I found out last week that the sister of a woman who comes to our home community (whom I met at a wedding) thinks that I used to be a cool kid! No seriously, her impression of me was that I was like the cool kid jock in high school that everyone loved! The reason it came up was because she was wondering what my dad was like and how my dad would have approved me, the cool kid, marrying a hippie girl!
This is the best day of my life! (I hope you can tell my be excessive use of exclamation points that I’m very excited about this news).
The next bit of identity news is that while at a store last week a guy came up to Jessica, Matt (one of the associate pastors at Renovatus), and myself and asked if we knew the Lord! Do you know what that means? It means that we don’t look like church goers. It means that we look like our neighbors! Why am I excited about this you ask? Well it’s just that we’ve decided that when the Bible says to be in the world but not of the world I don’t think it’s refering to clothing and hair styles but rather a way of living and loving. Anyway, while I’m cool with wearing shirts that proclaim the gospel message, I don’t feel as though t-shirt evangelism is the most effective type…I could say more about this but I feel as though it’s distracting from my excitement!!!
Here’s the dealio yo: In Jr. High I carreid around a cork head. Yep. No need to explain much because it won’t really help. I had a head made of balsa wood that had a face carved in it. And I carried it around. Me and two of my freinds had micky mouse hats with the three stooges names on the back…I’m not sure why…In high school and all thorugh my college years I had a pickeled shark that I named Alan Cornell Jr. I didn’t get my drivers liscence until I was 17 and in the mean time my dad dropped me off at Clark College in either the churches big fifteen passenger van or in our old beat up truck that was painted to look like the galaxy. Need I say more? I was not and am not the cool kid! In no shape, way, or form am I or have I ever been even near the cool kid…maybe I’ll do that Drew Barrymore or Billy Madison thing and go back to school and try to relive it as the cool kid…maybe not…but for now I’m going to revel in the thought that there are two people in the world that think I look cool. I’m pretty sure Jesus would be proud.
if I were Jesus, I'd totally want to be your friend.I'm proud that you have changed so much. Not that you were strange (but really…. a pickled shark?), but as someone who is older and hasn't really changed a whole lot– better or worse– i'm proud to be The Cool Jock Guy Ryan's friend.I'm sorry you have to be friends with the bitchy scene girl.crap.
I would like to point out another weird thing you did. You wore a santa hat everywhere. Not at Christmas time. Anytime. Just add it to the list. There were a few times in my younger years where I actualy thought I might almost be coolish…but now when I look back, I am SO embarrsed. I was a huge terd.
What? Just because your dad wore a one piece (like with staps over the shoulders) bathing suit in high school – and i would only wear denim dresses and skirts for about 5 years – Well, what can i say.marm
Cool? You WERE cool? You ARE cool? You aren't cool? You will be cool? I don't get it. Who DOESN'T wear a Santa hat? What's weird?Dad(Hey! I finally re-made a new identity for Mom!)
I guess I should have clarified that in no way do I believe that I'm cool now. I mean, I still put my highlighters up my nose while I read (even if nobody else is home), I still roll up my jean pants because it's more comfortable, I'm definitely not cool nor do I really want to be…but I'll take what I can get I guess.
I'm pretty sure that it makes you even cooler that almost half your comments are from your parents.
and the other half are from midge…
I really hated it when you would wear a sock and a shoe on one foot with nothing on the other. How unbalanced is that?! Maybe it's like sticking one foot out of the covers to help regulate your temperature. But I don't really think so. Remember when all Tara's friends wanted to play with me instead of her? Maybe I was cool, then. Now she has 40 blog friends and I have four. Not so cool.
Ouch Jen, ouch. That cuts to the core…except for that I have forty blog friends, that part is glorious and is my payback for you stealing all my friends.
I noticed that the only comments on this post were from people who are related to you (Midge counts since she's been adopted and all), and I wanted to make you feel like you have someone who will talk to you even though they aren't related to you. A friend, if you will.I don't have much to add to this discussion, except to agree that you were definitely not a cool kid. But that's a good thing, almost every cool kid I knew was a jerk who cared more about their image than other people and their feelings. So, no, you weren't cool, but that's not an insult. You were an interesting kid–and that's good, interesting gets better mileage.