RACE CAR DRIVERS

On Friday Erin and I had the opportunity to drive go-cart race cars on a track in Collierville. A man that Erin works with at the Renaisance Group owns race cars and participates in real races. He was kind enough to let a few brave souls on the race track. The cars get up to 70ish MPH. Needless to say, I did not go that fast. It was fun and not as intimidating as it looked when I got out on the track. Here are a few pictures that chronicle our adventure:




Erin is about to hit the track.










That is Erin passing on the outside.












Saddle up. Kevin, the owner is the one on the left.













This is me flying down the home stretch.

GMAIL

I have had a MacBook for several months now. I have found it to be by far the most user friendly computer I have ever used. Except for one aspect, the mail. I have tried numerous times to have my email to be forwarded there; always to no avail. Last night however, I did it. I cracked the code. Not suprisingly, my hotmail address will not work. Probably due to it's affiliation with Microsoft. Gmail however, works like a charm. Therefore, my new email address is:

justinplewis@gmail.com

I SENSE TROUBLE

Sense of direction has never been something I tout as being a strong suit. Last night was an example of how it can be a problem. After a time of worship at the Church of Christ at Whitestation I became very frustrated due to my lack of sense of direction. The church is undergoing construction on one of the parking areas. So, not only is the building under construction in one wing, it has that lot completely sealed off. Almost. The only way back there is through double doors leading from the building.

Because I had no real idea of where I was in the building, it took me 5-10 minutes to find the room in which the worship took place. This being the case, I had no clue as to the quickest way to get back to my bike at the conclusion of the service. This takes me back to the part about only one way to the sealed off construction zone. I walked straight out the double doors that led not to my bike, instead to the sealed off lot. There is no escape. I realize this pretty soon after the doors shut behind me. They are now locked.

I walk all the way around the corner on both sides to find no way out. The room in which the service was held is not close enough to draw anyone's attention. I am in trouble. All because I lack a sense of direction. Granted, there are worse places to be trapped in Memphis than a closed church parking lot, but I was very frustrated. My options were limited. Be proud and find a way out. Or phone a friend for them to come open the door. Uncharacteristically, I threw out the option of calling on Rusty for assistance. I was determined on finding a way out. So I found the only spot in the fence row in which I could crawl under, and did just that. I might add that I barely fit under the fence. That was a little bit anticlimactic I guess. But I showed them, I climbed right under their fence, got on my bike and rode home.


Happy Birthday Dad

RIDIN' IN THE DARK

June 16th/17th Erin, Seth (Erin's brother), and I rode our bikes in the Sutherland Midnight Classic Bike Tour. The proceeds benefit Meritan (formerly Senior Services). It was a 17 mile tour beginning at Midnight, obviously. We started at the main Memphis branch library and rode mostly in the Midtown area of Memphis. It took us about an hour and a half to finish it. We only stopped once, it was because I choked on a bug. It was gross, I had to get some water from a gas station. There was a good crowd of people who participated. There was a large age range, and I think there was a range in the seriousness of the riders as well. Thankfully, spandex was more scarce than I expected. I felt safe during most of the race. The best aesthetic part of the ride was seeing the beautiful homes. I plan on doing it next year, you should too. Oh yeah, thanks to the Whaleys for letting us borrow the helmets.


Erin and me at the race. As you may notice, we are representing Erin's place of employment, the Renaissance Group.










Pre-race. Seth, Erin and me.

MEMORIAL DAY

I realize I am about two weeks late, but better late than never. We had a great Memorial Day. Probably the best in recent memory. The Whaley's had us over to their new pad and we went swimming and enjoyed each others company before eating an evening meal. My attempt at grilling burgers in the HOOD with the Woods' earlier in the afternoon was interesting. Be that as it may, we had a good time. Here is a group picture to prove it.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?

I have seen the throwing of bases, covering the plate with dirt, face to face arguing. Rosin bag grenades are new to me.

NEW LIVING ROOM

We got our hands on another bookcase, so we (Erin) decided to change up our small space. Although, there is little to do, some was done. Erin amazes me with her space organization.









Erin preparing to work her magic.







The new "library".

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

I just finished "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley. In the forward of the 1946 printing he says:

"The greatest triumphs of propaganda have been accomplished not by doing something, but by refraining from doing. Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth."

For me to try and add to this would only take away from the wisdom, so I will leave it as is. If you have any thoughts, feel free to share.

PRAYER SHAW, SWEATER AND AN EMPTY LIFE

Here is the first "prayer shaw" that Erin knit for a ministry at Sycamore View.





This is Erin's second sweater. She made it a while ago, I have been slow updating the knitting process. I really like this one, with the buttons it looks like it came from the mall.


In a somewhat related story-Erin has a calender of knitting (big shock); within this calender was a quote that said, "Men who do not knit lead empty lives". So, I decided I was going to have Erin teach me how to knit. The lesson lasted about five minutes before I realized knitting is not for me. At least I now know what causes that empty feeling inside me.

VACATION DESTINATION

In mid-July Erin and I will be vacationing to Boston and Portland, Maine. While we are in Boston I hope to get tickets to the BoSox game and visit Harvard since I plan to go there for for my PhD work. One of those statements is not true. I will let you figure it out. I am looking forward to the relaxing atmosphere Maine will provide and the tradition that will be evident in Boston. Many people probably think we are weird for going on vacations to the northeast. That's OK, we are not the beach bum/Disney World type. More power to you if that is what you like. It just is not for us. I hope you (readers) are able to have a vacation that fits you this summer. If you would like to share your plans, please do.

PRIVILEGE OF LEARNING

I guess I will be ready to finish school when the time draws near. I guess I will be more excited when I can tell someone how close I am to finishing my degree. Right now I am not. I choose to recognize what I have right now as special. It is a privilege. There are few people who get the opportunity to be exposed to the depth of knowledge presented before me. I do not want to wish away my time here so I can hurry up and be done with it. I did that too much in my undergraduate experience. I took it for granted and did not fully expose myself to the once in a lifetime opportunities to expand my world. I realize that graduating is important to celebrate as an accomplishment, but I am not going to spend my whole time here looking forward to finishing. I am going to spend my time here soaking up all the chances to learn that I can. So please do not tell me how ready you are to graduate. Tell me something that you learned recently. Tell me how your world is being expanded and how God is shaping you. If you are getting none of these, why are you here after all? A piece of paper? I realize the importance of getting a degree to get into the "real world" to make a difference. The requirement of the degree is there for a purpose. All I am saying is to take advantage of the privilege set before you to learn.

FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES

Three of our downstairs neighbors are going to be moving soon.

The Shrock's are currently directly below us and soon they going even further down where everything is bigger- Waco, Texas. Chris, if you are reading this I expect a signed copy of your first book (with a dictionary and thesaurus). Chris and Danielle have been some of our closest friends here and we have done a lot of things together. I even visited Tulsa with them. I haven't told them yet but the other day I dropped a gallon of milk and the majority of it ran down into a pitcher they had outside, and some in their plant (whoops). Chris was the second person I met on campus on my visit.

The first person I met on my visit was Jason Whaley. The Whaley's are great people and are just moving off campus for a bit until they move to a really low place-Australia. Jason and I share a love for soccer, it is his fault that I injured my knee the second time because he coerced me into playing. OK it is not really his fault, but it has got to be someone's fault other than my own. One of the most memorable moments with the Whaley's was our picnic lunch, that was a good time. And how could I forget Jason and I entertaining the Coming Together crowd.

James and Andrea Wood have been on campus a shorter time and they are way across the courtyard so we do not share as many on campus stories. Although, it is worthy to note that James and I agreed on something Wednesday night. They are moving up and to our left across the country where they will be planting churches and coffee beans.

I am going to miss my friends below us. Harding community has been great so far. Nicole, I hope you are not crying.

ERIN THE KNITRESS

If you know Erin then you will find this hilarious. She has been reading a book that takes a humorous view of knitting. It is titled "At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much". As Erin was riding the stationary bike this morning she actually read this-"You know you knit too much when you seek out forms of exercise that you can do while knitting, such as riding a stationary bike". This is the exact reason Erin rides the stationary bike rather than running. She is currently working on a project that is not conducive to the stationary bike, hence the reading of the book. Traveling to hear knitting authors, reading knitting books, and fitting descriptions in knitting books. I am married to a hard core knitter.

I AM NOT IMPRESSED

I have been thinking lately about busyness. I think that the way people most try to show their importance is to tell someone how busy they are. I always hear the answer "staying busy" to questions about what is new with them. Sometimes people just come out and say "I am so busy" as a way of trying to impress other people. If you are planning on impressing me please do not tell me how busy you are. Instead, tell me how well you manage your time so you can spend time with your family, serve God, and rest your body properly. Tell me how you make sacrifices to cut things out of your life. That would impress me. Some people are busier than others. There are people with many more responsibilities than me. I am still not impressed by the fact that someone is busy, so please do not tell me that and expect me to be impressed. Prioritizing things in your life is much more impressive to me. Maybe this is easy for me to say since I currently do not have as many responsibilities as other people. Maybe I am just lazy. It could be that I am on to something. What if everyone slowed down and prioritized, cut things out of life that do not have to be there (have to would need to be taken for what it really means)? I wonder what that would be like. It would probably impress me more than hearing about being too busy.

AFRO MAN

It took a long time to pick out this 'fro.