up next to me, got out. She was young and smiled at me pleasantly. I smiled back. “This is what I’ve been waiting for,” I thought. “She is happy, already smiled at me, and therefore I feel much safer talking with her that she won’t reject me or mock me.” She begins to walk inside, which will bring her past my car. I reach into my pocket and grab the $20, getting ready.
“Excuse me, sir, do you have some spare change?” a man asks as he pops out from behind my terminal. Distracted, I turn to look at him, then remember my plan and glance back. The lady is past me. I look back at the man – possibly homeless, but not necessarily. He is African-American and has a beard. He is holding a plastic sack. Part of me wants to run after the lady, but I also feel like this interaction is perhaps more where I should be than with her. So I let my plan go and talk to this man.
Whenever someone asks me for money, I try to evaluate whether the money will be helpful or hurtful. I’ve heard of folks who carry around sack lunches to give to panhandlers. It is a good idea, so you are meeting their very real physical needs without contributing to possible addictions. I don’t have any lunches, so I consider giving this man the $20 for gas. I decide against it – I feel $20 would not be a safe gift for him, but might cause temptation. He is slurring his speech slightly in our talk. So I give him the dollar in change he asked for, and I also give him something else. My time.
Third $20 - I met three friends, Justin, Chris and Hugh for supper at Whichwich, a fun little sandwich place. We are part of a guy's accountability group, and I have really enjoyed getting to know these guys and share life with them. So we had a great time eating together. Somehow that $20 stretched and we all got fed :)
Fourth $20 - next to the Whichwich was At the Beach tanning store. And I got an idea. I was going to a Board Game Night at my house, and that was a group of people. And what is more random and creative than tanning? (maybe not creative. But random.) So i got a $20 gift card to give to the winner of Board Game Night. More on that later.
Second $20, Part Two - Chris agreed to go with me to try to smoke out a person in need of some gas, and so we stopped to pray before we went gas station spying. Somehow I felt much less fearful having someone else go along for the challenge with me. I think sometimes there are things we are able to do better when we do it together, especially scary, new things. We drove to a 7-11. Still, no kids in sight. (I mean come on! I LOVED pumping the gas when I was a child. What is the deal? Are they all sitting in the vehicle on their morbidly obese butts playing Nintendo DS?) I saw a woman at one pump, and I just decided to go for it. If she turned me down, we'd try someone else.
I walked up, said hi, introduced myself. She was eyeing me skeptically. I explained to her that I wanted to give her a free gift, a tank of gas, and would she like that? She pursed her lips. "I don't have any money," she said, with an accent. I blushed. I had not communicated well. "No, no," I said. "I want to GIVE you money." I pulled the $20 out. "See? Can I buy you a tank of gas?" She didn't look thrilled, but she did accept what I offered to her. I chatted with her for a moment. Her name was Mary, and she was from Nigeria. A man came out of the store and got in her car, so I waved goodbye. It wasn't like a miracle moment or anything, but it did what it needed to.
Chris mentioned to me as we drove away that it is really hard to give things away to Americans. We have learned that nothing valuable is truly free. Maybe that's why Christ's free gift just doesn't compute for so many folks. "We've got to earn it," is our mentality. Hm.
Fourth $20, Part Two - So then I went to game night. Had a blast. We played BANG, which is like an italian version of Mafia, but rather intricate, so don't play if you have, say, two folks who are easily bored. But we had a good time that night with the brain teaser, and then we played rounds and rounds of Catch Phrase. At one point I got tired and started taking pictures of game night. here are some of my favorite shots.
Game Night!
Think, Amber. Think.
Normal faces
Addiction kills, kids.
They call it the "Evil Eye."
Gerrit
My bloody nose after Mo popped me. Without cause.
Happy Birthday Jerrod!
From those who won at BANG and at Catch Phrase, we narrowed the winners down to Hugh, Amber and Michele. Michele ended up winning the tanning gift card, which is a pity. Would have been much funnier if it was a boy.
Fifth $20 - Game Night went long, so it was 11:30 before I remembered to hoof it over to Wal-Mart to get the last item - a gift for someone. I went through a whole bunch of prospects in my head, and was really torn. I resolved to NOT get anything for my cute little nephew Shane, because he is an over-gifted baby as it is, thanks to his grandparents. But I found myself in the baby aisle anyway. I compromised. I didn't get Shane anything, but I did buy baby gifts for two other little cuties - Paisley (Cole and Amanda's brand-new baby) and Peyton (Stuart's cherub.) So that was my day of gifts and trying to make other people happy. I had a blast doing it. Thanks Elway!
-BD
No comments:
Post a Comment