04.06.08 Look What I Learnt Today In North Carolina
I spoke about the Good News this morning at East Side Baptist Church in Shelby, North Carolina. Then the youth minister, children’s minister (married to each other) and two of their guy friends took me out to lunch. Oh, what a snapshot of North Carolina “culture” it was too.
We talked about NASCAR. Specifically, about a wreck in Texas recently, said to be “awesome”, and about Jeff Gordon, said to be “gay” because he’s said to have a ”rainbow” on his car. Duh. Connect the dots, people. Obviously.
I’d also like to pass on a lesson to my fellow non-NASCAR-fan readers out there: Don’t EVER, under any circumstances tell a NASCAR fan “all they’re doing is turning left.” This is frowned upon by the NASCAR community. Frowned. Upon. As in your salvation will be questioned and your mama called names.
Also, and this is very important apparently, something my new NASCAR friends are quite passionate about, there are certain ne’er-do-wells out there bringing up the sport. No, not bringing it down. Bringing it up. And this must be stopped, say my new NASCAR friends. Let me ‘splain it to you as best I understand it.
”Dale junior picks dirt from underneath his fingernails with a nail” or something like that. “Jeff Gordon gets manicures” and this is evil, like from the pit stop of hell type evil. And “some people in Las Vegas put a dadgum five star restaurant and a spa in the infield.” And this is also not good. “Since when did people who like spas and junk watch NASCAR? It ain’t right.” And that’s really all I could decipher. My Redneck is a little rusty. But believe you me this is stuff that Obama, Clinton and McCain should be addressing. Apparently. A real hot button issue. Stuff that matters to the people of North Carolina.
I’m in the Charlotte airport continuing my observation of North Carolinians, getting my last moments of learnin’ in before I board the plane home.
Oh, and one more thing about North Carolina: Folks here are generous. 250(ish) people sponsored 51 kids this morning. Incredible kindness. Thanks, y’all. For everything.
said:
Shaun, It was great to hear you this morning at Eastside. You said not to take one of the sponsorship packets if I was not going to sponsor a child at that time because your supply was limited. I did not due to not having my checkbook, credit card, etc. But I wanted you to know I sponsored a child online. It gave me goose bumps when I did it. Thanks for what you are doing and I am going to tell others about Compassion. By the way, don’t believe everything a North Carolina Nascar fan tells you. I’m one so I know. I’m just glad nobody brought up my UNC Tarheels getting killed by Kansas. Thanks again for what you are doing. Craig
andira said:
East Side Baptist Church!!!! I attended that church some when I was at college at Gardner-Webb. LOL. Sounds like you got some real Southern hospitality.
said:
Another church in NC (besides us here at St. Mark’s Church) is generous...very cool! Praise be to God!
Deidre said:
Born, raised and currently living in NC - not far from Shelby, actually. I’m so glad you ran into some generous people. Also, not all of us are die hard Nascar fans or even use “ain’t” in every sentence. But, there are a lot of us that love Jesus - ain’t that nice??
Praise God it was a successful visit for Compassion!
Thomas said:
Love the post...and by love I mean LOVE! You represented Chris very well. I’m glad you found the video too.
Also, thank you so much again for coming out. We prayed and God answered...now 52 children (see Craig’s post above) have been saved from poverty. And Brian and Katie, who were helping with your tables and sponsored one child from Nicaragua, are going to go online and find a second from Nicaragua...so, 53 kids. I am truly amazed at the response of our church and grateful you helped lead us there.
I know the trips are worth it, but also glad you’re home and can spend time with your family.
P.S. You can find Andrew’s blog at http://www.barnesyonline.com/theblog/.
Tracy Edwards said:
I think I should be offended somewhere in that post. Oh wait. . . I am not a Nascar fan! Whew, no offense taken!
Spence Smith said:
Dern son! You IS smart and got you one of em smart educated talks today too...well gitter done and Don’t mess with Nascar you ain’t felt nothin till you sat under 500 horse p’wer and that’s funny feelin...i don’t care who ya are…
gillie said:
How do I go about getting you to come to my church to speak, play and get some kids sponsored?
Zack said:
As someone who has been in NC for 11 years now, I can say with authority that you, my friend, have hit the nail (the same one Dale Jr. uses to clean dirt out from under his nails with ) on the head.
And yes, they are just turning left :0)
Kelly @ Love Well said:
Thanks for this education, Shaun. I will use it to reach out to my NASCAR lovin’ friends.
Glad to hear the positive report.
Shaun Groves said:
Thanks for reading, Kelly.
Striving to keep my readers relevant,
Saun
Shawn Bashor said:
You know what NASCAR stands for right? None Athletic Sport Circling Around Rednecks…
Jane said:
Great going. God bless these kind hearted people.
Srini said:
NASCAR rules, I wish I were one of those kids