16. Share the gospel with a stranger

My Community Group from church had an event this week to help us connect with Muslim folks in the area. The interfaith group, The Buxton Initiative, helped put it together and we had a pretty wonderful evening sharing food, fellowship, and discussing personal aspects of our respective faiths.

While we didn't sit down and start with Genesis and go through Revelation, it was great to instead be sitting around a table with folks in my community as we all chimed in to share the truth of the Gospel to which we cling, and to hear from the Muslims about their beliefs and personal faith.

I can't think of a non-cheesy way to say this, but it was incredibly heart warming to discuss these ultra-significant things with people I'd just met. And to hear how many similarities we have with them. It also helped me see my own faith with fresh eyes - what our distinctives are as Christians and how I can better understand and pray for Muslims that I meet.

We were, both Christians and Muslims, able to dispel a few misconceptions each group had about the other - I'll confess, I didn't know much at all about the specifics of Islam before that evening, so it was great to sit and listen to passionate and sincere Muslims talk about their faith, their frustrations, and hear them be encouraged to hear us talk about our faith as well.

I confess that I get too comfortable talking to those in my own circles and making assumptions about what they know or don't know about what I believe, and more importantly, about what God says about himself. It was great to hear "outsiders" discuss Christ and scripture - it stirred me up a bit and made me realize again what a gift our salvation is, and how I need to be returning again and again to scripture to cherish what God has given us in his Word.

I'm hoping these "strangers" can quickly become friends and that we can continue the good discussions we started this week with each other about those things that get to the core of who we are, why we're here, and what we believe and why.

73. Get a spicy chicken sandwich and milkshake from Chick-fil-a, and enjoy while reading either Southern Living or Garden & Gun

Because I am a fan of Garden & Gun on Facebook and follow them on Twitter,I get a heads up about what will be hitting my mailbox with each new issue.

Let's just say the last issue was highly anticipated - the music issue: concentration on bluegrass. And The Avett brothers on the cover - deeeeeeelightful!


So I thought it would be the best time to have a rendez-vous with my beloved Chick-fil-a, whom I also follow on Twitter.

Granted, there was snow on the ground outside, but it's never a bad time for a milkshake.

The players were assembled:


And so I indulged.

52. Do the 1000 piece puzzle that I have

3 day weekends hold so much potential....like President's Day Weekend -- in which I completed a 1000 piece puzzle.

Puzzles are really good exercises for your brain. They are tests of perseverance, patience, clarity of mind, concentration, focus, spatial reasoning, colorblindness, knowledge of animal shapes, how bad your eyesight is, how long you can sit in the same position, how much temptation to leave your apartment you can resist, and the list goes on and on.

The task:


The accomplishment:

92. Call in to a radio contest to try and win free tix to a concert

There are 2 radio stations between which I typically switch back and forth in my morning and evening commutes. One is a country station and one is a mix of..well...random songs created in order to rival the soft rock station. It's called Fresh FM. It's not fresh, but it's all the songs that got stuck in your head over the past 10-15 years.

So, I always hear about concerts on the country station, but 8 times out of 10, they don't say the phone number when it's time for ticket giveaways, they just say "call in now...we'll take the 9th caller!"

1 time out of 10 they will say the number and I won't be able to get my phone in time to push the power button at the top, slide the unlock button, pull up the keypad, and enter the number before they finish saying said number, and I have been so focused on getting the phone that I've forgotten the number. I love my Droid, but it was not designed for making quick phone calls while driving.

But then there is the remaining 1 time out of 10 when the stars align: My phone is sitting on my leg because I've been checking my work e-mail (ummm...only at stoplights...or..something). The DJ announces the call-in number, and I have time to enter it into my phone, then she says she'll take the fifth caller, and I dial, hoping hoping hoping to win tickets to............a Keith Urban concert...mehh. Oh well, it could be fun.

So I dial, and I get a busy signal. Hang up, redial, busy signal. Hang up, redial, busy signal. Hang up, redial, busy signal.

My brain starts to wander to how Keith Urban has really girly hair and how he an Nicole Kidman used to go to the Starbucks by my house in Nashville.

And I stop the redial game, because I have lost this call-in contest. And because I'm operating a motor vehicle and should really focus on driving.

But, I have succeeded at completing another item on my 101 list.

74. Make a list of movies I’ve wanted to see, and rent/watch them all

Yes, it is this face that I used to watch on "Even Stevens" on the Disney Channel. And yes, I was arguably too old to be watching it, and enjoying it. I don't know whether it's just because we didn't have the Disney Channel growing up, or if I just cling to childhood humor, but in college I started getting hooked on the made-for-tv Disney movies (Motorcrossed, anyone?). That lead to me often flipping over to that channel, and often found me landing on Even Stevens. Shia LaBeouf played the younger, goofball brother on the show, and I loved it. I thought he was funny and entertaining, and made the show pretty likable.

Flash forward a few years, and I now have a full fledged crush on Shia. Much to my chagrin, I think most of the movies he's been in are kinda terrible (see: Disturbia, Transformers) but I still see them anyway. So, when I heard that Wall Street was getting good reviews, I tried not to get too excited.

But then I really wanted to see the movie because of its cultural relevance - set amidst the real life economy of 2008 in the US. So, last weekend I was able to watch the movie, and I must say, I was really impressed. Shia did a great job and though it was slightly predictable at parts, I'd say still worth seeing. It's no Even Stevens, but I'll take it.

27. Cook my way through Paula Deen’s cookbook, “The Lady and Sons Cookbook”

pepper steak.

not a fan.

74. Make a list of movies I’ve wanted to see, and rent/watch them all

So my friend Maggie and I went to go see this gem and there was only one other female in the theater. Needless to say, we were the most audible of the audience: Laughing at clever Coen brothers' lines and squirming at the violent and grotesque parts.

As Maggie put it on Sunday "The more I think about this movie the more I realize how much I enjoyed it."

It really was that good.

Do yourself a favor and check it out.

I might even check the book out if I get around to finding time to read much again.