My dad and I love conspiracy theories.

Let me explain:

My Dad is one of my favorite people in the entire world. We often share a very specific brand of conspiracy based humor which is met with a mixed response from other audiences. For example, as long as I can remember whenever we drive past a white, unmarked van either my dad or myself will hit the other on the shoulder and say, “there goes the FBI.” This is a deeply engrained belief that I hold to this day. Also, whenever anything important goes missing and officials deny any knowledge of it one or both of us makes the joke that they have “top people” working on it in the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Arc. This joke will literally never get old.

The belief that there is a lot going on behind the the facade of ordinary daily life probably comes from my dad loving, and therefore raising me on, a steady diet of spy thrillers. The Jack Ryan movies (any Harrison Ford action movie really) and the Borne Series were staples for Nickel family movie night. And the show 24 is the only one I can remember my dad actually stopping chores to sit down and watch. He would store up laundry to fold so he could justify the hour on the couch (he’s the kind of person that is always working on something).

Dad has more recently enjoyed the show “Finding Hitler” which is a series documenting a team of… Nazi hunters, I guess… who believe that Hitler faked his death and moved to Argentina. Every so often he’ll be watching it when I’m at my parent’s house and I’ll hear him say things like “that has to be where they refueled the U-Boat…” to himself. I’ve seen the show as well. They make some fascinating discoveries. They also make claims like “Patagonia is the Berlin of South America, there’s no other way to put it!” The show is equal parts ridiculous and awesome.

A perfect example of our shared fascination with espionage is a trip to Washington D.C. when I was in college. I had to stay in D.C. for a long weekend to attend training for a summer internship and, since I had no means of my own, my parents graciously picked me up from school and chauffeured me. They also used it as the perfect opportunity to take Alvin, the Korean exchange student living with them at the time, on a trip to learn about America. He may or may not have been thrilled; he was very hard to read.

Allow me to set the scene: the Nickels are driving along the highway, almost to their destination. Tina and Alvin are in the back seat. Tina is pretending to do homework. Alvin is not pretending. Road signs begin to appear alerting drivers to the upcoming exit for Langley, the CIA headquarters.

Dad: We’re coming up to the exit for Langley [waggles eyebrows]

Me: [head shoots up] What?! Can we go?! We have to go! NO! We can’t go! I’m too nervous!

Dad: [takes exit]

Me: Oh my gosh! AH! There are secrets in the air!

[Road signs become progressively more threatening to “non-authorized personnel”]

Me: AH! DAD! You have to turn around! We’ll be shot on site!

Dad: It’s a one way road.

Me: We’re going to DIE! No one will ever find our bodies because they’ll be stored at Area 51!

Dad: We’ll just tell them we’re lost.

Me: [begins profusely apologizing to the CIA who are obviously listening to every word said]

Dad: [reasonably stays on the service road which curves left and back on to the highway instead of continuing to the road block ahead]

Me: Oh my gosh they’re following us!

Mom: [rolls eyes and laughs indulgently]

Alvin: […impossible to read. Possibly thinking something along the lines of “who are these people?”]

And scene!

As you may have guessed, the increasing invasiveness of technology, polarizing current events, and the media’s tendency to exaggerate stories has only fueled our belief that hardcore shenanigans are taking place right under the public’s nose.

There’s just one glaring problem: Dad and I, we’re phonies. Posers. Frauds. Wannabes. We don’t belong to any underground “hacktavist” groups. I’ve never even visited the WikiLeaks website. I can’t speak for my dad, but I’ve personally never worn a tin foil hat. We will have a whole conversation about how Google is definitely listening to our conversations and then Google something minutes later.

The belief in conspiracy theories is not changing how we live.

Shouldn’t it though? If you believe in something huge, something life-changing, it should change your life.

Maybe you already see where I’m going with this. Shouldn’t the life changing, grace giving, good news of my salvation be changing the way I live my life? Shouldn’t the God-breathed word of God be shaping my every word, thought, and deed? I’ve recently been challenged to examine this aspect of my faith. Several times. From several different sources. It’s been one of those things where you hear it in sermons, bible studies, devotions, etc. until you start to think it’s a heavenly conspiracy.

One of the best examples of these not-so-subtle reminders is 1 John 1:6: “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness we lie and do not practice the truth.”

Wow. It’s pretty hard to hide from that; it gives zero wiggle room. I’m trying to be conscious and intentional of this in my daily walk. So if you happen to notice me walking in darkness please do not hesitate to raise an eyebrow, I really need the reminders!

Anyways, thanks for reading my blog guys. I’ve gotta go, someone’s at the door and I’m guessing it’s someone from the government with one of those Men In Black brain wipers. Obviously they read this and are now aware that I know too much.

**special Father’s Day message**

This is one of the many stories about my dad that I hope to share on this blog. My dad is a wonderful, godly, servant-hearted man who absolutely and evidently walks in the light. To be his daughter has been an incredible blessing and joy. Love you dad!