Bookstore an' more

I like it when my friends post new blogs every now and then, because it helps remind me that I have one too.  It also makes me feel bad for the millions of readers who every day hope to find a new blog post here at "Make My Life A Prayer to You" and are almost always let down.

The transition at the bookstore doesn't seem as bad, looking back, as it did at the time.  It was a tough week, no doubt, but now things are going pretty smoothly with the new folks.  The Denver Seminary Bookstore has always been a really great relational place, where knowing customers by name and discussing theology and having good conversation were prized above all else.  Our new management is done by a secular company, so naturally the goal is now more about making money than making relationships.  The biggest fear that I (and my fellow seminarians) had was that this new company would bring in Thomas Kinkade paintings and Precious Moments figurines and "Jesus Loves You" bumper stickers and cross pendant necklaces, turning it into a Christian trinket store rather than a seminary bookstore.  Today my fears were realized, though in a less terrible way than I thought they'd be.  The corporate office has ordered and sent us a good chunk of those kinds of items ("Christian crap," I've heard it called), but it seems like we'll be able to basically tell them that those aren't the kinds of items we want to sell in our store.  If all goes well (and it seems like it might), this will be the last order of its kind.  I feel like I'm really having to step up and  start becoming more aware of new books that are coming out that would sell in our store, so I can inform my manager and, in turn, the corporate office, so that we can continue to provide the wonderful selection that we always have.  The new owners don't know much about theologies and Bible handbooks and systematics, and they've never heard of Bruce Waltke, Mark Driscoll, Rob Bell, Wayne Grudem, John Calvin, Bill Mounce, D.A. Carson, Ben Witherington, N.T. Wright, or Tremper Longman.  Therefore, I'm working extra hard to educate my manager in the "ways of a seminary bookstore."

(note: It's perfectly acceptable not to know who those people are... but if you're going to own and operate an evangelical seminary's bookstore, you should start learning about them.)

In other news, Elizabeth and I are going to be making a trip to Iowa next weekend, and we're STOKED about it.  We're going to get to hang out with our 8-month old nephew who is way cuter than any baby you're related to.  This will only be the third time in his life we've been able to see him.  The first time lasted about 90 minutes, and the second time was for about two days... and he spent 90% of them crying or sleeping.  We haven't seen Joel and Pam since New Year's, and we miss 'em!