Day 13 - David AND Recap

Day 13: David

Bio: I didn’t know David my first year of college, and in my second year he just floated on my periphery. I heard him mentioned in passing stories (especially from Lindsey, Day 9), and then I went to a “half night of prayer” at church and he was there, and my first impression was that he was a really cool, really funny and really genuine guy. My third year of school I got to know him more as we were around each other at church functions and then on a mission trip to Juarez, Mexico over spring break. This was back in the golden days when people were not being murdered daily in Juarez. And then my senior year, we lived together.

I should clarify that I lived with eight guys my last year of school, in a large apartment we called the “D House.” We were all involved in church, and our D House (which stood for discipleship house) was one of several the church had started. We would gather on Sunday afternoons to clean and cook and intentionally spend time together, and also get up every morning (mostly) to pray together before school. I was really excited about the concept, because it sounded a little hippy-ish and communal to me, and as you may have noticed, I like that stuff. So I jumped in.

Living with David was awesome. Sure, he requires absolute darkness, silence and stillness to fall asleep, and sure, he would always slip into the bathroom right when I needed to take a dump, and sure, he has a sardonic wit that he uses to skewer fools, but that stuff makes him interesting. He is such a great guy, always in my corner, always ready to listen, and eager to laugh. He became more than a roommate. He was/is a great friend, and one that I was exceedingly fortunate to share life with while we were still in the same place.

I’ll share one story to illustrate our friendship. I returned to Waco six months after graduating to visit some friends who were having a party. David and his new wife Emily were hosting. I walked in feeling a bit awkward, as most everyone else there had stayed in Waco and continued in relationship together, while I had left. Have you ever returned to a place or to friends who you were very close with, but time and distance have passed between you, and you aren’t sure how good of friends you’ll be anymore? That’s what I wondered. Would our friendship remain close, or were we too far apart? As the night progressed, I got to talk to several dear friends and felt more comfortable. As the party wound down, I was talking to David, and we shook hands, and then for several seconds, he just held my hand as we talked. I know this gesture could probably be misconstrued in several wrong directions, but it wasn’t anything but a simple, physical gesture that communicated to me that we were more than acquaintances. David was still my good friend. That moment left a deep impression on me, because it was such a powerful answer to the question on my heart that night. We have remained good friends in the years since, and for that I am grateful.

Thirteenth Day Challenge: Ok Ben, since our history together traces its roots back to our time at Baylor and our experiences learning to follow Jesus, your challenge for today will be two-fold.

Baylor Challenge. 1. You must stand up and sing “That Good Old Baylor Line” followed by a hearty “Sic ‘Em Bears” once each hour that you are awake today. If you need to rush outside during the workday to complete this challenge without getting fired, that will be permitted. 2. You must show the video of you being trampled by the bear to at least 3 people who have not seen it. If the video is not online, please try to make it available to the general public. (I want to see it again.)

Jesus Challenge. 1. You get the opportunity to share Jesus with someone today! You can choose how you want to do this. Whether it’s praying for a homeless guy in the park, leaving a tract for someone to find, etc, make sure at least one person feel’s God’s love today. [1,000 bonus points if you share the Juarez mission trip Spanish tract we used on our mission trips on the early 2000s.] 2. Make a mix of your favorite worship songs from your college years and listen to it every time you are in the car today.

Initial reaction: Well, parts of that are fun, and parts of that are terrifying. I love showing my bear attack video because it always gets a good laugh, so that part will be great. And the worship mix will be neat, I can already think of several songs circa 2000 that I want to put on there. The sharing Jesus part, well, that has always been a source of fear for me. I feel awkward thinking about it, and I hate rejection, and so this one will be a good challenge to overcome.

Recap: I opened this challenge after I was already at work, because I was up late the night before scraping off fingernail polish and had to rush to get ready. I checked the clock and it was approaching 10:00, so I went outside and sang the Baylor fight song on the way to my car to get my first hour started off right.

I really like Baylor’s fight song, called “That Good Old Baylor Line.” I was in the marching band (The Golden Wave Marching Band) my first year at college, and we sang that song so many times during band camp, and then over and over during football games, that it is forever embedded in my memory. It’s not that long, and pretty easy to remember, so I was always disappointed to find most of the students couldn’t actually sing along to it at sporting events. The tune takes me back to fond times with lots of friends and lots of free time. Ah, college.

I went back outside during both the 11:00 and 12:00 hours to sing the fight song. I scoped out the parking lot for signs of co-workers before I burst into song, but no one caught me. I wanted to find a way to sing the song without going outside, so I considered challenging our newest employee, OU-grad Rachel, to a fight song competition, but I got busy during the day and never followed up on my idea.

At lunch, I ate in the break room with some other co-workers, keeping my eyes open for any signs of opportunities to share my faith or to pray with folks. However, a co-worker I’ll call Mr. Me did what he always does – turns every attempt at conversation into a lecture on the wonders of his diet and workout regimen. Seriously, for the past six months every time I’ve tried to talk to him, he funnels the talk into a long-winded (one-sided) presentation about his physique and rigorous calorie counting. I retreated to my office after a half hour of him, sour and grumpy from an unsuccessful lunch attempt.

I confess I forgot to sing the fight song a couple times in the afternoon, but I made up for it by singing in the stairwell several times in one hour. With some of my ridiculous challenges (walking backwards, sing fight song) the stairwell is turning into a great place to retreat and do my challenges. We have a new girl from OU who just started and is pretty peppy, so I thought about challenging her to a fight song sing-off, but I got busy and that stayed just a good idea.

As the clock ticked closer to the end of the workday, I felt more and more worried about the “sharing Jesus” part. From my own life experiences and from watching how faith plays out in our world (TBN, street corner preachers, mormons door to door) I really REALLY get fearful of bringing up Christ with people outside church. I don’t want to look fake, like the TBN folk, I don’t want to be rude or attacking, like some street corner preachers, and I don’t want to get rejected, like the Mormons who come to my door. This is problematic for me because it means sometimes I steer away from spiritual conversations, and as someone who has encountered the hope of a relationship with Christ, I should want to share that with any and everyone. So it’s tricky. I want to be liked. I also want people to know Jesus like I know Jesus – the one who meets my needs, who holds my hand and gives me courage, who plants hope and light in the dark, bitter, shameful places of my heart.

Because I was most worried about it, I decided to focus on the “sharing Jesus” as a priority, with the bear attack video and the CD mix secondary. After some thought, I decided I didn’t want to go to a gas station or the mall and talk to a stranger. I wanted the “sharing Jesus” challenge to be part of my regular life, because that aspect of my faith should be part of my regular life. I came up with a plan – watch for opportunities at the gym, or make brownies for my neighbors and go and meet them. Work ended, so I walked outside singing the fight song and ready for action.

I went first to my gym and struck up a conversation with an older gentleman in the changing room. However, our talk was short, in part because halfway through changing I pulled off my socks and realized I still had pink nail polish on my toenails from girls’ night challenge. My cheeks flushed immediately and I spent the next two minutes changing into workout gear in record time to hide my garish toenails.

I finished working out and went home, feeling worry build up inside me that I was running out of daylight to share faith with someone. I had brownie mix, so I made brownies and threw them in the oven, but they required 40 minutes to cook, and I needed to shower, so it would be after 9 pm before they were done, and I didn’t want to wake up new neighbors in order to meet them. So that plan went flat. I took the shower and left the brownies to cool down.

I also needed to get 3 people to watch my bear attack video, which is on a VHS, so I started texting around to find friends with VCRs. I struck out a few times before my friend Keith replied that he did indeed have a VCR. I went over and hung out with him for a bit, which was great because he and I are taking an international trip together to New Zealand, and we had plans to hash over. We played the bear attack video which he greatly enjoyed. (I wasn’t really attacked, more knocked over by Baylor’s live bear mascot). And then before I left, I took a risk and asked if I could pray for him. Keith isn’t a church friend, but it felt more natural than I thought it would. He shared a request and let me pray for him, which was cool. I realized how easily I freak out over facing fears.

And then it was 10:20, and I was in a race to find 2 more VCR’s before midnight. I sent texts fast and furious, and found one – Briann, a nurse and friend from church. She just built her house, so I drove out to new Edmond to show her the video. She was watching old home movies of church trips she went on in high school, so it must have been memory night. I showed her the film and then headed back out into the night. It was after 11:00, and I thought to myself, “Why do I end up driving all over the place at ridiculous hours of night to get these challenges done?” Ah well, I can sleep when I’m 30.

Finally I found a third VCR – my friend Rich. Went to his place, showed him the video, and completed the 3 showings. However, one last task remained – I went home and made a CD of all my favorite worship recordings. I had to buy some songs that I hadn’t heard in ages, but I’m pretty pleased with my music mix. If anyone wants a copy, I’m happy to burn one and share it. Just e-mail me your address and I’ll mail it to you.