My friend Ronnica did this blog post where she answered questions that people asked her. As part of her post, she offered to “interview” her commenters with five of her own questions. So, here are her five questions, and my five answers.

1. What is 2 plus 2? (hey, it’s a valid question…I’m “reading” 1984 right now.)
   In 1984 world, I suppose the answer would be “whatever they want it to be” or “5”. I believe that 2 + 2 could also equal 4 or 11. Ask me if it doesn’t make sense.


2. What’s your favorite Dekker book?
   Ooh, that’s a tough one. Really tough. I probably would need to reread all of them to give an accurate answer, but for now I’d say Blessed Child, followed closely by When Heaven Weeps, Kiss, Heaven’s Wager, and Adam. Thr3e and Blink also hold special affection in my heart, and the Circle Trilogy (Black, Red, White) are classic as well. For some reason I don’t care as much for Ted’s extended-world Books of History saga, but I still enjoy them.


3. Looking forward, what’s the scariest part of the whole residency thing?
   The responsibility. While I’ll still be under supervision, I’m going to be directly responsible for caring for people…and that means that the decisions that I make will most likely be the ones carried out. Yikes! Another scary part about residency is living in Texas. :P


4. Looking backward, what’s been the biggest obstacle in getting where you are now?
   Without a doubt, it’s been my own sinfulness. While one could argue whether a certain situation or a particular decision really hindered my journey to where I am, I believe that I am where I am right now because of the unmerited favor of God. I definitely don’t deserve any of what I have before me now – whether that be my chosen profession, my talents and abilities, my terrific family, my countless friends, or anything else in my life. In fact, I fail every day in my ability and choice to do good and trust God for everything. This could be disappointing my friends, compromising my values, or any other sort of hypocritical act or attitude. All of these things demonstrate my inadequacy for sustaining anything of pure good. And despite my personal unworthiness to achieve anything of lasting value in this life, Jesus Christ chose to demonstrate His love for me by dying in my place to pay the penalty for my failures. And in His resurrected life I can rest, empowered in perspective and will to do good as He did perfectly.
   
   This is a long-winded answer, but I passionately believe that I probably could have arrived where I am now by an easier road, had it not been for my own erroneous deeds and attitudes. Still, I probably would not be who I am today, had it not been for the scars I bear from my mistakes.


5. What would you order from Rusty’s if we went right now and they were out of bananas and strawberries?
   I’m very thankful that this question was not asked of me on my interviews…this is probably the hardest question to answer of them all! I think I would go for a plain vanilla concrete. The Crimson and Cream is pretty much the only thing I get at Rusty’s, so honestly I don’t know what else I would get if they were out of bananas and strawberries when we went. But why don’t we find out? Rusty’s date, you and me. Sometime. :)