Five things friday

Happy Friday, my frozen friends (at least if your temps are anything like the single digits they are here!) Here are some things for you...

1. WHAT CAN I GET YOU?

I renewed my servers license earlier this week, so for at least another three years I can sell/serve alcohol and tobacco. Previously I had a simple 'Volunteer Servers Permit,' which only costs $15 for three years, but was only good as a volunteer. This time I got the regular Employee Permit ($45 for three years), so I could possibly get a job at a liquor store, bar or restaurant... if I wanted. You just never know.

The worst part of this is watching the Indiana Server Training Program video and taking the test. It took me 90 minutes, and was the same exact video/test I did three years ago. The funniest part is the lady from the coalition against underage drinking (or something) who presents her part from her bed! Her headboard is the backdrop behind her. Haha. Apparently it was recorded during the covid shutdown... so, naturally, you do your presentation while in bed! Ha!

2. BETTER QUESTIONS

I'm a sucker for these conversation-starter questions (even though I'm still terrible at conversations). Anyhew, I appreciated this list of 80 Interesting Questions to Ask Besides "How Are You?". Here are a few:

• What’s the best thing that happened to you today?
• What are you most looking forward to this week?
• What’s the last thing that made you laugh out loud?
• What’s been on your mind recently?
• If you got a do-over, what would you do differently this month? This year?
• On a scale of 1 to 10—with 10 being the best—what’s your current state of mind?
• What word describes your life right now, and why?
• Who or what always cheers you up?
• What made you smile today?
• What is the weirdest thing you saw on your commute?
• Is there anything you did today that you’d love to do every day?
• Which song would be the perfect theme for your day?
• Who made your day easier today?
• What’s one way you aim to make tomorrow better than today?
• Do you have any fun trips planned?
• What podcast are you currently obsessed with?
• What new movie or TV show should I check out? Which one is overrated?
  
• What could you give a TED Talk on with zero prep?
• What are you most looking forward to this year?
• What was the best thing that happened in school today?
• What was the most surprising thing you learned today?
• Who did you help today? Who helped you?
• When did you feel the most bored?
• What was the hardest thing you did today?
• If you could give your teacher one suggestion, what would it be?
• What made you laugh the most today?
• What is something you know now that you didn’t know yesterday?

There's plenty more at the link, but you get the idea. By the way, how are you? ;) 

3. MORE THAN RUNNING INDOORS

Yes, I did my 12-mile run on a treadmill today. It went about like you would think running 12 miles on a treadmill would go. Not great. I couldn't get my ear buds to work, so it was all done from the back row at the downtown Y I used to work at. Plus, I had a couple vials of blood sucked from my veins by the doctor yesterday, and I'm sure that didn't help. I was beat. Ugh.

However, when I arrived there were 15 other people there, and 13 of them greeted me by name. That makes a difference to someone like me, you know. And others came and went that I knew also. I really do need to get out more, and as they say at the Y (or at least they used to) - it's more than just a gym. It felt good to be noticed, greeted, and to be among friends.

4. READING

I mentioned earlier this week that I finished reading Slow Theology, by A.J. Swoboda and Nijay Gupta. What a gem. While it seems a lot of non-fiction books anymore start off well and then kind of fizzle towards the end (like they had already said what needed saying in the first couple chapters, but they needed more pages)... this one is the opposite. It started off a little slow to me (no pun intended), but boy did it end well. It got better as it went, from start to finish. Well done.

I have now started reading Make Sense of Your Story, by Adam Young. He presented a workshop at our church this past November on the contents of this book, and I want to dig deeper. After this I intend to look into some videos and other resources at the Allender Center (as well as some Jay Stringer stuff). I am finding all this very helpful right now...

5. QUOTE FOR TODAY

"The challenge of any chaotic moment is to not lose touch with the voice of Jesus." - A.J. Swoboda & Nijay Gupta, p.177, Slow Theology

 

**Bonus - This is what I'd like to do (if I did anything, and had the funds, and a building...): A listening bar. Play good music on nice sound equipment, have comfy furniture, good wine and coffee/tea, and a smooth vibe.

 

Alrighty... that seems to be about enough for this Friday. Although... I did pass my annual physical this week (more on that later), and I've switched up house-cleaning day from Friday to Thursday. So, now all I need to do is take a shower (this is becoming more of a priority by the minute), and then maybe some meditation to the J.J. Cale channel on Pandora (which I have been digging lately).

Keep the faith, friends... and your fanny from freezing!