Tuesday a.m.

It takes a long time to make iron, right? I mean there was the Bronze Age for a long time before the Iron Age happened. You know what I mean? It took a long time for iron to come around, so I should be happy with my progress toward being an Ironman. For some, my progress would be/is laughable, but I am making progress. If I can entertain people along the way, then that's even better (ha ha). Actually everyone is very kind, encouraging, and supportive. "Let's help that old man in/out the pool." "Sir, would you like some water wings?"

I did make good progress in the pool last night. I covered around 600 yards. I'm still using flippers and a kick board, but just a week ago, I couldn't make it across the pool. I also made some moves last night toward getting rid of the kick board. Old dog. New trick. Not easy.

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

My day ended in the pool, but it started in my office. I made my final list of things to do, things to buy, people to contact, etc., before heading to Honduras. My flight leaves at 6:10 in the morning. I think I have everything organized for the final packing, which I will do this evening. My 3 amigos are having a good trip so far. They left on Saturday and doing good things.

I had a couple of interesting meetings yesterday. One of my good friends/ministry partners had Kedra and I over to eat with him and his wife. We talked about life in our town and how we can improve our service to the poor. It's almost overwhelming how many people are really struggling. A lot of them are trapped in generational poverty. We know the answer is Jesus, but how do you make the connections?? We've tried a few things and are going to try a few more. We are doing lots of good things through the church and through the ReGeneration Store to help people, but we feel there is a lot more to do.

The second meeting was with Congressman Todd Young. A friend of mine invited about dozen people to meet with him. He seems like a good guy, and he had lots of interesting things to say about lots of things. I didn't ask any questions. I don't know what to ask. The whole political process almost sickens me. The obscene amount of money spent on campaigns and the obscene amount of debt. It just makes me want to ramp up the Kingdom work (see paragraph above).

Today I get to load a semi with Bryantsville Hunger Relief Project corn. That's always a lot of fun and rewarding. The corn has already been placed on pallets, so we just need to roll it onto the semi. The rest of the day will be about knocking out the list I referenced above.

The day will end with Tempo Tuesday. I will make my 2nd attempt to go 6.35s for 3 miles. The added challenge tonight is going to be WIND. Oh well...