Never Too Old to Learn

As my 29th birthday fast approaches, I'm feeling the weight of age in various. I look in the mirror and see maturing eyes. I get out of bed with a back ache. I get more weighed down with life and find less care-free fun.

But my recent trip to Huntsville reminded me that we never get too old to learn new things.

Here's some of the knowledge I have after this last week:

1. You need your driver's license for more than just driving.
I went to Huntsville this last week to find an apartment. We sold our house last week (how's that for a big announcement?) and I was eager to have a new home to look forward to. Unfortunately, all the apartment complexes require a photo ID before viewing their apartments. No one could tell me "WHY" they needed one; it was just company policy.

A photo ID was also required for me to use a guest pass that my friend, Kristin, got for me at her gym. So, I didn't get to work out this week, either.

2. The Ohio River Valley isn't the worst place for sinuses after all.
The Tennessee Valley, however, is. Headaches abounded in the Chia clan.

3. Built-in U-turns are ingenious.
The designers of closed-access roads everywhere would do well to learn from those who put together Memorial Parkway in Huntsville. Here, you have the best of both worlds with interstate overpasses and side streets that run parallel to the highway. But the problem comes when you really need to turn into a business on the other side of the interstate. Wait! No, problem at all. Simply continue to the next traffic signal and get in the U-turn lane.

4. It's not worth it to say what you're feeling when you're overly tired.
Let's leave it here: It's harder to heal hurt feelings than it is to just keep your mouth shut in the first place.

5. Christians aren't the only ones that do things wrong.
With Billy being in church leadership, a lot of our conversation has to do with ways the Church reaches out. Billy reads a lot of different blogs, and we've both read books on "doing church" (I detest that phrase, by the way). The frustrating thing about saturating oneself in such content is that you have to filter through so much stuff about how crappy the Church is -- from not understanding non-Christian's needs (uh...last time I checked, they needed Jesus) to not marketing itself to today's generation (whole websites are devoted to this concept). So, when we had to drive around in apartment complexes for 5 minutes before we found signs for the rental office, it was a relief to see that the problem is a "humanity issue" not a "Christian issue."