When I Need to Break into a Laugh...

Chicken nuggets lady can do it every time!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZDIsCMLbPE

Ignore the racist comments added onto what is supposed to be just a vocal tape.

What I Love About Fall

Slowly, but surely Fall is becoming my favorite season. Or at least I think. Here is what I LOVE about Fall in no particular order:

1) Pumpkin spice lattes and frappachinos from Starbucks

2) Listening to Nickel Creek

3) October Birthdays: My Bday is the first day of the month and I share the month with my Dad, Uncle Bryan, Cousin Anna, Uncle Guy, Bama (who is no longer with us) and our new edition is my sister's dog Ava

4) I love the Autumnal Leaves

5) Louisburg UMC's Fall Festival complete with homemade Brunswick stew that you can freeze to use throughout the Fall and Winter

6) The Lexington Barbecue Festival--Small town festival, state's largest one day festival. Celebrate with top Country music, arts and crafts, and oh yeah...barbecue!

7) Football season begins to require a sweatshirt and basketball season (which I consider its own season) begins

8) Nick, our black cat, gets to be Mom's favorite decoration for Halloween

9) I LOVE to pig out for Thanksgiving dinner

10) Gotta love the Macy's Day Christmas Parade!

11) The cool breeze on a warm day and crisp Carolina sky

12) I finally get to start wearing my favorite clothes: jeans and sweaters!

13) Leaf piles: A photo shoot with Bama or a pile to jump in provided by Dad

14) Buying produce at the Farmer's Market

Social Location

So in honor of St. Wacker of Duke, I must give you my social location. To understand my natural biases and assumptions, one must understand social location: where you're coming from. As a history major this was key to everything I learned in Undergrad.

So who am I?

I grew up in smalltown NC. In the home I lived a relative middle class existence, though going to right church and having the right friends or connections would morph you into a locus of power that controlled both social and political life in town. I had some of those connections--although I both hated and longed for it growing up.

Grew up Methodist. In my absolutist stage I liked the Baptists (although I still do to a degree). My theology box could probably be identified through my involvement with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Yet I have found that I have hung out with a lot of Presbyterians. And now I attend a predominately Wesleyian (though definately not all) Seminary. Some may say that I've come full circle.

So that should explain that I am theologically conservative and socially liberal. But of couse, that is not all of the reasons.

For college I moved to Asheville, a liberal and academic University. So yes, I like to recycle, to wear Crocs, and do a number of other things that would be identified as tree-hugger.

Now I live in Durham. I've been both a public and private school teacher before Seminary.

So hopefully this identifies much of where I am coming from, but do realize that my social location does not always define me as I struggle against it at times.

Entering a New World

Finally! I have a blog! I think this is the first form of technology that I can safely say that I like...hopefully I won't change my mind about that in the the next few months. I will begin by answering a few questions.

Why am I creating a blog?
Being a writer at heart, I can create entries for the public without having to worry about grammar and a grade. I would have loved to create a blog when I was teaching in public school, but there are way too many laws involved with that. However, now that I am Divinity School at Duke I have found that I want to comment on what we are learning and how I am processing all of it. As a random person, I find myself contemplating extremely random yet interesting ideas. A blog would create a great place for comments and thoughts. So yes, please comment to keep the ideas flowing! And I must say that my life typically ends up being very interesting...so some things I just can't keep to myself.

What might you find on my blog?
If you read about the name of my blog, you will find that most of my posts will probably pertain to some aspect of the Christian life. And although it sounds very narcissistic, it will probably pertain to me and my life much of the time. So last week I began to think about what state I am in on the race. I am exhausted from a few sprints that I wasn't really ready for after bad injuries in a fall, but I am jogging along none the less. But this time as I'm jogging, I've noticed that I've begun to see faces in the crowd--the cloud of witnesses--who are cheering me on in faith. Since I'm in Div school getting to know some of these people who have come before me, I expect to make a number of posts on the cloud of witnesses. As an M.T.S. student, there may be a few theology or bible posts. Although my blog will take a Christian point of view, I invite those of all points of view to share in my experiences and to make comments.