- Theodore Roosevelt

Dawn came home from school today for dinner but had to return for a group meeting. I hadn’t been to the gym today and decided to tag along. Might as well work out at the Duke gym instead of the little one at our apartment complex. I dropped her at the business school, worked out, then grabbed my bag and started walking.

And suddenly it is perfect. Dark sky but lots of street lights. Students literally everywhere. The chapel is glowing, all the way to the top. Me, I’m walking to the library to do some reading and some work that didn’t get done today. At Duke.

I’m 31 years old and unless I am surprised later in life, done with my formal education. While UVA was perfect and I wouldn’t dream of changing that experience, Duke was always my dream school. And here I am. Working out. Reading in the library. Enjoying a good bit of what Duke has to offer.

Tonight I finally began to appreciate it. In a short moment while walking across the campus, I finally got a sense of what a gift these two years are. Not just for Dawn but for me too.

Some nights are simply perfect.

The summer so far has been in a word, wild. We moved roughly three times. All our furniture to storage in Durham, the small things we needed to live in Portsmouth for six months, then finally everything into the new apartment down here. We took two great vacations; one road trip to New England (Bar Harbor, Cape Cod, Boston, Newport) and one relaxing stint with family at Myrtle Beach. Around all of that we both squeezed in work from time to time. But now we are settled in a new place and in full swing.

Here we go again…

Amazing to see all the different trips we have taken down here over the years and how many different people we have had with us. I found myself smiling as I remembered specific trips and dreaming of more to come. I also found myself pretty sad as I saw pictures of so many people we have lost touch with or who have left our lives for one reason or another.

Looking forward to creating more memories with people that I love. And probably with some people that we haven’t even met yet.

Dawn is going after an MBA from Duke with a focus on social entrepreneurship. My wife is awesome. And I’m betting big money on anything she wants to do when she wraps up this degree.

Me, I’m excited about a new town. New restaurants, new parks, new libraries. Same old Kroger. New neighbors for my cat to hide from. And new people to get to know with new ideas to mull over. Guessing that Durham will be as much a learning experience for me as it is for Dawn. Her learning will look a heck of a lot better on paper.

What makes me sad is leaving friends. I’m amazed as I think about the people we have gotten to know so well in the 757 over these past seven years. We love them. They keep us sane. We hope to hold onto them as we “visit” Durham for two short years.

And now I’m officially tired. But I made it to almost midnight so I get to wish a very happy birthday to my dad. He’s already been asleep for many hours but likely will be up pretty soon. And George, when you do wake up, I hope you’ll make a new list and start all over again. Almost 60 ain’t that old.

Today begins conference weekend for me which means over 200 students gathered together making a ton of noise and being challenged in their understanding of God and his kingdom. My staff team will be running a handful of tracks for students to spend the weekend going through; I am slated to give a talk on economic injustice.

Tough talk even to write. So far I am going away from a topical/information talk on the subject and towards a conversation about how trapping money can be. Thankfully there seem to be plenty of Scripture passages to pull from on this one. It seems that economic injustice exists in large part because so many have bought into the lie that money brings true happiness. Of course it is far easier to argue this point as one who has generally not lacked for money for my thirty years on this here globe.

The thought that brought on the title of this post was how challenging money is to talk about, especially within a Christian context. Speaking to college students about it actually feels much easier than in lots of other circles. Wonder why.

In the summer of 2004 I purchased my first new computer. After many years of dreaming, I entered into the Mac world with a brand new 12″ Powerbook G4. And what a new world it was. I was and continue to be completely blown away by how well the machine works. Over 6 years later and I have not had a single significant problem. I upgraded the RAM a few years back and recently had to order a new battery. Over 6 years later and I am typing this very post on it.

Last month I purchased my second Apple computer. This Powerbook is beginning to slow down and honestly there are simply new programs out that I love that will not run on it. My Powerbook was the last model to feature the Mac chips before they switched over to Intel innards. And now programs are being written that only run on Intel chips.

So I finally broke down and took the plunge, this time on a flashy desktop that is simply gorgeous. Apple has a refurbished store where they sell computers that have been returned within the 14 day window the offer buyers. These computers are guaranteed perfect and come with the full warranty. And mine came at $450 off.

My recommendation to you? For pure home computing joy, there is no longer any other realistic option. Next time you find yourself in the computer market, save up an extra few hundred dollars, and do yourself a favor. Get a Mac.

The idea is to support local farmers by providing them with an outlet for their produce. This allows them to compete better with the big boys and we like rooting for the underdog, especially in this case. We also get some amazingly fresh fruits and veggies out of the deal.

The absolute best part is that when you show up, it feels like you are literally getting all this great produce for free. They have boxes of varied items lined up with signs above each. They tell you what the item is (yes, this is very helpful for the occasional veggie you have never seen before) and how many to take.

Gala apples: 5
Acorn squash: 2
Pineapple: 1

I know we paid for all of this at the start of the ten weeks but it feels spectacular to walk in there and fill up your bag with all this great stuff. You also do not have to decide what to get; you just have to decide what to do with it. Instead of “What do you want to eat this week?” it is now “What do you want to do with this hubbard squash?” Thankfully they include recipes for the weirder stuff. Best surprise: a bag of edamame we boiled and and topped with a little salt. Restaurant quality appetizer.

As we get into the colder months, we have started receiving a good bit of squash, greens, and raspberries. We are certainly learning to eat a greater variety of vegetables, crucial for someone like myself who once was and often is still described as the vegetarian who does not like vegetables. In truth, my early days not eating meat meant substituting candy bars and waffle fries. I like to thank I am a little bit past that now.

For instance, at Chick-fil-a, I now pair a salad with my waffle fries.

In conclusion, look around for a CSA near you. If you have the option, I think it is at least worth trying for a season. If you happen to be a vegetarian like us, I suggest it with gusto.

Point being, sometimes I take too far the idea of doing things well. I love improvement and efficiency. I love long-term change. I am very comfortable developing people that I know will be developing for the rest of their lives.

And so sometimes it is nice when the goal is just to finish. This past Saturday Dawn and I took on the Wicked 10k down at the oceanfront. Now there are two important facts to remember; Dawn is a runner and I am not.

She used to knock out 10 miles just for fun on Saturdays in college. I used to visit Wendy’s twice a day. To me running is still not fun. Most of that is because it is not easy. It is hard. I am not good at it. And unfortunately, while I started training very well early this summer, that did not last in these final few months preceding the race.

And so it was tough. Really tough. I felt leg spasms coming on for the last half mile of the race that eventually got me after I crossed the finish line. Four days later I tried running and did not make it to a half mile.

Thankfully on race day I was entertained by amazing costumes. The winner for me were the two guys who did the Monty Python skit for the entire 6.2 miles. The lead guy galloped and the little guy behind him banged his two coconut halves together. Sound of the horse the lead guy was riding.

But I finished. I did not walk a single step. I have a cute little medal that is now proudly hanging in my garage. Yes, it took a little over an hour. But it is done and I liked not having to think about what I was doing. I just had to run which honestly was a nice break.

The whole idea of providing content rubs me the wrong way. I think about giving a talk or writing a book and it feels so counter-intuitive to me. My mind rarely organizes thoughts like that. What I get excited about is responding to thoughts of someone else. Helping them clarify. Challenging.

I have been meeting with most of my staff over the course of the last ten days. I make short lists of things to talk with them about and we usually cover everything we need to. But the reality is it is way more fun and way more helpful for me to show up and see what is going on with them that day. I serve people best by not bringing an agenda and being able to respond to where they are.

I met with one staff who was working on a track for our conference. They told me what they were thinking and then we kinda picked it apart. Reorganized a few pieces, added a new idea. Twenty minutes later the track looked solid, I wanted to sign up for it myself. And it is not like it was not good before, it really was. But now it is better and I think the students in that track will love the weekend a little bit more. I live for stuff like that, helping to make things a little better.

Anyone remember that BASF commercial from back in the 80s? We do not make alot of the products you buy; we make alot of the products you buy better. That is what I do. That is my gifting. My professional life at this point is developing campus staff workers. And my team is good. Really good. My job is to make them a little better.

So I keep showing up with a few talking points but really not much. I know that whatever they are thinking about is what they should be thinking about. Like I said, they are really good. I get to show them how to think about things a little bit differently. I ask alot of questions. I probe. My goal is to help them clarify what they are thinking, what they want to get across, what they want to see happen.

And then I do it again the next day. And I like it. Alot. More than I thought I would. Now if I could just learn to blog life would be complete.