Back in the Bean

After several hours spent in the tension-filled Charlotte-Douglas International Airport yesterday evening, I finally arrived home to Lowell Street at 12:45am, a full 3 hours past when my flight was supposed to land initially. This, of course, was due to the delayed flights of my airline, AirTran, and, while I wasn't particularly bothered or perturbed by the delays, there were some folks that were extremely upset. All in all, the flights were enjoyable, and I was blessed to have one of my friends pick me up from the airport. Most of the snow has melted now, and the temperature is significantly warmer than when I left last Friday.

Between traveling from Boston last Friday and traveling last night, I have now spent a total of 5 minutes in the Baltimore airport. That's right, 5 minutes. I literally had to sprint from the gate last Friday to board the plane to Charlotte, and, although I had to go from Gate D2 to Gate D27, I made it in record time. Last night was very similar, except that I arrived with my compatriots from Charlotte as the plane was being cleaned, and so we had to wait about 5 minutes to board. All in all, the "D" Concourse of the Baltimore airport is very nice and quite clean.

I think my total travel time, including last Friday and last night, comes out to somewhere around 17 or 18 hours, a stunningly high number when you consider that the actual flight time from Boston to Charlotte is only 1 hour 53 minutes. If you subtract the total flight time, which is 3 hours and 46 minutes, from the rest, you get an absurd amount of time that I was either riding a train, riding a bus, riding in a car, waiting in the airport, or waiting on the plane. [My plane from Boston was delayed in taxi-ing from the terminal because another airline was trying to be slick and slide in one plane after another one had left the terminal. This caused our plane to leave around the time we were supposed to land in Baltimore.]

Suffice it to say that my Christmastime flight experience was quite comical, very adventuresome, and without many dull moments. I was thankful to have a week to spend time with my family and close friends, celebrating the birth of Christ, and am now thankful to be back in the swing of things here in Beantown.

Happy New Year!

You Know You're Home for Christmas in South Carolina When...

You arrive at the airport and people are shouting, "Welcome Home!" in their most enunciated southern drawls.

You get to eat at Chic-fil-a - twice in one day.

You have friends that camp out for 30+ hours to get coupons for Free Chic-fil-a meals.

Your friends wrap their presents in the finest newspaper they can find.

Your granddad makes homemade wine from "scuppernongs."

You realize that Walmart is the redneck capital of the world, and, on Christmas Eve, is like it's own Redneck City.

Your 2 year old second cousin gets her first fishing rod for Christmas.

Your 6 year old second cousin asks the local car dealer for his autograph because she "saw him on TV."

You, and everyone else in your family, gets some money from the cow sale.

"Trash" is a Christmastime favorite.

You get Christmas presents that meet the following criteria:

* Are made by Carhartt
* Are boots
* Are camoflauge
* Have to do with fishing
* Are for your 4-wheeler
* Have the state flag emblem on them (Palmetto Tree and Crescent Moon)

Christmas Eve dinner consists of turkey, rice and gravy, green beans, dressing, squash casserole, macaroni and cheese, rolls, and sweet tea.

Christmas dinner consists of ham, dressing, macaroni and cheese, fried squash, green bean casserole, rolls, and sweet tea.

Your dog's stocking is as full as yours is.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow

I've never seen so much snow in my life. In 3 days, as much as 20 inches got dumped on us here in Boston. The winter storm that brutalized the Midwest made its way East, bringing with it snow, sleet, rain, and some crazy wind. It was really beautiful watching the snowfall. Being from South Carolina hasn't really afforded me the opportunity to see snow like this, and, apart from the 3 feet of snow I saw last year in New Hampshire, this was the most snow I've ever seen in my life. It's definitely the most snow I've ever seen fall, period. On my walk to work this morning, I felt like I was walking through the Arctic Tundra or climbing up the North Col on Mt. Everest. As many winters as have passed here in New England, it never ceases to surprise me that people still don't adequately shovel their sidewalks. I'm from South Carolina, and even I know how to work a snow shovel. I laughed to myself on the way to work, as I felt my face numbing up because of the 15 MPH wind, and knew that if I just closed my eyes I would know the sensations of climbing up the world's highest peak, from the relative comfort of Somerville Avenue. All in all, I hope we're in for a white and wintry wonderland, and I'll settle for the arctic aftermath if it means I get to watch the snow fall again like it has in the past 3 days.

Here are some pictures courtesy of the BostonNOW and Boston Globe of the amazing snowfall.

"If we don't deserve anything else, we at least deserve to have a roof over our heads and food in our stomachs."

- John

This was a statement one of our clients made during the morning group today. I think it raises an interesting question about needs and the basic, inalienable rights of every human being. According to most Americans, our inalienable rights include Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. On a more basic level, I think, the right to shelter and food are primary. While I don't actually believe we deserve anything, I do believe that every person on the planet should be treated with such respect that their basic needs are met. An interesting quandary is raised in America, and particularly here in Boston, where more than 6000 men, women and children face the daily struggle of finding a place to sleep and finding their next meal, if we actually believe that meeting physical needs is an essential aspect in our Christian lives. I believe this, and I believe that the gospel can transform the lives of men, women and children that are affected by substance abuse and homelessness. I don't want to be relegated to that group of Americans that are classified by John Mayer's words: "We keep on waiting for the world to change." I long to be a man of action, a man utilized by God to see the power of the gospel transform the lives of men like John, who believes that, as a human being, he deserves to have a roof over his head and a meal in his stomach. I long to see the reconciliatory power of the Gospel go forth and change the way we look at the homeless population of our city, so that we might rejoice together at the coming of Christ's kingdom.