Blogger Interview Meme

Rich from Dead Yet Living recently interviewed me, asking five probing questions. If you'd like to know a little more about me, read on. You can also have me interview you if you're interested.

This is a great idea I found out about on Dead Yet Living and I had to jump on the bandwagon. Here's how it works:

1. If you want to participate, leave a comment saying ?interview me.?
2. I will respond by asking you five questions (not the same as you see here).
3. You will update your blog/site with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Another not so official rule is that you do some research of the person you're interviewing, which makes for more interesting questions. My interviewer, Rich from DYL, followed this rule well.

1. You've been married for three years. Were all the nay-sayers right? Why or why not?
Ah, those pesky nay-sayers! I can't imagine what the last three years of my life would have been like if Genia and I had followed "cultural wisdom" and waited until we were older and richer to get married. There's something fundamentally different about living your life while having a girlfriend and sharing your life with your wife. I'm a big believer in marriage. It's wonderful, and I wouldn't trade Genia for anything in this world. On the whole, we've had a pretty easy time of it. No major catastrophes or anything, just trying to figure out our place in the world and the Kingdom, and helping each other along the way. The biggest surprise and challenge we've had thus far was finding out Genia was pregnant. It was completely unplanned and the timing was flat out bizarre. To believe that God orders our steps is to believe that He likes messing with our "plans" sometimes. I was in the process of being accepted to Covenant College for the fall !
semester when we found out Bailey was coming.

2. In your FAQ you and your wife seem rather open about the fact that you have sex, which I guess is okay since you're married. Is this something you feel strongly about? Explain.
Well certainly the comment in the FAQ was lighthearted. (True, but lighthearted!) I'm not really the kind of person who talks about something that personal openly. The only person I can think of that I've had a real conversation about sex with is my brother, who is also married, and even that was weird. I'm pretty sure that wasn't what you were asking, though. Is sex something I feel strongly about? Sure. It's not the most important aspect of a marriage, but it is highly important. It's one huge thing you share with your wife that you don't share with any other person. It's a tangible way of affirming your bond as husband and wife. It can make you happy when you're sad. I'm saying too much...

3. What is your reaction when you find yourself "losing" a friend? You know, you just grow apart.
It's sad, but I understand that it's natural. People change and grow and move and all sorts of things happen. Sometimes there's a desire to try and get back what you had, but that doesn't happen in most cases. I think it's harder for me because I don't make friends easily.

4. What are your aspirations concerning your up and coming daughter? How are you striving to help these to come about?
There are so many things I want for Bailey. Most of all, I want her to love God. Of course that's the one that is most not up to me. I can encourage her to do so, read the Bible to her, pray with her, take her to church, and I will do all of those things, but it is up to the Holy Spirit to draw her. I want her to be a real disciple, something I don't currently see myself as, incidentally. I also want her to be intelligent and creative. She'll have some of that in her genes, and I'll encourage those things by reading to her, getting her involved in art and music, and finding a way to provide an excellent education for her. I want her to be a person who loves people tremendously. She'll get a caring and tender heart from her mother, I'm sure, and I'd like for us to teach her to put that love into action through service. Oh, and I want her to have her mother's beautiful green eyes. Not much I can do about that, though.

5. What is the most dire need of evangelicalism today?
I think I could safely say that it would be discipleship. Serious study of the Word of God and disciplined efforts to follow its teachings. That's the most dire need of my life. For the first few years of my faith, it seems like I was "blown by every breeze" and I really want to be grounded in knowledge of solid doctrine and practice. I think that could be said of many Christians.

If you'd like to ask a follow up question, post a comment and I'll answer it there. If you'd like for me to interview you on your blog, post a comment and I'll start working on questions.

Posted by John Hawbaker at August 14, 2003 09:55 AM | TrackBack