Sterling Griggs

Sarcasm and cynicism is something I come by honest. Perhaps it's because I'm the youngest of three boys, all separated by a mere two and half years, and my place on the food chain was well established from day one. Or maybe it was all the comments that me and my brothers got when mom dressed us up all alike and people would stare for a second and then exclaim, " Oh my! Are they triplets? " It was at this point that I usually got into trouble. Before my mom could explain our ages, I would step up, hands on my hips, and ask, " Do we look like triplets? " I mean, come on! We were stair stepped in height and, other than a crop of blonde hair on top of our heads, we really didn't look all that much alike. Those early lessons that I learned after the fact about manners should have stuck with me longer than they did. Growing up in a house full of boys wasn't always easy, but it most certainly was fun. From the beginning the outdoors was our playground...

Several years ago I became the new youth pastor at a church in Yadkinville, NC. In case you've never heard of Yadkinville or you have no idea how to pronounce it, the "d" is silent and the "i" is more like a hard "u", so it's pronounced "Ya-kun-vull" by those who really know who to speak Yadkin-ese, the local dialect there. Anyhow, the students there were all awesome and a little on the country side, which was cool because it challenged me to be a little less "city" and uptight about certain things. Early on in my time of service there, I realized that I had a group of guys that were gifted at talking junk. You know, the kind where you playfully goad other people verbally to engage in physical challenges, all the while strutting like a peacock and "bowing up" to them. If you don't understand, then you have to accept that it's a guy thing and it's just what we do at times. There was one kid in the group...

I am subbing at a local high school as I type these words. Don't worry, they are taking a test so I'm not shirking my responsibilities. When I walked in the door this morning at the school, I was asked to sub for a class that I wasn't originally assigned for, but only for first period. It was a math class and they had plenty of work left for them to keep them busy. For the most part they did really well, working to complete their assignments while keeping the noise to a minimum. I try to be a "cool" sub, the one who pushes them to do their assignments but doesn't crack the whip too hard. Plus, it's Friday, and everyone should catch a little bit of a break on Friday, right? All was going well when I noticed this one student who wasn't keeping up with the rest of the others. He wasn't disruptive or anything like that. In fact, he was entirely quiet. That's because he was sound asleep the entire time he was in my class. Not once did his pencil mov...