TRAPPSTR

Counting down my top 10 most memorable moments of the decade

Posted on 21. Dec, 2009 by Brett in Etc

My boss Chris has been counting down on Twitter his top moments from the last decade. I thought this was cool, so I’m sniping his idea. Keep in mind this isn’t a list of my best or most significant moments, just the ones that are still jumping around in my memory.

2000 – At 12:33 pm on December 31, 2000, my family gathered around my dad’s bed and he passed away after a 3 1/2 year struggle with Lou Gehrig’s disease. I remember there was snow on the ground outside. I remember holding his bony hand. I remember when the color left his face. I remember loud crying. I remember God’s love through it all.

2001 – As a sophomore in college, I met a guy named Olan Stubbs in 2001. Definitely a moment that shifted the tectonic plates of my theology. He committed to disciple me for the next three years. He invested in me. He challenged me. He taught me about the sovereignty of God. He questioned everything I thought about God. And it was good.

2002 – I spent the summer of ‘02 in Auckland, New Zealand. Our small mission team lived on the 2nd floor of a dingy downtown hotel on Queen Street. This was the New Zealand equivalent of living in Manhattan and was my first taste of urban living. One night, South Korea won a big game in the World Cup, and Auckland’s large Korean population poured into the streets celebrating, dancing, singing. They formed a makeshift parade and moved down Queen Street like a giant pulsating caterpillar. Our group morphed into the crowd and soaked up an unforgettable experience.

2003 – I was part of an incredible fraternity in college. Our fraternity wasn’t a “frat” like you see in movies. It was a remarkable group of leaders focused on being the best…at everything. At a national awards banquet in August of 2003, our group was selected as Alpha Tau Omega’s Top Chapter. The memory of that announcement at that banquet in downtown Indianapolis glows red in my mind to this day.

2004 – This was a weird year for me. It was my junior year of college and the video game, Halo, was coming on strong in college circles. Several of my fraternity brothers lived in an off campus house we dubbed “The BDA House,” and we played that game every stinkin’ night that spring. No moms around to tell us to stop, only the sunrise. We cussed. We yelled. We shot each other with pistols and sniper rifles and rocket launchers. We threatened bodily injury. This was the most carefree time of my life. I remember driving home as the sun was barely coming up as the grannies were filing into the YMCA for their early morning workouts.

2005 – In April, I did an in-the-field interview with a company called Booster. Got to dip my big toe into the waters of the “real world” that day. I worked at a school in Mount Laurel, Alabama, and loved it. That would become my real job for the next four years as I traveled around the south helping schools raise money and teaching kids about character. Still with the same company. Still love it.

2006 – I’ve written about this before, but 2006 was the year I got my first new car. You can read about it here. 3.5 years later and I’m still making that same car payment…dangit.

2007 – I moved from Birmingham to Nashville this year which was a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be. I was launching a new Booster team in a new market. And to be honest, I wasn’t very good at it. Being in a foreign city with few friends and feeling like a failure is a sucky place to be. But I learned more about myself that year than any other year this decade. And for that, I’m thankful.

2008 – I can’t really recall anything super-memorable from this year. Isn’t that sad? Countless chances to do something worth remembering, and I failed. 0 for 365.

2009 – In April of this year I ran my first half marathon. When I first started training in January, I could not run a mile without stopping. My lungs had the capacity of kazoo. But I trained consistently into the spring and finished the Country Music Half Marathon with a respectable time (I also tweeted 88 times during the race :)). The only problem was that I finished the race in a state of extreme dehydration and my body immediately went into shock. My breathing turned into uncontrollable wheezing, and my hands withered up like brittle tree branches. I began shouting for help in the crowd of thousands. I collapsed and within seconds a medical team was hovering over me. They carried me to a medical tent and told me they had called an ambulance.

“No! I’ll be fine!” I shouted.

The lead nurse pushed me back down onto the gurney and said something about “cardiac arrest.” Suddenly, the ambulance option became a lot more attractive. That’s the only time in my life where I thought I might die. But I guess it wasn’t my day.

I think it’s good to look back, ponder, reflect. That gives great perspective moving forward. At the end of this next decade, I’ll be–gulp–38.

38.

38?

Really?

That’s ancient. What memories will be made? What kind of change will I have sparked? What will my integrity look like?

Better start planning now…

What are the top moments of your last decade? What will the next decade look like for you?