Sunday Nights.

I've decided on my favorite part of the week.

Last night I climbed into Scooter's car and headed across town to Nick and Beth's place. We arrived right on time - 9pm - and realized everyone else was running late. This was the last thing on our minds, however, due to the presence of Nick and Beth's new adorable puppy, a month-old German Shepherd.

Sufi, as she is called,* is a little smaller than a football and, given the chance, will mob all over your face with a vengeance, licking and nibbling. After a good fifteen minutes of playing with Sufi, the rest of the group arrived. Cameron, Stephen King, and Austin pulled up and we let them in through the back door of Nick and Beth's quaint apartment complex. After a few minutes of talking and petting Sufi, Beth bid us farewell and left with a smile.

Now it was just the bros left. Nick, my old RA, Scooter and Cameron, my old roommates, Stephen King,** a good friend of ours, and Coop, last year's Chapel leader and an awesome dude. Within a few minutes, we had coffee brewing and Nick's ornate hookah up and running. Not long after this, we all sat around the coffee table in the small living room and got down to business.

It did not escape me that two of my least favorite things - black coffee and smoking - somehow seemed so appealing at the time. I sipped the hot, bitter beverage between mouthfuls of chocolate muffins and vanilla ice cream. I breathed in the fruity, dusty smoke from the hookah, enjoying the smell but disliking the taste.

We opened our Bibles, our minds, and our lives to each other. Between the bubbling of the hookah and the quiet barking of Sufi (who soon zonked out on Scooter's sweatshirt in the corner,) we fellowshipped and shared life. I listened in awe to Nick as he told us about what it's like being married. I smiled when Coop told us how nervous he is for his own wedding on Friday. I nodded in agreement with Scooter and Cameron as they talked about how strange it is being a sophomore. I sympathized with Stephen King as he recounted to us the hardships of a long-distance relationship.

I couldn't help but smile the whole night - it's times like these when it's so easy to realize that God is good.

I was encouraged, built up, and offered advice. I chipped in with knowledge when it was applicable. I saw a microcosm of the fellowship of God in my friends as we laughed and as we somberly nodded.

After a few hours which absolutely flew by, we prayed for each other, cleaned up the living room, scrubbed the hookah, and began to depart. Next week we'll begin our study in "Devotional Classics," a book which consequently was gifted to me last year by my D-Group leader, Scott.

I've decided on my favorite part of the week, and I absolutely can't wait for next Sunday night.

Thanks for reading,

-Daniel K

*Named after Sufi Islam... the "ballsy" Muslims, as we call them.

**That's his real name. For real.