All posts by Kevin D. Hendricks

Finals are Coming & Tim’s Back

Ah the joy of finals week. I have to be up in six hours, and I really don’t care. I suppose that’s better for you, because then I don’t worry about how late it is and how I should be sleeping, when instead I’m sitting here typing away about nothing. Yeah, point proven.

You know what? My desk is a mess. I think when I get busy, all organizational skills go out the window. I just throw everything on or near my desk, and it just piles up. It was getting to a point today where you couldn’t distinguish the desk from the floor. It was just one big heaping pile in the corner. Papers flowing everywhere, kind of like the rolling hills of the Appalachian Mountains. I shoveled some of it farther into the corner to appease my roommate, but it’s still a mess. Oh well, I’m all done Tuesday night, and I can start the sifting process then. I’ll be interested to see what’s actually in the lower strata. Probably an over due library book or two.

In other fun and exciting news, one of my good friends and roommates returned to school today. He’s been in England for the past semester, and he came back for a few days to hang out and pick up the rest of his stuff. I think the best comment I’ve heard so far is when somebody said, “Hey Tim, you’re back. Say something English.” For me it clicked that Tim was back when he stretched out on the floor with a pillow. All that was missing was a book he was way behind in reading. Welcome home Tim, it’s good to have you back.

Red Wings vs. Avalanche

In less exciting news, the Red Wings are in trouble. I watched game five of their best of seven series with the Colorado Avalanche this afternoon. Don’t worry Mom, I was doing homework at the same time. The game was pretty poor. The Wings lost 3-0. Now they’re down 3-2 in the series, and facing elimination Tuesday night. The back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions are facing elimination. It’s not even the Conference finals yet. Needless to say, I’m a little worried. But I do have faith that my team can pull through. We’ve come back from behind before. The only sad part is that I have a final during Tuesday night’s game, and I may not be on hand to cheer the Wings to victory. Darn being away from home during the playoffs.

Why Do We Put on Big Church Events?

So why do you do what you do? Why do you read your Bible? Why do you pray? Or why don’t you, for that matter? Why does your church have church services? Why do you have mission trips? Why do you put on a Vacation Bible School?

I was wondering these things during Vespers tonight. It seems that too often we put stuff like this on just because that’s what we’re supposed to do. We have worship services every Sunday, that’s why we’re having one today. We put on a big VBS production every summer, that’s why we’re doing one this year. I was thinking that it’s kind of sad if that’s what we reduce it to.

Is anybody sitting down and really thinking about your summer Bible School? Are you planning it because you want to bring in neighborhood kids and tell them about Jesus, or is it just your volunteer activity for the month? The kids deserve more than that. The world deserves more than that. God deserves more than that.

The world looks at me and wonders why. The kids I graduated with will wonder why I went to a Christian school. They’ll wonder why I started that Bible Study. Hopefully they’ll wonder why I acted the way I did, although I can’t help but wonder if I acted any different then anybody else. They’ll wonder why I write what I do. Why does he do that? What does he see in this Christianity stuff? I can’t let my answer be seen in some half-hearted, doing it because that’s what I’m supposed to do way. Do everything you can to the best of your ability, not just to meet the pastor’s expectations. Not just to fit the bill of the typical summer program. Do it to give the best answer you possibly can to a watching world.

Their eyes are filled with wonder, their hearts of full of questions. Provide them with answers, not more questions.

“It’s not supposed to be like this.”
“It’s not supposed to be anything.” (from the movie Pleasantville)

What’s Behind the Fine

How are you?

I’m fine.

What secrets lie behind your fine? What’s hiding underneath your mask? We put up such a façade, and for what? To show people that we’re better than we really are? I don’t struggle. I don’t have problems. I don’t have any pain. Everything’s okay. It’s alright. I’m fine. How are you? I really don’t care, it’s just common courtesy. Do you really want to know how I’m doing? Do you really want me to be transparent? Or would you just like to exchange niceties with my current mask?

End of the Semester

The stress and craziness and hecticness of finals is deafening. It’s starting to weigh me down, and it makes you want to crawl back into bed. It makes me want to bury my head in someone’s lap and ignore it all. But the end is almost here. Almost.

I put out my last Table Tent of the year today. It feels good to be done, one less thing I have to do in this crazy week. I have had a blast doing it though. Today I was quite surprised to find two boxes of cookies in my P.O. People actually listened to my plea for “comments, suggestions, or cookies.” I suppose I did beg a little bit. I’ve received a lot of encouraging comments about the Table Tent in the past week, and it really helps. It’s so nice to have a place to ‘show off’ your writing. Which I suppose is what this is.

Sorry it’s not too deep today. It’s the end of the semester, you’re lucky I’m still here.

Seeing God in Those Eyes

I see so much when I gaze into those deep, brown eyes. I see dreams. I see joy. I see happiness. I see hope. I see love. I see a child. And I know she takes that as the compliment it is. My spirit is running wild, and I so much want it to be free. I hold her hand in mine and run. Not to any where in particular, just to run. To feel the air in our lungs, to leap over the puddles, to feel that exhilaration that is life. I feel so free and open. The world is before me, and I’m ready to challenge it. I may only be one small voice, but I will be heard. It’s sprinkling outside, and we’re getting wet. But it doesn’t matter. We stand on the landing, under the lights, holding each other close. Her sweet breath warms my face as our lips touch. This moment could last forever. This morning seems so faraway. Just how can people float through life in such a drunken stupor when it’s so much more? Did you accomplish anything in that distance? Or are you content in letting life be less? I look into those eyes, and I know that life is more. I know I didn’t evolve from the film growing on the top of the puddle I just stepped in. I know God is there, and I know he loves us. He loves us unbelievably. I can look into those eyes and know that he is. Can you feel it? Don’t you see? Open your eyes like a little child. See the love. Hear the joy. Feel the hope. Open your eyes and be free.

“And he said, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'” Matthew 18:3-4 NIV

“But Jesus called the children to him and said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.'” Luke 18:16-17 NIV

“‘What do you want me to do for you?’ ‘Lord, I want to see.'” Luke 18:41 NIV

The Rain Falls

The rain falls in a steady beat, dripping rhythmically outside, only adding to my sleepiness. The downpour, thunder, and lightning that we’d all like to see never come, it’s just the quiet trickle of rain that hardly warrants a jacket. It’s not even enough to be annoying. Standing there for a moment, time seems to be suspended. If only it were. I could stay there forever, so dreamlike and serene. I step to move away, and like waking up from a dream, I almost trip down the stairs. What a dream, Lord. Just keep me in touch with reality. Is it wrong to slip into my own little heaven?

Shel Silverstein Dies and Writing

The thunder echoes outside, and my thoughts overflow with ideas. Where to begin, where to begin?

Shel Silverstein died today at the age of 66 from a heart attack. You probably remember some of his books of poetry, A Light in the Attic, or Where the Sidewalk Ends, with the silly illustrations. I remember them from second grade, and reading about the man with two heads, complaining that when ‘I want tea, he has to pee.’ The best children’s writers seem to be a little out there.

Speaking of writing, what do you think of the piece I wrote for the Table Tent in yesterday’s pondering? I had a lot of fun writing that. This weekend I read another small chunk of L’Engle’s Walking on Water (nope, I’m not done yet), and what stood out to me was how we are losing the ability to equate work with play. When kids play, they play hard. They play intently. They’re actually doing work. How come we can’t work like that? Well, while writing that piece, I worked. And I had a blast. L’Engle also talked about how writing is tough and you really have to work at it sometimes. She said that so many books out there are just rough drafts. Well, I usually settle for rough drafts, but I raked this thing over with a fine tooth comb and tweaked everything to make it sound right. It’s certainly not perfect, but it’s a lot better than the way it was. It just makes you feel good to refine something like that.

So who are you? What do other people see you as? Mary Ellen Ashcroft spoke in chapel today, and part of what she talked about was how we categorize people. He’s a jock, she’s a prep, he’s a nerd, she’s a punk, he’s conservative, she’s just out there, he’s a Calvinist, she’s a feminist, etc. How unloving is that? Do we like to be put in a neat little box like that. I certainly don’t. So why do we do it to others? And I’m certainly guilty of this too. We shouldn’t dismiss people and categorize them based on one aspect of their life. People are unique, and we should take the time to get to know them better, rather that just stick them in some category. I’ve noticed that the people I know the best I can’t categorize. They don’t fit in any category. I have a silly notion that’s true with everybody.

What a Weekend

What a weekend. You know it’s been a good weekend when your stomach hurts from laughing so much. My body is aching right now, not proof that I ran around too much this weekend, but proof that I don’t run around enough. Aside from the ticks, the cold, and having to actually go to nature when nature calls, I really liked roughing it this weekend. This morning it felt so good to splash cold creek water on my face. I could almost imagine kneeling down there and shaving–really roughing it. Of course we weren’t there long enough to worry about that. There’s so much I could say about this weekend. But my mind isn’t working too quickly right now. And my body is just screaming to lay down and die. So I guess I’ll save it for later.