Whole Hogge

My nephews and nieces in SC have a young worship leader friend who hangs around them. Billy is a fascinating fellow to follow on social media, with daily adventures are more varied than any on reality TV. Supposedly he works at his parent’s company during the week and leads worship at various churches on Sunday, but every day finds him making a major purchase or flying his plane somewhere across the country. He needs his own personal photojournalist to follow him around, though he does a fine job chronicling his adventures on his own, mostly on Instagram.

Billy is generous to a fault. He rarely sees Matthew, but for Christmas he gave Matthew a Lego Bible…a perfect gift for my 14 year old. He offered to give Anna his old iPhone4, since he had moved on to a Five. Last summer at the beach he walked down to the amusement park with Anna and her cousins, and ran into a friend from Charlotte. Billy is the type who rarely bought a textbook in college, getting by instead with his relationships with professors and classmates. He moved into his new house, installed a hot tub and pinball machine, and convinced Anna’s cousins to be his maids. Last fall Billy attended the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, flew to Milwaukee on business, flew my nephews and nieces back and forth to Clemson, let Anna co-pilot his plane, and cheered for the Gamecocks in their game against Clemson.

For a worship leader, I have no idea why he conforms to the pagan world, calling Christmas trees a “holiday trees” and the like. Perhaps I was comparatively busy after I got out of school, but it seems like Billy is always on the go. Here’s what Twitter says he did so far in 2013:

20. iPhone trouble, review job applications

19  Moes with my kids (& others)

18. Shattered iPad and iPhone

17. Lead worship in Spartanburg

16. Play in snow, travel across state, dinner with friends.

15  Drive his vintage Nova, eat Mexican, movie

14. Work on plane.

13. Modern Family, bust iPhone

12. Rave about Obama’s State of the Union.

11. Listen to Eminem, tail spins in plane, watch The Bachelor.

10. Burlington NC, Relevant Church, plane breaks down, Smash Burger

9. Cook gourmet dinner

6. Wingate date auction

5. Watch Anaconda, the movie

4  Win Super Bowl pools

3. Host Super Bowl party

2. Dance party

1. Dish receiver breaks, has new one installed.

31. Charlotte comedy club: Rob Schneider

30. Receive GoPro camera for birthday

29. Line up Super Bowl office pools

28. High school basketball game

27. Watch X Games

26. Watch WWE

25. Visit rednecks.

24. Watch Modern Family

23. Fly to wrong city

22  New Mini-Fridge looks like amplifier

21. Featured in the Pageland newspaper, watch Inauguration

20. Rubik’s Cube, rowdy weekend, grill out

19. Fly friends to Myrtle Beach

18. NYC: Central Park bike ride, Spiderman on Broadway

17. New rims for pickup, hit one million on pinball machine

16. History Channel, evening flight, meet with county commissioner

15. Fly

14. Play chess

13. Church in Hilton Head, climb rock wall, eat seafood

12. Test drive new Camaro

11. Take airplane to work

10. Take new guitar to work

9. Colbert Report

8. Take down “holiday tree” and lights

7. Watch Les Mis

6. Antelope for dinner with Ed

5. Pinball

4. Buffalo Wild Wings

3. FBC Indian Trail, hang out with my teenage nieces

2. Hot tub, bowl games

1. Fly to Myrtle Beach for dinner.