We slash, abbreviate, murder the English language so badly. Let’s say I called my dad on the phone during the day and wanted to know where he was.

The way you officially do that in the English language is by asking, “Where are you at?”

But what actually comes out of my mouth is more like “Where yat?” Or if you’re lucky “Where ya’at?”

We’re in such a hurry to say what we “wanna” say, we often don’t take the time to completely articulate our thoughts. But if the goal is communication, it works I guess. And we’re so bad that it would almost seem overly formal or emphatic to say all syllables of all words in the course of everyday life.

Charity. Some of you are thinking “love,” some of you are thinking “church mouse,” some of you are thinking “church group.” I went to a meeting this morning that—if you insisted on classifying it—would probably be considered “Charity.” Very interesting. I find these people extremely challenging to myself.

I loved the way there were so many people of different backgrounds that attended the meeting. I loved the way that they feel free to express themselves in the service. I loved the way the preacher focused on Jesus (and in the testimony time one man got up and read the Apostles’ Creed as his testimony; I got chills) above everything else including any practical issues. I loved the way that people seemed to be sincerely seeking Christ and His will.

I don’t think I agree with them on some of the things they teach, they might seem to take some things out of context sometimes, but that’s not really the point. The point is that I can learn from them, take what is right and true and good from them and see if they can show me something about my own life and church that could be improved. I honestly went in there with my guard up a little bit, but I was pleasantly surprised. Don't get me wrong, I love my church and the people in it. I love it. But we're far from perfect, and we could learn some things from other people. I know I sure can.

So it was quite a game yesterday, Ducks and Wolverines. The Ducks pulled it out in the end, after dominating the first half and hanging on in the second. The strategy was to shut down the UM vaunted rushing attack and they succeeded there, holding them to a less-than-paltry negative 4 yards on the ground. That combined with huge special teams efforts and a key defensive takeaway preserved the victory. Quite exciting.