- I grew up in Podunk.
- My great-grandmother was full blood Cherokee.
- I have forgotten my wife’s birthday…twice.
- I have been shot at … twice.
- The two items immediately above this one are not related.
- I had a pet alligator when I was a child. It escaped.
- One of my relatives was killed by an alligator.
- I hope that the two items immediately above this one are not related.
- My first car was a 1973 Capri.
- Some of my favorite books are children’s books.
- I almost died in a military aircraft accident.
- At one time I grew giant pumpkins as a hobby.
- My favorite scent is the smell of freshly poured cement and my second favorite is freshly cut lumber.
- I bought my first house when I was 16 years old. I sold it one week later for an 80% profit.
- I was mugged on the streets of London.
- I was almost responsible for a man being shot by President Carter’s Secret Service agents. Oops.
- Due to my propensity to be interested by a wide range of disciplines, I managed to take 220 college hours before ever receiving my undergraduate degree.
- I was a kindergarten drop-out.
- My first real kiss was at church camp.
- I got a spanking at my seven year old birthday party for pretending to hang myself.
- I drive a pickup truck, but I’m not an elitist about it.
- My favorite color recently changed from blue to scarlet.
- I once owned a car worth $1.84 billion.
- It’s embarrassing, so don’t tell anyone, but I really like those old Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies
- I married an exotic dancer.
- I have swam in a spring-fed river while there was snow on the ground.
- My first pet was a billy-goat named Timmy.
- I once slept for twenty-four straight hours without being under the influence of anything other than an exhausting schedule.
- My favorite food is a vine-ripened tomato.
- My favorite drink is raw milk straight from the cow.
- My favorite herb is cilantro, my favorite spice is crushed red pepper, and my favorite side is fresh bean sprouts. Yum.
- My favorite musician is Robert Cray.
- I once climbed Mount Baldy near Glorietta, NM in the pitch black of night.
- I end most days with a run and then into bed with a book of short stories.
- I won a beauty contest.
- My favorite restaurant is Fred and Red’s in Joplin, MO.
- The first magazine I ever subscribed to was the Weekly Reader.
- The first “big” book I ever read was Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. In many ways it it was influential in my developing love of reading.
- I have lived in four states that begin with the letter “M”. In alphabetical order I have lived in Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Iceland, Oklahoma, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas.
- When I married Susan I stopped watching sports on television. Her family had been big sports fans and she had always felt left out because she had no interest in television sports. I did not want her to feel left out in her own home so for the first twelve years of our marriage I never watched one game on television. I now watch televised sports in moderation.
- While abstaining from televised sports, I participated in an NFL Picks contest and had a better pick record than any of the ESPN experts.
- I quit my first adult job because they would not give me a nickel per hour raise. I could not have cared less about the nickel, it was the principle of the thing.
- I have once or twice pretended not to notice my child’s dirty diaper so my wife would change it. I know, I know, I am hanging my head in shame.
- We send some of our six children to public schools, some to charter schools and homeschool others. Educate in a way that makes sense for you and your family.
- My garage is a horrible, horrible mess.
- I would rather preach at a funeral than administer a wedding.
- I have clothes in my closet that are at least twenty years old. And, I still wear them.
- For two years I was the Master of Ceremonies for my high school’s talent contest. That was the last time I was master of anything.
- My ancestors started the first Baptist church in Texas back when it was part of Mexico and illegal to do so.
- I’m not sure exactly what my idea of a perfect day would be, but I would think it a really good day to rise early to drink really, really hot coffee while sitting next to Grand Lake of the Cherokees chatting with my wife while watching the sun rise above the horizon. Followed by several hours of quiet/private reading time and devotions. Then, wading and swimming with the kids and then all piling into my convertible for a trip to town for ice cream. Then a relaxing nap with an old fashioned water cooler blowing directly on me and a soft old ratty quilt to keep away the chill. Then, rising to grill some really nice steaks while the kids run and play on a giant lawn. An early evening watching a silly movie with the kids, then sitting on the porch and talking late into the night with my wife.
- I love to laugh out loud, and do so frequently, but very rarely around anyone except my wife and children.
- I do not like to talk on the phone because I want to see the person with whom I am conversing.
- I once applied for a job with the CIA. I could tell you about it, but then I’d have to kill you.
- When I baptized my son, Parker, in Lake DeGray, I did not get the very top of his head under the water, so I dunked him a second time.
- I traded name identification cards with another student at my junior college graduation so that they announced our names wrong to those assembled.
- I have experienced betrayal by someone I considered to be a close friend. It hurts.
- I enjoy immensely a steaming hot cup of coffee on a cold morning.
- I have noodled catfish with my bare hands.
- The most valuable class I have ever taken was “Typing.”
- I was valedictorian of my high school class.
- I own more books than the Library of Congress (well, … maybe not).
- Almost 50 years later, I can still taste the last unripened persimmon I bit into.
- My three siblings and I all graduated from different high schools.
- My third child was almost born in the car on the way to the hospital.
- I enjoy the company of those with whom I have little in common.
- I have fallen asleep while driving, bathing, talking, and eating but never while doing all four at the same time.
- After working to get into West Point, I declined the offer of a Congressional Appointment because I was in a relationship with a girl.
- For many years I would make up and tell my kids a new pirate story almost every night at the dinner table. Argh! Matey.
- I once fought a battle with the biggest-baddest Water Moccasin that ever lived. I finally admitted defeat and retreated after a 10-minute struggle.
- In college, I once went out with five different girls, on five consecutive nights and took them to the same restaurant where I was waited on by the same really cute waitress every time. I invited the waitress out on a date but she declined for some reason.
- I once had William Estep yell at me when I suggested that the Anabaptists were crisis theologians.
- On most days, if I had a choice between taking a nap and meeting the President of the United States, I would opt for the nap.
- I have on more than one occasion believed that I perceived an unseen presence while sitting with someone as they died.
- I sometimes regret that I never became a famous movie star. Steven Spielberg, are you listening?
- While playing golf in Joplin, MO I once hit the city manager’s car with a bad slice off the tee box.
- I hate to fly. I also hate to ride in planes.
- During one period of my life I lived almost exclusively on popcorn, pickels and buttermilk.
- I own a Xena, Warrior Princess doll.
- One of the most prized possessions I ever owned was an 1848 first edition of Edwin Wilhelm Hengstenberg’s Dissertations on the Genuineness of Daniel. I gave it away to a beloved friend back in 1993 and today I get much more pleasure from seeing it on the shelf in his living room than I ever received from owning it myself.
- I once rode the subway from East Point, GA all the way to Buckhead just to get an apple-cinnamon yogurt.
- I have had lots of “rides” but my favorite was a Suzuki GS 550L.
- I have seen a bear in the wild.
- I don’t believe in ESP, or anything like it, but I do believe the world and people are much more interconnected than we understand.
- During my first pastorate the little old ladies in the congregation called me “Brother Honey.” (That moniker should be read with a gentle southern accent.)
- I learned more about covert operations while working with a church youth group than I did in four years in the Air Force.
- I’m claustrophobic, so please move back just a little from your computer monitor.
- I watch the movie Groundhog Day over, and over, and over, and over, and ……..
- If I was going to write a parable about my life it would begin something like, “Once upon a time there was a pinball machine…”
- I like kaleidoscopes.
- I have never been to a bachelors party, but I did host a book shower for one of my students who was getting married.
- When I write for publication I always try to include a few sentences that are quotable.
- I once knew a Special Forces guy that I thought made James Bond look like a wimp.
- My favorite toys as a child were little plastic cowboys and Native Americans.
- I was told as a child that I did not sing well. So, I stopped singing out loud and rarely sing in public to this very day. However, I make up little songs that I sing to my wife and kids daily. (“O, good my lord, tax not so bad a voice To slander music any more than once.” Much Ado About Nothing, act II, scene III)
- I sometimes judge a book by its cover.
- In the fifth grade I told my social studies teacher to beware because I was a werechicken. Afterwards, I was stuck with the nickname “Chicken” until my family moved to another town.
- I always cry when I watch Toy Story 3 with my kids.
- Call me barbaric but I much prefer the cheap generic Kroger Party Pack chocolate chip vanilla ice cream to any of the premium brands.
- I like lists.
- I am married to the most beautiful, exciting, intelligent, witty, understanding woman I have ever known (yes, she reads my blog).
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