Reaching for the Stars

I like to keep track of some of my personal stats to track how I'm doing in life. There are those records that I've set that I just don't think will ever be broken by myself again, though they may, it's not impossible (ie. not showering for 37 consecutive days, eating at least one pack of Ramen noodles for 10 days straight, and eating a large meat lover's pizza (not one of those thin crust jobs neither) from Pizza Hut by myself in one sitting). Today, I raised the bar on another record of mine, and I may have put it out of reach this time.

In America, you can find churches that start at all hours of the day on Sunday. You've got the truly faithful that still get there at daybreak for early worship and you've got the ones who like to have a nice brunch before coming to their casual, contemporary worship experiences. There are good and bad to both, but one thing remains constant, I have overslept them all. I've attended churches that asked you to be there at 7:30 AM and I've attended churches that didn't start until 12:30 PM, and yes, I've overslept the service at each of them at least once. First of all, I never thought I would attend a church that started later than the 12:30 start I found, but alas, living in a different country has opened my eyes to so many new things. My church here doesn't start till 2:00 in the afternoon. It's really wonderful. You're awake, you've had lunch but long enough ago that you're over the food coma that comes with it, and it's in the heat of the day, when it's really nice to be sitting in the AC for a while. And faithfully and joyfully, I have been there on time, every week, until today.

If you didn't read my post below or your local sports page or anything else worth reading today, then you may not know that your Clemson Tigers upset #9 Florida State in a stunning fashion last night. Well, at least it was last night for the two teams. It was after 6 AM local time when the game ended, and the sun was already up. Of course I couldn't go to sleep right away with the adrenaline of a solid victory still flowing, but when I finally did get in bed close to 9, my alarm was set for 12:30, with plenty of time to shower and get to church on time. However my alarm was no match for a nice breeze, my Mexi-blanket, and visions of James Davis dancing in the end zone. I slept right through it and awoke just in time to watch the clock click over to 2 PM and another of my personal records fall.

At times like these, I'm full of mixed emotions. There's a little sadness in seeing a record fall. Something you've known to be true for so long is not so any more. But there is joy in knowing that you are never done learning and improving as a person. With the victory over the old self, I am filled with the excitement of possibility. If I can oversleep a 2 PM church service, who knows what else I can do? Maybe I can learn Turkish? Maybe I will write that book I've been dreaming of writing? Maybe I can wear one pair of underwear for the entire month of Ramadan coming up? The possibilities are endless.