The project has begun

So I’m gonna do something that only I would consider doing, and that’s making a list of my Top 100 College Memories. Of course, I cannot complete this project until college itself is done, and for our purposes that means with the acceptance of my diploma next May. There is a page created in the right menu bar that will be a place for me to talk about the project as I brainstorm, and also a place for YOU (my friend or bored internet-surfer) to suggest your favorite memories with me. Then, after the memories have been brainstormed and cut to 100 even, I will rank them all! Muwahahaha! Ambitious? Yes. Crazy? Yes. Awesome? Heck yes.

For a quick sample, here are five memories that will find their way onto the list…

–During the Olympics, us freshman guys at the BCM had much fun watching the US Women’s Curling Team in action. Hello Johnson sisters, you can sweep me away any day.

–This year, Matt Scoggins, KCJ, and myself defied logic and won a game in the 3-on-3 tournament. Matt and I didn’t miss a jumper all night, and KCJ shot this in when in counted.

–Alyssa and I were chilling in the YAK one night when I saw shadows out on our deck. We live in the ghetto so I thought we were about to die, but when I opened the door to the deck I couldn’t believe what I saw. Yes, it’s still there, and I have no plans to move it.

–A late night walk with Kyle Hawes all around the UK campus, specifically the area behind CSF, late in my sophomore year as we talked about life, the universe, and everything. We were walking to a baseball game just recently and reminded me that we took a walk around that area once.

–The paranoia for UK hockey was taken to another level when several of us went to Knoxville to watch UK beat UT on the ice during our sophomore year. However, this trip will be known for Robert selling his sister’s phone number to Kyle for half a sandwich. But it was a Jersey Mike’s sandwich, and they are so darn good that it was likely a fair deal.

That’s five, now only 95 more to think about…

This might look like I’m bragging on myself…

…but I really don’t care. At Sunday school last week, we had a Bible trivia contest and I won, naturally. The prize for winning was a $10 gift card to Starbucks. Now me and coffee don’t really mix that well, but I could have bought several white chocolate mochas or taken out some sweet pastries if I really wanted to. But when it comes down to it, do I really need it? Do I need that gift card to survive? Last week at 608, Jon Weece talked about how many “extra” things he has…he opens up his closet and sees two jackets, four pairs of tennis shoes, etc. We as a society focus so much on quantity and forget about the quality of necessity. Sure, I won that Starbucks gift card and I was proud of doing so (especially the beating Robert part in sudden death), but did I need that Starbucks gift card? Heck no.

So I decided to march down to Phoenix Park, which for you non-Lextonians is a place where many of the city’s homeless like the spend their time, in order to give the card to someone who needed it. I decided to do this shortly after Sunday school, but I never did. I felt like just walking down there and giving out a card would be awkward and I would feel uncomfortable, so five days went by with me storing that card in my wallet along with the rest of my plastic monies. This is not to say that I didn’t look for anyone to give my card to, but I never found a situation where I thought God was calling me to give that card away. So I kept it until I felt the time was right…because I knew that God would show me an opportunity where that card would help someone out to an incredible degree.

I got home from work today, and I picked up a movie I had just bought along with my backpack full of books that I had purchased over the past week. As I’m walking toward the YAK, I approach a woman from behind who looks to be drinking something. At that moment, I make a promise to God that states if she’s drinking coffee, I will give her the card. I catch up to her, but as I do, she turns away to where I cannot see what she’s drinking without looking like a creeper. I keep on walking, but I remember I forgot to lock my car. I run back to Wallace and lock him, but as I pass the woman, I see that she is indeed drinking coffee from McDonald’s. Well then, I say to God, I guess this is it. I come back to the woman and ask her if she’d like to have a $10 gift card to Starbucks. And that smile that swept across that woman’s face was something I will never forget. She slid over to me and gave me a huge hug and introduced herself as Anna. Anna is homeless and is being helped by the Salvation Army right now, but you wouldn’t have known it by that smile.

It’s just a saying, “God Bless You,” but Anna kept saying it to me for the one minute I talked to her. Do we really believe that if we attempt to live as Jesus did, then we can count on God to bless us? Now here’s the tricky part, are we acting like Jesus in order to secure these blessings for ourselves or are we acting like Jesus because we are totally and radically in love with Him that we WANT so desperately to be as He was? That’s the battle I fight when I do acts like these. Is it worse to act selfishly or not act at all? Lord knows we all want God’s blessings.

But the fact of the matter remains: if you are reading this, you have computer access and likely have more things in life than you really need. I want to challenge you to do something today. Find something that you have that you like but do not need, and give it to someone who would benefit much more from it. And don’t just give it to Goodwill or the Salvation Army, but physically FIND someone to give it to. By doing so, God will bless you…at the very least, you will see a smile that will light up the world.

Jesus, let’s hang out

You know, I have started thinking a lot about how life would be different if Jesus were a physical being in our world today. I have spent some moments of this summer already in loneliness, especially at the YAK while Andrew is at work and Robert is gone. I sit in the living room, which earlier this year seated 24 people during American Gladiators, and I am amazed and disappointed with the quiet and the stillness. It’s moments like this that I wish I could see and touch Jesus in front of me, while he sits on the couch and watch FOX News (you know he would) or playing the Playstation. I want to go play golf with Jesus and have him sit shotgun in Wallace while we drive around Lexington and talk about life. I know Jesus is with me always, but sometimes just knowing that isn’t good enough.

My challenge is to recognize Jesus in other people, places, and things around me. Jesus is too BIG to fit inside our five senses. Even though I wish at times I could hang out with Jesus like he was any other guy, this just isn’t the case. I would be safe in saying that I have few friends that could do this…I am laying in bed the other night and feeling very restless and uncertain about what this summer will bring me, and I pray to Jesus to give me a calming peace. At once, my whole body goes numb and my bed reaches up and swallows me, and peace washes over me. There’s no friend of mine that can do that. So while Jesus may not be what I want out of a friend at times, He comes back and shows me that He never leaves me and takes care of my every need. That’s best friend material right there.

Welcome to Ben Thoughts

Modeled after one of my heroes in life, Creed Bratton, Ben Thoughts will exist to let you know my thoughts about trends, society, politics, and life in general. I know many of you always clamor to know what I think about a certain subject, so let this blog serve as an early Christmas present. Hopefully this will serve as a forum to discuss life’s most important topics, but it also could be a place to tell me how wrong my opinions are. I must say, I keep my opinions about certain things to myself quite often…but I type faster than I talk so I don’t think that will be a problem here.

As further tribute to my hero, here’s a video compilation of some of his greatest moments…