Spring Break

Good morning! I wanted to check in with you this morning before I check out this afternoon. Kedra and I are headed to Alabama some time this afternoon and will be gone for a few days. It's spring break, and so I will take a little break from here and from a few other daily things I do. I might be back at the end of the week, maybe sooner, depending on Internet connections and desire. ha ha

I'm in my final prep for my sermon this morning, and I am finishing up my class also. I think I am just about ready for both. Thus, I have a little time to tell you about a few things. First, Rebecca is in Mexico on a mission trip with Lipscomb. She is working in a children's home this week. Please pray for her.

On Friday I had a great bike ride with Bill and Tim the Elder. It was fun and went really well. The weather was in the 60s and the road was a bit damp. That led to the only downside of the ride. My bike was a mess when I got finished. I spent about an hour in the evening cleaning it up. The bike looks so nice that I enjoyed restoring its beauty through a bath. Yes, that sounds really weird. We rode a little more than 30 miles Friday.

Yesterday I had my longest long run of this training cycle. I went 22 miles, and it went really well. Most experts say your long run should be a minute slower than your intended race pace. My intended race pace for Boston is 7:59, and yesterday I ran a comfortable 8:41. I actually cranked out a 8:13 for mile 21 and 7:53 for mile 22, which tells me that I am in pretty good shape and had plenty left. I am just hoping for a good weather day in Boston. I ended up with 50 miles for the week.

In Alabama I hope to get some good quality running in, and I'm taking my bike to get a few easy rides in. I am working on some adjustments as far as fitting is concerned. That's always a work in progress, so it will be good to have some extra time to work on that. Plus there are some great places to ride in AL.

OK! See you soon.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

What Can We Do?

Quite along time ago, my young family was crossing a street. My precious little girl, misreading the sign asked, "Are we allowed to cross here?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

She explained, "Because we are not Presbyterians."

Still cracks me up!

There certainly are a lot of divisions amongst those who follow Jesus, and I think God is not especially pleased with that. You can read John 17 and 1 Corinthians 1 to get some idea of what he thinks.

What can we do? Maybe just start working side by side in serving people who are in need, walking together to help others? Seems like a good place to start to me.

Friday

Wow, I slept in this morning! Made it to 5:50 a.m. I was up a little later than usual last night. I went to the pool, and I don't get home from it until around 9:30. It takes me a while to unwind after that. Plus, last night IU was playing basketball. They are starting to draw me back in after years of my apathy.

Sleep in = running behind this morning. Oh well... I had a good day yesterday. I didn't get to run in the morning, because the storms just kept coming along. I had to be at the bus barn around 9, so I simply didn't have enough time to get a 7 miler in. No problem! Once I got to Indy, I did the Superman thing, using a bus, instead of a phone booth. Off I went into the midday sun for seven. It was a decent run.

I came back to the bus, cleaned up, changed back into Clark Kent and continued sermon prep. I got a start on it before we left, due to not running at home yesterday morning. This sermon is going to be different. I really like it, which means most people won't -- ha ha. That seems to be the way it works.

Other preachers tell me the same. "The ones I like don't seem to capture anyone's attention. The cruddy ones - those are the ones the people like." Hey, it's all God's word and doesn't return back to him without doing something. The key is the sermon must be based on Scripture. Oh well, enough preaching theory.

It seems that the last 5 minutes in the pool are always the most productive, and that was the case last night. I THINK I am "this close" to swimming. I'm getting excited about that. Once there, I can start the new dream of becoming at triathlete.

The bike is calling my name! I hear it, and a couple of my friends have heard theirs also. I am not a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but I think a 32 mile ride could happen today. Tomorrow is a 22 mile run.

I hope your weekend goes really well!

The Last Tear

I hate to see people cry! Gets to me. Bad.

Yet tears are a part of life, and some people die with tears in their eyes.

Yesterday I saw a man who is dying. He was crying. Tears filled his eyes.

There is quite a promise to those who believe in, and follow, Jesus. If we die in pain, then guess who wipes that last tear away?

Revelation 21:4 — "He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

And after that last tear is gone... Wow!

Thursday a.m.

Good morning! How are you on this fine, warm morning? It's going to be another weirdly warm day. Oh well. Sure is pleasant. I'm looking at the radar and seeing a few showers, which is not what I want to see. I need to do another (my third this week) early, before the sun comes up, run. I think I will be OK.

I need a 7 miler this morning. It, coupled with my 6 miler from yesterday morning, will position me for a 22 miler on Saturday, which will give me another 50 mile week. As far as training for Boston goes, the time is now! I have this week and couple more to hit it hard and hope everything holds together. I feel strong and fit right now, so my confidence is growing. I am starting to get excited!

Yesterday was a busy day! I had 3 meetings in a row yesterday morning and then I saw a bunch of people in various places in life. It was an interesting day that ended in my class last night. We talked about the 400 years of silence between the Old and New Testaments. My class reenacted it for me by saying little! Ha ha, just kidding. Well, sorta! There is just a lot to process from a historical standpoint. The class reaction is making me rethink my sermon plan, which is what the class is designed to do.

Sermon prep today will be in an interesting environment. I will work inside a bus today. I am driving a group of students to Brownsburg for the Challenger Learning Experience, or something like that. My kids did it when they were in school. They get to do a space mission. It's pretty neat, and it will provide a good quiet place to work. I've prepared a few sermons over the years in a bus. The money I receive will go to fund some of my endurance atheletics habits. (Bus driving in the fall bought me my bike!)

Well, I better get going here soon. I hope your day goes really well.

Desire to Finish

Last summer, during the Tour de France, I heard something like this:

"The desire to finish must be stronger than the rationale to quit." Wow!

I love endurance athletic events, in part, because they are a metaphor for the Christian race.

Hebrews 12:1 — Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

Philippians 3:13,14 — Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Work through the rough patches, the temptations to quit, and keep moving! It’s worth it!

"The desire to finish must be stronger than the rationale to quit."

Wednesday

Good morning Wednesday! How are you? Luke is 22 years old today! I remember his birth very well. In fact, when we went to the hospital the night before he was born, it was close to 80 degrees. He decided to wait all night before he made his entrance, like at 8:30 in the morning. Then, if I remember right, it got really cold. He has been such a blessing to us and is at a neat place in life. He is getting ready to graduate in May.

The other picture is of one my favorite things I've brought home from Honduras on my 6 trips there. When we went to Santa Rosa de Copan, I kept seeing bottles of something at roadside stands. I asked Marc what they were. "Honey." I said, "Stop calling me honey, you weirdo!" He said, "No, those are bottles of honey, like from bees." "Oh, OK then." On the way back to Tegucigalpa, we stopped at one of the stands and made the purchase. It is the best honey I've ever had! I got about a quart, and it cost me about $5!

Yesterday was a good day! I enjoyed studying for a long time the intertestamental period. It's during this time that the synagogue develops, which has a huge influence on the way churches worship today. Also during this time some of the famous players in the New Testament develop, for example, the Pharisees and Sadducees. As I bumped into Alexander the Great yesterday, I so much wanted to spend time with him, but I had to keep moving. He changed the world in so many ways, and we still live under his influence today in some ways. When he was 14, he began studying with Aristotle.

When I visited Turkey and the sites of the 7 churches of Asia Minor, I ran into a lot of Greek influence. You could see buildings that were built by the Greeks, and then when the Romans came along, they would build on top of those structures. Fascinating stuff, at least to me.

Last night we shortened the tempo run to 2 miles, due to the heat. We're not acclimated to it yet and need to keep our long term goals in mind and not do anything too foolish. (I threw that in there, because some of you think all of it is foolishness! ha ha) Anyway, I was pleased with my workout last night. I ran a total of 10 miles and ran the 2 tempo miles at a 6:45 pace. I think from now to Boston I will do only the longer steady state runs, e.g., runs once a week at a 7:45ish pace that cover from 6-10 miles. Boston is only 4 weeks from Monday!

Today is going to be a busy one! I have 3 meetings this morning and tons of people to see the rest of the day, followed by a meal and class tonight. It should be a good day, even though really long.