Well, I'm not dead

This is the position in which I spent much of vacation. This is me in stick form, sprawled out on a snow-covered mountain in varying degrees of consciousness. Notice all appendages still attached and in relatively normal alignment, though notably hypothermic.

New Hampshire, the magic kingdom

I must say, I don't understand all those crazy Yanks who say, "I hate snow. It's fun for one day and then after that, it's just dirty slush." Whatever. I'd like to banish them to a world without snow. Deep down, they'd hate it. I've spent my whole life in the south with the yearly threat of a half centimeter of accumulation that sends the whole world to the grocery store to pick up extra milk and bread (for milk sandwiches). Of course, that snow doesn't happen and I'm left with only disappointment.
But New Hampshire isn't like that. In March, they say it's gonna snow, and it snows. They say it's gonna be sunny, and it snows a little, and then the sun comes out. It's like extended Christmas. Where else in the world can Owen build an imaginary girlfriend to make out with? (I'm sure that picture wasn't posed) Where else can people hurdle themselves down a mountain with one or two boards strapped to their feet for at least 5 months out of the year? Sure, there are a lot of places like that...and their awesome.

God's Provision

In my Bible study, we are learning about the different names God is given in his Word. The last one that we studied was Jehovah-jireh, which translates "The Lord will provide." Not provide like, "ooh, I sure would love to have an i-phone," but more like "I need you to work in my life right now before I scream or cry or succumb to staring mindlessly at the television all day." And the first thing that popped into my mind to share with my Bible study was how God has always provided me with amazing friendships, no matter where I go. I have been blessed to be surrounded by incredible women in Chapel Hill, Winston-Salem, Santa Cruz, Norfolk, and I'm sure many cities to come. The three ladies with me above are some of my dearest friends here in Norfolk. Marybeth, Joanna, and Christianne have all blessed me in countless ways. If you don't have people like that in your life, I encourage you to make yourself vulnerable and allow God to shower them on you. It's not easy making friends. It brings out all of your insecurities. You stress about whether you're cool enough, whether they think what you said was stupid or lame, whether they'll ever want to hang out with you again because that story you just told was not nearly as funny as you thought it was. Who cares? Make a fool of yourself. It's totally worth it. Trust me.

Life or Death

My sister, Amanda, is an elementary school teacher and recommended the young adult novel, The Giver, so I read it earlier this week. Wonderful book. I don't care how old you are, you need to read this if you haven't. What led me to the blog though is the ending. I'm not going to give it away, but I will say that you could interpret it as a happy or sad ending. The author is very ambiguous. This reminded me of another ambiguous ending--Tim McGraw's song, Don't Take the Girl. If you've known Will and I long enough, you probably know that we have a ten year disagreement regarding this song. And now I want your opinion. Since I want you to be a well-informed jury, you'll find the lyrics below.

Don't Take The Girl

Johnny's daddy was taking him fishin', when he was eight years old. A little girl came through the front gate holdin' a fishing pole. His dad looked down and smiled, said we can't leave her behind. Son, I know you don't want her to go, but someday you'll change your mind. And Johnny said, take Jimmy Johnson, take Tommy Thompson, take my best friend Bo. Take anybody that you want as long as she don't go. Take any boy in the world. Daddy, please don't take the girl.

Same old boy, same sweet girl, ten years down the road. He held her tight and kissed her lips in front of the picture show. Stranger came and pulled a gun, grabbed her by the arm, said if you do what I tell you to, there won't be any harm. And Johnny said, take my money, take my wallet, take my credit cards. Here's the watch that my grandpa gave me. Here's the key to my car. Mister, give it a whirl. But please don't take the girl.

Same old boy, same sweet girl, five years down the road. There's going to be a little one, and she says it's time to go. Doctor says the baby's fine, but you'll have to leave. 'Cause his momma's fading fast, and Johnny hit his knees, and there he prayed, Take the very breath you gave me. Take the heart from my chest. I'll gladly take her place if you'll let me make this my last request. Take me out of this world. God, please don't take the girl.

Johnny's daddy was taking him fishin', when he was eight years old.

I'm not going to tell you who's on which side, no bias allowed. Does the girl die? No pressure, just know that one of us is going to be mad at you.