Can a long distance relationship work?

Conventional wisdom would say no. However, this weekend would say yes. Megan and I made the trip to Louisville to see one of my best friends and former roommate, Matt Thomas, get married to Ms. Tara Lynn West (now Mrs. Tara Thomas). Matt and Tara met on a WorldChangers trip before college and dated from then until two days ago when they were married. Not only did they date throughout college, but they also survived a long distance relationship as Matt attended USC while Tara attended Western Kentucky. I told Megan as we made the 9.5 hour drive out to Louisville that I had a new respect for Matt and Tara's relationship that they could make it through that sort of distance. It provided another tangible example of one of my strongest convictions - that love is first and foremost a commitment - commitment that will help them in the future to overcome little mishaps like this:

Why I love used bookstores

As part of our trip to Matt Thomas' wedding in Louisville, Megan and I made a step in Beckley, WV where we came across a small used bookstore. After thinking that there wasn't anything worth buying I came across three volumes of the Anchor Bible Dictionary (vols. 4-6). Each was being sold for $5. I checked the actual cost on Amazon.com today and found that each one is being sold for $85. There's nothing like making a rare find at a used bookstore! As one of my professors here says, "the good thing about used books is that they work just as well as new books..."

Vacation

Megan and I are enjoying a week of vacation in Clarksville, VA, enjoying sunsets just like this on beautiful Kerr Lake.

We met John Edwards

So we met John Edwards at the Durham Bulls game last week. Despite him being a former Clemson student (for just a year, I think), a UNC student, and a Democrat, we were able to have a good, brief visit with him.

A New Family Tradition...

I don't blog often about stuff going on with Megan and I, but something pretty cool happened two days ago that I thought I would share:

C.S. Lewis' 4th book in The Chronicles of Narnia series, Prince Caspian, just opened in theatres this past Friday. I've read the first three in the series but wanted to read this one before seeing the movie. While I was reading on our bed Megan came up and asked what I was reading and jokingly asked if I would read aloud so she could enjoy also. I took her up on her offer read chapter 2 to her, and we followed that up the following night by reading chapter 3 out loud. It looks like we have a pretty cool new tradition on our hands. One of the things our friend, Andy, said he would pray for in our new marriage was developing traditions. We have founded a few (such as the "great Barley fall festival" featuring homemade boiled peanuts) but never any that happened regularly. We've enjoyed this so far, and I think we will enjoy many books in this fashion. On to chapter 4...