Ran Lake Merced with my bro-in-Christ SW on Sunday; well I should say ran/walked it. I have to say that I'm a slow runner. I guess you can say that I don't push myself but I just go at an easy pace. The run itself was tiring; my legs felt like jello afterwords but the conversation we had was really good. We talked about alot of stuff... from SW's general background to his current feel for SF/Lumps. First some general background...SW's from Maryland, he went to Carnegie Mellon U. in Pittsburg (did you know it was in Pittsburg...I always thought it was in St. Louis or somewhere like that) and he's an engineer. He was going to work for Cisco in North Carolina in RTP (Research Triangle?) but at the last minute, they revoked their offer (bad business imo) and he was stuck without a job. He worked in a lab for 6 months and then landed his current job at Dolby Labs here in SF working on the latest and greatest in home theatre experience. SW has been attending Lumps for 7 months now and he still feels like an outsider. In particular, since he talks to our sisters-in-christ, CL and LH, he notices that they get invited to many different events while he gets invited to none at all. As a matter of fact, yesterday's run was the first time he had been personally invited to anything by a lumps brother (that made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside...yay). And now, SW's going to consider coming to our Lumps Mens Ministry and Prayer Ministry Meetings which I think would be awesome. On a more serious note though, I understand how SW feels. As I've expressed previously in my blog, I still feel somewhat like an outsider at lumps as well even though I've been coming to lumps for 18 months now (on and off for the first 8 months). True I now know everyone's name but do I really KNOW them? Now, looking at myself, are my expectations too high? Do I make the time to get to know lumps folks? Have I been making enough of an effort? Lately, I've been putting more effort in encouraging brothers to come out to Men's Ministry. I guess I see the Men's Ministry as a true opportunity to get to know the hearts of the men of Lumps, an opportunity to bond with my brothers in Christ, and an opportunity to become a better man. (Yes I know there's an All-4-One song about wanting to be a better man but that's in a different context) But more on SW... he became a Christian in college just like me. He's used to smaller closer fellowships and he loves all things techy. As a matter of fact, we had a pretty good conversation on how to set up a home theatre system because I will need help setting up my own home theatre. Yes, I'm kind of geeky in this way too. I have a decent setup for now because I don't generally like to go see movies in the theatre unless I really really hear good things about the movie. I'd prefer just to rent or buy the DVD and watch it at home. But anyways, I digress. SW's alot like me when I was younger. Since he doesn't really know anyone here in SF, he has been looking for good friendships to bond with here in SF. So if you know SW, take some time to talk to him.