Gift cards are dumb

Lil' smokies. I bought lil' smokies. I never buy smokies! But on Monday, not only did I snag the smokies, but I also bought the 16 oz. KC Masterpiece barbecue sauce to go with them. After my shopping spree, I wheeled the $97 worth of groceries and random household items out of the store, feeling pretty accomplished. But as I drew closer to the car, reality crept up on me and I couldn't help but wonder, "What just happened in there?"

Well, I'll tell you what happened – I was consumed by the financial invincibility of the $100 Hy-Vee gift card. Gift cards have some sort of psychological hold on me, and the more I think about it, the more I don't like gift cards. And hey – I still have $3 left on that one! Which brings me to my first beef.

Companies LOVE gift cards. When you purchase one, the absolute worst thing that can happen to that company is the customer spends the entire amount at their store. Bummer! On the other hand, the best thing that can happen is if the customer loses the card, forgets about it completely, or doesn't spend the entire amount by the time it expires – money in the bank! Think about it – you're paying money for a piece of plastic worth the same amount of money that can only be spent at one particular place. Voluntarily limiting our spending power? That's just plain un-American!

Point two on gift cards: they aren't real money. Are they? Sure doesn't feel like it. I would never have spent $97 in a single trip to Hy-Vee if I was paying in cash. “Hmm, the coffee aisle smells good. I usually buy Folger's...but...I have a gift card – might as well try the Bergie's Colombian.” Next thing you know, I'm sitting with $3 left on the card, and about six unopened Rice Sides in my cupboard three months from now.

I'm not saying that gift cards are wrong for everybody. Gift cards are absolutely perfect for two extremes of society: penny-pinchers and addicts. For the pinchers, gift cards are a great idea because they force “luxurious” spending. You know as well as I do that if you give a cheapskate some cash, they'll throw it into the bank or blow the money on something practical! Boring. Better get 'em a Dave & Buster's card and force them to enjoy themselves like these winners:

As for the addicts, it's pretty much the same principle as giving a homeless guy a sandwich instead of a dollar. When you give someone cash, they can spend it wherever the heck they want! But with gift cards, you have complete control over spending location. This type of control is very strategic when you want to send a subliminal message. Card to the the Gap? Your fashion could use an update. Card to Nutri-Shop? Get in shape. Or in my case, cards to Chili's and Outback Steakhouse... “Take a girl out to dinner, already!"

In conclusion - mom and dad, please don't be offended by this rant I really do appreciate the gift cards! The Hy-Vee card is actually one of the more practical ones I've seen, and as for Chili's and Outback...well, let's just say I'll work on that.

But who knows, maybe I'll just let 'em sit. Not like it's real money, anyway.

Margins

Maybe I watched too much Bob Ross as a child, but I can't help but get excited when I see a blank sheet of paper. I'm no painter, but give me a pencil, pen or sharpie, and I'll doodle up a storm. I was reminded of this on Sunday when I was looking through some of my course notes from my four years at Iowa State University. These pages were usually limited to barely-coherent scribblings on western civilization, american literature, astronomy - things that I remember very little about today. In fact, the only thing I really find interesting about these pages anymore are the curious shapes and characters found in the margins.

Almost every one of my notebook pages contained some sort of illustration - cubes, spirals and stars were my default drawings, but on days of peak boredom I put together some all-out masterpieces.

Looking back on these drawings makes me think there's a lot to be said for using the margins. Sure, I could have paid better attention in class, but then I wouldn't have these great pictures to look back at. I could be really cliche and say that every day is a blank page, but tomorrow's not. I've got places to go, appointments to show up for, deadlines to meet...but there's still a couple slivers of blank space to work with. I could leave the margins blank, I suppose, but someday I'll look back on tomorrow and the margins will be all I care about. Plus, drawing ninjas is pretty fun.

The Body

The church is often referred to as "the body of Christ" - probably the best way I can think of to illustrate the unity that Jesus prayed for in John 17:20-23. However, when I read Jesus' prayer for us, I sometimes wonder why his main request for the church is unity. Why not boldness? Why not protection, like he prayed for his disciples?

I won't claim to have any definitive answers here, but the question did spur a thought process:

There are a lot of different types of bodies out there. Tall, squat, muscular, hairy, slender, etc. Most of a body's appearance and behavior is due to its DNA - the inherent genetic code at the foundation of its growth. Christ followers also have a foundational DNA - that given by the Spirit (love, joy, peace, etc.). Our physical and spiritual DNA is inherited, but there are a lot of aspects of the body that we can control, through two well-known disciplines:

Diet.

Think about what the body of Christ is consuming (and I'm not talking bread and grape juice). Think about a typical day - do you discipline yourself to consume daily portions of Scripture (bread), have authentic fellowship with friends (protein), and supplement that with beneficial knowledge and productivity (vitamins and minerals)? Or do you find yourself continually going back to the cookie jar for extra helpings of distraction (sweets, empty calories)? As for me, I know that all too often I'm not only taking second helpings, but I'm the one baking the cookies and cramming them down people's throats. Don't get me wrong here - there are tons of great "desserts" out there, but discipline is necessary. Entertainment isn't bad - but only as part of a balanced breakfast.

Exercise.

Each Christ follower has a specific role to play in this body - and just as in our own bodies, these parts need exercise to function at their full potential. What is your spiritual fitness level? Are you training yourself to be used to the maximum, or are you the type of body part that is content to move only when needed, and just hang out in between uses? Once again, I find that all too often I'm willing to do just what's necessary, without pushing myself to be of maximum use. Discipline is again the key here - it takes discipline to open your Bible and journal, just as it does to go to the gym and lift.

Which brings me back to unity. Why did Jesus put so much stress on this?

When one part of the body rises up against another in the church, we call it division. When a part of our physical body rises up against another, we call it cancer. Cancer is among our most feared diseases - its spread is unpredictable and its symptoms can go unrecognized for years - the only way to effectively destroy it is to catch it early. Does this sound familiar at all? It's the same with division in the church. If not caught early, division will eat away at the body from the inside, and by the time it's caught, it won't be healed without exhausting and harmful intervention (chemotherapy).

This begs the question: are we treating division in the body of Christ with the same seriousness as the medical community treats cancer? Are we vigilant in examining ourselves for lumps and cutting out the tumors? I have no answers, but I think a higher awareness is warranted.

On the bright side, one profound difference between a physical cancer and a spiritual cancer is the hope for a cure. Despite all of the work on a cure for physical cancer, it is not promised to us, whereas our spirit's cure will come in the future establishment of Christ's kingdom.

"...we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." - Ephesians 4:15-16

Harrison Barnes

So in case you hadn't heard, the top high school basketball recruit in the nation plays here in Ames - a 6'6" hotshot named Harrison Barnes. On Friday, he held a ceremony in the Ames High School gymnasium to announce to the world where he would be attending college next fall.

Now, let's be clear - I have never seen Harrison play before. I have never been to an Ames High basketball game before. But as a journalist, I take note when something newsworthy is going down in my neighborhood, so me and my buddy Justan Spaid took part of our Friday off to go wallow in the hype.

We filed into the gym with hundreds of other fans, our hearts racing as Harrison led up to his announcement. He had it narrowed down to six schools: five NCAA basketball powerhouses (Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA, Oklahoma) and one agricultural powerhouse (ISU). The odds were stacked against us, but I definitely wasn't the only one sporting cardinal and gold, ready to take it off and spin it like a helicopter just in case a miracle happened.

It didn't. Turns out Petey Pab was right - this one really was for North Carolina.

And it was the right call - I mean, seriously, when Michael Jordan meets you in person and tells you where to play ball, that's where you play ball, right? And for those who would say Harrison "betrayed" us - come on, you can't help but root for this kid. I've read a lot of articles about him during the recruiting process, and almost every one of them mentions his excellent character on and off the court. He also goes to my church, and the pastors there have said he's a classy young man who is trying to live his life for God (click here to see him dunking on college pastor Mark Arant).

So, it looks I'll root for the Tar Heels for awhile, and who knows - maybe in a couple years Harrison will even inspire me to turn on an NBA game now and then.

Personally, I'm just waiting for his breakout role as MJ's quippy sidekick in Space Jam 2...

Mr. Pusey, tear down this wall

Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I was 3 years old when it all went down, so I don't really remember it, and I'd say most of today's college students are in the same boat. So what better way to celebrate an event that we don't remember than by reliving it for ourselves?

Some of you may have seen a large cardboard wall standing in front of Parks Library yesterday. The ISU German Club put it there to represent the Berlin Wall, and they encouraged students to spraypaint their own messages of freedom onto it. I covered the event for the Tribune, so I approached a few students who were painstakingly putting the finishing touches on their designs.

"So, what message are you trying to get across with your painting?" I asked.

One of them, looked at me, shrugged and continued to paint. "We're just trying to get our names out there, you know? Just trying to give ISU a little taste of New York."

"Oh, you're from New York?"

"Nah, man."

As inspired as some of the graffiti was, the best part of the event was at 4:00 p.m. when it came time to tear down the wall. About 30 people crowded around that makeshift bulwark of communism, and a self-proclaimed female Ronald Reagan impersonator announced, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear off this -er- tear down this wall!"

The crowd proceeded to pummel the crap out of the cardboard with two red wiffle bats. Now as a reporter, I know it's my job to strictly observe...but when they're handing out free swings at the Berlin Wall with a wiffle bat, I'm gonna take my chances every time.

Kay, I'm back

Looks like it's time to play catch-up again, so here's a quick rundown of September and October!

• I'm still working for the Ames Tribune. Sometimes I love it - I'll get an interesting story that's really fun to tell, like this. Sometimes it's not so hot - on slow news days I find myself writing stuff like this.
• Since the Ames Tribune is a newspaper, they don't have a lot of money - this means I only get to work 30 hours a week. This sounds like a bummer, but I'm actually pretty thankful for it. This allows me to keep on doing the things I love at Cornerstone Church, such as acting for D6, playing music for weekend services and Salt Co. and playing keys for Anthem. (By the way, Anthem has some great new songs in the works - mark your calendars for December 4, you won't want to miss it!)
• "James & James" is still going strong with the release of a new EP and a critically-acclaimed Halloween show, featuring a tribute to Simon & Garfunkel:
  

James and I have a ton of fun together, both on stage and off. James is a solid guy, and we've had some great times of encouraging and challenging each other in faith this semester. If you want to keep track of upcoming shows and other goings-on, join our facebook group or check out our blog, which gets updated almost as often as this one.

Looking back, I'm seeing all the ways that God has blessed me since I came back from India. It's been a tough stretch in a lot of ways - everything was so different when I came back that I really had a hard time finding "home." I struggled to find my identity as I started a new job, got over a broken relationship and experienced some pretty confusing culture shock (e.g. "Hey, why are all of these cows fenced in? Shouldn't they be standing in the middle of intersections and taking up space on the sidewalk?").

But God is faithful - He has come through for me in so many ways in the last couple of months. I've got great friends, and some wise mentors who are teaching me what it means to be an independent, hard-working, disciplined-but-still-fun-loving follower of Christ. I've got no idea where I'll be in five years, but for now I'll trust in the One who's got it figured out. I'll write stories about Iowa State's garbage to the best of my ability, continue to pursue the things I'm passionate about and have a lot of laughs along the way.

And who knows - maybe I'll even blog about it every once in awhile.

I Didn't Wanna Get a Job, but...

Take Senator Tom Harkin, a bunch of Japanese beetles and a puppet talent show, and what do you get? Well, some might say you'd come out with a better plan for health care reform than what's on the table right now, but I'll just call it my first two weeks at the Ames Tribune.

That's right - by the grace of God, I actually landed a job in the field I studied, which is no small feat considering newspapers are disappearing faster than you can say "baby panda." I applied for jobs at many newspapers in the area, though the Tribune was the only one with any openings. I also applied for some other fallback options, including construction and carpet sales (you can start out making $35,000 at this gig! The only thing is, you would be selling...carpets).

I found out I got the job while I was in India - it was such an answer to prayer. It's a huge blessing to be able to stay in Ames where I have great friends and an influential church where I get to use my gifts in the arts for God's glory.

As far as making a living goes, I get paid to talk to people, learn new things and attend events like "Puppet Idol" at the Ames Public Library.

I'm officially the Iowa State and higher education reporter, but if you've got any good story ideas, send 'em my way! And if you think your story isn't newsworthy enough for the Tribune - two words for you: Puppet Idol.