...Defnall's Mighty Men

In July I moved into a house on Roosevelt Street in Harrisonburg called “The Ted”.  It is filled with 5 of my best friends, all of which are awesome and ridiculous.  When I moved in I realized that even though I know all of these guys really well the amount of serious conversations or “real talk” that we had was very little.

So…Operation Real Talk began.

Operation Real Talk: I decided that I wanted to have Real Talk with all 5 of my roommates.

Here’s a quick bio of the fellas:

Ernie: 

He’s from Michigan, he’s a giant, and if his hands were painted yellow they would very closely resemble bananas.  He is brutally honest, crude and hilarious along with being one of the smartest people I know.  He fights the title but he is truly one of the wisest and best men I know.

Joe: 

One of my oldest friends.  He went to Harrisonburg High and when the summers after our senior year we went to Lake Champion together and was one of the first true Christian friends I had. He works at first Presbyterian in hburg with the youth.  He is one of the funniest and most joyful people I know.  There are few people in my life that I can go from being entirely ridiculous with right into serious conversation and then back to totally ridiculous.

Adam:

 We went to high school together, he is going to BRCC and works with the youth with Joe at 1^st pres.  He has a professional pogo stick.  He is so unbelievably funny along with being one of the most faithful and Christ-centered men I know.

Mike: 

He’s from VA beach and he is one of the most outdoorsy guys I know, definitely in our house for sure.  Mike went to JMU and now works for the university in a community sports club focusing on preventing unwed pregnancies in the 20-29 year old age group.  He is one of the most genuine and good men I know.  Mike walks out humility and honesty in a way that I can only strive to.

Jason:  

6’5”, left handed and has an unreal whit.  We were in a musical together circa 2001, Ishmalites in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dream Coat.  He is awesome at sports, baseball and golf in particular.  Solid dude for real.  He hides it but he is a lion heart.

Operation Real Talk:

     In the quest for real talk with my roommates 3 of the guys are easier to talk about and a lot of that is because we either lived together in the toolbox or grew up together.  Some of my favorite conversations have been spur of the moment.  The last two guys that I wanted to talk to were Jason and Mike.  Our conversation stemmed from a simple question about what each of our relationships with Christ look like these days.  We’ve realized that there is very little that would outwardly show the redemption in Christ that we’ve all experienced.  There is never any doubt that we love each other but the ways we show this love is a little bit questionable.  We realized that the way we treat each other stems from insecurities(this tends to be a theme lately.)  Whether we are afraid that if one of us is funnier than someone else or has luck with girls or whatever that it will somehow negatively affect us.

We have to learn to encourage each other.  To live life to the fullest without tearing each other down but instead to build each other up.

     While we were all together for another great friend of ours bachelor’s party we were singing some worship songs together and talking about Jesus when we came across a verse that has now become the mission statement of our house and relationships together.

Romans 12:9-10

“9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”

Favorite Ernie Quote recently:

“If we were HALF the men we want to be in Christ, imagine how different this world would be”

Let us live life encouraging one another, let’s turn the competition that comes so naturally to us and turn it towards Kingdom building.  Let us learn to OUT DO each other in showing honor”