Twentyfour

I'm writing this blog post with a center alignment due to fact that my intellegence level is prohibiting me from figuring out how to align it to the left, like a normal post.  So, I hope that you readers out there, where ever you are, enjoy the center alignment.  Also, pray for my itelligence level, it needs all the help it can get.....  Also, on an unrelated note, I would like to formally recognize that my blog posts are wordy and in need of a little more spice, so I will sprinkle some pictures of yours truly through out this post for your enjoyment!!

Anyway, I just got done celebrating my 24th birthday, so now everyone living in my apartment is 24!  Finally caught up to Brittany :)  We had a great time!  Highlights include checking out a new church.  We are "church shopping" right now, trying to find a solid, biblical church that has a mission that we can be apart of.  We checked out a nice church, and enjoyed it.  We really enjoyed the preaching, the singing, and the diversity of the church body.  We are going to continue to "shop" a little more and see what else we can find :)

We went to the Logan's for lunch and ate all of those great rolls!  We also enjoyed the shelled peanuts and threw the shells on the floor, my favorite part.  When I do that at the apartment, Brittany doesn't share in the same joy that I do.  Our waitress was just a ray of sunshine...  Not really, she treated us like the inconvenience that we were, and really when out of her way to make sure that we knew it, hahaha.  For some crazy reason, I feel like when she looks for her tips, the customers aren't so inconvenient...  So here is where I ask for your advice, because I'm at a crossroads.  My question isn't about percents or anything like that, my question pertains to when.  A big part of me thinks that tips are conditional to the service received.  Therefore, the better the service, the better the tips and vice versa.  However, as Christians, are we held to a different meter?  Should we extend grace(unmerited favor) to our waitstaff by tipping well no matter what?  I have heard that some of the people that waiters hate most are christians, the sunday afternoon crowd.  I guess my question is, are we doing a greater service to Christ by holding people accountable or giving them what they don't deserve?  Which is greater, grace or truth?  Anyone with thoughts?

On the evening of my birthday I left my wife at home so that she could study in peace, and I went to East Lansing, the home of Sparty!  My good friend Brad is finishing up his internship with University Reformed Church, Kevin Deyoung's church.  Brad had his last preaching engagement with the church on Sunday.  He did great!  I was so impressed with him, and glowed with a little bit of pride(I know, I know it's a sin), because he was one of the guys that I built into so much.  He will do great in seminary.  After seeing him preach, I went out with more friends from college to my favorite college bar, Crunchy's!  It's a dirty little hole in the wall that is so great!  Met some of my favorite people there, Zach, Mark, Brad, Nate, and Sanjay.  Great conversations, great beer.  It was such a good time!

Oh yeah, this was the cake that I made for my birthday!  I call it, "Basket Cake," I will leave you to guess why.  I whipped up this fun little number the night before, and it goes great with moosetracks and mint chocolate chip :)