Happy Birthday, Levi!

Today is my friend Levi's birthday, and thus I at last have the opportunity to post some of the quotable remarks I have been looking forward to sharing.

 I first heard about Levi through my friend Sophie. Long story short, we connected on Facebook in late December, and then met in person on March 22nd. The way that happened was that after Sophie's family and I were at an event, they took me with them to a finale event for  one of their homeschool co-ops. I got to meet a bunch of awesome people, and Levi was one of them. It was all completely spontaneous and wonderful, and that was indisputably one of the most fun things that happened to me last year.

 Levi and I primarily communicate through Facebook, but I also got to see him last December at a going-away party before he traveled to Kona, Hawaii, with a missions organization. It has been really great to see how God has led him over time in his desire for missions, and in addition to still talking with him a little bit on Facebook, I have been keeping up with his adventures on the blog he started. Next week, he will be flying with his group to Panama, and helping the mission's group with ministry there.

I am thankful to know Levi and for all the fun conversations we have had, but I am also really excited to see what God is going to do through him in the future.

Now, here are the quotes. Some of these are Facebook statuses, some are things Sophie has shared with me, and some are things he has said in our conversations. I have organized them in chronological order, and if he's very observant, he will notice that some of these are Facebook statuses from years ago, before I knew him. (Well, actually, I just told everybody, so now he knows.) Anyway, his Facebook statuses are so amusing that I went back and looked through some of his old ones after we were friends.

"I've been ruined by modern media. Whenever I look at a semicolon followed by a parenthesis, I see a smiley face instead."

"The world is a scary place when one doesn't have a bathroom."

"Despite what candle companies say, I'm pretty sure nobody knows what a "tropical rain" smells like. It's water."

"On another completely different note, apparently I missed the fact that while I was going about my life, there was a sheep skin hanging on the shower curtain in the bathroom. Only in my house would it not be surprising to find an animal pelt in the bathroom."

"You know you're a nerd when you have a sixteen square foot map of Mordor on your wall."

"Give me decency or give me death!" (When we were talking about whether we preferred the mountains or the beach, he tweaked a Patrick Henry quote to express his dislike of the immodest clothing unavoidable in the latter location. This was when I knew we were meant to be friends.)

"I don't think there's a worse typo I can make than one which forces me to rewrite laughter."

"You only make me that much more slightly embarrassed. If you can be 'much more slightly' anything."

"My contortionist skills were quite remarkable when I was little. Wriggling out of a carseat with the chest buckle still buckled was one of my favorite pastimes."

On how he felt judged at the homeschool prom: "[I felt judged] in general, but particularly in eating. I was paralyzed with indecision. How do I eat this without being deemed to look like an idiot?"

"The quality of life really depends on the people around me, when I think about it. Even sleeping in the mud, in the rain, in a cloud of parasitic insects was fun, because I was with people I loved."

"Day two in exile. I woke up breathing clearly, and proceeded to stuff my face with tootsie rolls. I must keep my energy. I then struck a deal with the miraculously uninfected mother on the floor below me. If I leave her alone to drink her coffee, I will receive a haircut in trade. The price is steep, but I decided it was worth it. I leave soon, but until then, I will play my music loudly to keep the infected at a distance."

"I hear so many pastors and churches and books and speakers say that we ought to worship God because of what He did for us and how He loves us, and those are very true things. But Christ worshiped the Father simply because He was good and He was God and DESERVING of all praise from all creation forever and ever. I think we've lost that."

"I'd rather not get mauled by a monkey. Just think how horrific that would be!"

"My character is built on pet peeves!"

"I can't say I've got any traditions like that. But, I can say I can touch my toes this December 31st. What a successful year."

"They've got a lot of wisdom, but three plus hours straight in a lawn chair was brutal."

"That's the other thing, why is it only an extremely select few that can give clear, concise directions, at a time actually useful to the driver? Classes need to be taught on that alone."

"It seems like my new friendship with a little girl here was just validated when she stuck a Cheese-It in my mouth. If only pacts were made in such a way all the time."