Meghan Roberts

As you may have noticed, it has been a long time since I posted to tell you about how amazing the people on my blogroll are. Well… I am finally getting back to it. So, picking up where we left off… here we have the delightful Meghan Roberts…

It feels like Meghan has been gone for ages. I really miss her a lot. It almost feels funny to be writing about here when it has been so long since I have seen her. But the distance that time has created in my interactions with this terrific woman of God may serve as a filter that sets apart the things that are must remarkable about her. These are the things that I remember most when I think of Meg. These are the things about her that stand out in my memory.

Meghan and I met just over a year and a half ago. I was looking for roommates to fill a new house. We didn’t really know each other at all, but I pretty much knew instantly that I wanted to live with this girl. She was fantastic.

Because we didn’t just want to live together as strangers, we started hanging out a bit, making a few random trips to this little coffee shop that stays open past midnight. Though I didn’t know her well, I quickly grew comfortable with her. Meghan is just like that. It is easy to feel safe and comfortable with her. She is warm… and kind… and easy to talk to.

I Miss School

So, I have a lot of things I want to write about right now. But I need to get to bed. So I won’t. But these are a few of the topics that I wish I had the time to sit down and write about: Loving the God Who Hates Wickedness; Emotional Stability? (numbness, the present evil age, etc.); Phenomenal Friendship.

I have too much to say about each of those to be able to say anything right now. When it comes to this topic, however, I have little to say. So I will write briefly tonight just to be able to get SOMETHING out.

I miss school. It’s as simple as that.

When I finished college, I was ready to be done. In fact… I was tempted, at many points, to jump ship a little early. I wasn’t sick of learning, but I was burnt out by my experience of the academic community. I wasn’t sick of math, but I was burnt out on math classes.

I did consider getting my Master’s Degree in something that wasn’t strictly math. The further you ventured from “pure math” and purely academic study, the less the community seemed to reflect the things that I wanted to get away from. I considered an MA in Mathematics Education. But a significant portion of my study focus would have been graduate math classes… and that’s what I was ready to get away from. I’ve also tossed around ideas of going to school to study theology. But my experiences in advanced math make me weary of that option as well.

Matt Hartke

Eh? What’s that you’re reading there, Matt? 

…

OK, so I confess that I may have made a bit of an exception to my blogroll qualification rules in adding Matt Hartke to the list. I don’t actually know the guy all that well. I do, however, know him well enough to recognize that he is pretty stinking fantastic. And those who do know him well assure me that he is quite wonderful. (Some of them may be a tad bit partial… like… his sister. But I am inclined to believe them.)

I admit that I borrowed a great deal from the affection that I feel towards Matt’s sister, Audra, in order to meet the blogroll criterion of “I feel an exceptional affection for them.” But, again… if I knew the guy better, I’m sure the affection would be there.

Kacie Watson

I first knew that I was going to love Kacie when she left tip art on the table at IHOP. People used to mock me for doing that. But here she was… someone who was unashamed to leave a silly but fun surprise for the waitress to discover when she returned to collect her tip.

The next notable and distinct memory that I have of Kacie was when she and Victoria laughed and harassed me ceaselessly after someone walked me home in the rain. (I still hold that their conclusions were wrong. He was just being a gentleman. Then again… a couple of months later, said person and I were dating. Hmm…) 

She also holds a special place in my heart as the girl who introduced me to Annie’s mac & cheese. What a gift! I can hardly handle Kraft anymore.

As it turns out, though, Kacie Watson has become far more significant to me than ”the girl who left the cute little tip man,” “the girl who said ’that was cute’ when I came home soaking wet,” and “the girl who revolutionized my consumption of cheesy pasta.”

Amanda Beattie

 
(Amanda is on the far left)

When I promised to write about each of the people on my short blogroll, I was quite excited about the task — an opportunity to ramble on about how great some of my favorite people are. And then I sat down to actually do it…

How do I do justice to such a topic?

It’s kind of like the intimidation that hits me when I sit down to write about the beauty of God. It can be paralyzing. How can my words come close? Writing about Amanda is a similar. Obviously, Amanda isn’t exactly on quite the same level as God, but you get the idea.