Logan ballin' in Lawrence

My good friend and brother Logan came to Lawrence this weekend. I have been looking forward to and preparing for this for some time.

I searched high and low (take this figuratively) for a ticket for him for the basketball game against CU and barely found one. It was a VIP game meaning that tons of alumni were there making ticket locating difficult. I then hunted done a student ticket, which slightly easier than getting a GA ticket, but still a feat. I got into a camping group to make sure that we could get into the game. They oversell the fieldhouse and then people, usually students, get left in the cold (literally this time). So I got into a camping group and camped (sat in the fieldhouse saving our groups place in line) for 3 and 1/2 hours. It was all worth it!

I called Logan at 9:50am Saturday morning to see if he was getting close. He freaked me out by acting like I had woke him up and said that he was still at home in bed. He pulled into the Jayhawker Towers moments after this "hilarious" conversation. We went directly to the fieldhouse to wait in line. I was the lucky one who only had to stand outside for 20 min. Logan had to wait about an hour. But his really fantastic sister had saved him a seat in Section 1 row 4. Sweet seats.

Once inside the warm and crowded fieldhouse, I did some anatomy homework and Logan soaked in the KU awesomeness. After about an hour and half of waiting, a few ballers such Brad Witherspoon and Jeremy Case grace the court. Logan was excited to see them "shoot some hoops" while we waited for rest to enter. The final phase of preparation was making a newspaper cone to place our newspaper confetti inside. Now we are ready for some bball.

The anthem was played, the confetti was thrown, Russell Robinson from NEW YORK NEW YORK was welcomed to the court, we saw a good game.

During half time, the 1988 National Championship team was recognized. It was pretty emotional. I think Logan cried...just kidding.

After my sweet Mario and Brandon and even Tyrell had won the game, Logan and I sat in traffic. Logan might have been more impressed by the traffic than the game. After driving 2 miles in 30ish min, Logan and I ate at Papa Keno's. Best pizza ever!

We spent the rest of the day doing random sibling bonding activities. You know, talking about relationships, making fun of each other, laughing about our parents, watching the allstar NBA challenge-all i know is that the cupcake dunk should have gotten more recognition, am i right?

Logan and I were going to eat at Jade Garden for lunch on Sunday. It was "closed" however the sign said open and we walked right in...so we went to Chili's in honor of our dad.

Logan left Lawrence. It was a good time.

Then I got my hair cut. I sat down and explained the sitch (abbrev for situation) to Ken. His exact words to me were, "Oh girl, we have got to sass it up." And that is what we did. Love it.

This Tastes Like Fridge

Tonight Rachel and I decided to watch the KU game. So naturally I popped some popcorn. It was Rachel's last bag and for some bad reason (i don't know, health or nutrition or something...) Rachel had light and healthy popcorn. Well that is not going to work to eat during the KU game. So I jazzed it up. I melted some extra butter to add to it--usually a great idea. So Rachel and I stuff a bite of popcorn into our mouths and then look at each other and begin to laugh/cry in disbelief...our beloved popcorn tasted like fridge.

Here in 204C we have a fridge problem. This problem started sometime over Christmas break when no one was occupying the premise. A few items, perishable in nature, were left innocently in the fridge for nearly 6 weeks. Well, we get back from break and Rachel and I (do you see a common theme of who is in the kitchen?) go on a throwing away everything in sight rampage. We accidentally threw away some new good cheese in the process. (I tend to do this. overthrow. I threw away Rachel's washcloth when I cleaned the bathroom. It didn’t need to be tossed. I don't know why I did it. I just can't control myself once I start throwing stuff away!) The throwing and scrubbing and reapplication of baking soda in the fridge didn't solve the problem. Our fridge smells and tastes like bad produce. How can we put this taste into words? Impossible. So come over, we will feed you something and you will remember this taste forever.

Because our popcorn became inedible, we made some cookie dough. You know, everything accept the eggs and baking. What is the key ingredient in cookie dough, you ask? Butter...the dough tastes like fridge too.

Today I Saw a Painting

I went home for the weekend to do a few things. I was planning to come back to Lawrence while my family was at church because I had a lot of things to do today. But I decided to stay and go to church with my family. And I am glad that I did.

Pastor Greg spoke about the older brother in the prodigal son parable that Jesus told the Pharisees recorded in Luke 15. I resonated with me a lot. My favorite quote of the day was "What does it take to get a party around here?!" said by an exasperated, miffed older brother who is upset about his younger, irresponsible brother getting such a warm greeting and party from their Father. The response of the father was, "But you have been with me all along." Relationship instead of religion. Grace instead of condemnation. And the older brother was upset. He was upset that his brother was living in and experiencing grace that the older brother may not have experienced for a while.

Pastor Greg also noted that the father actually had two lost sons. One lost in irresponsible living. The other in responsible, dutiful living. Neither was experiencing the grace of the Father and relationship with the father.

This painting, Rembrandt: The Prodigal Son (L'Hermitage, St. Petersburg), was on the screen throughout the message. I listened to the message some, enough to get the main points, but I was captivated by this painting. Look at the bottom right corner of the painting. There are what seem to be steps starting here and wrapping around the area that the Father and Prodigal are on. However, look at the older brother. If those are steps, the scale in this picture is way off. The older brother would have to be around 7 feet tall while Father is a measly 4 feet. Follow the line of the "steps" up to the Fathers body, around to the onlooker in the near background and then along the bottom of the older brothers cloak. I would like to suggest that there are two hands, palms up, extended toward the Father.

Maybe I am just seeing things. But this image has shaken me today. Those need to be my hands, reaching out to the grace that the Father has for me and relationship that He wants with me. I am both the prodigal and the older brother. It just depends on the day.