Wednesday a.m.

Photo courtesy of IronBill

Well, hello Wednesday! How did you get here so fast? It seems like Tuesday really.

It is such a beautiful morning! I just stepped outside for a little while. Hard to beat 61 degrees in the morning.

Yesterday was filled with all kinds of things. I spent considerable time reading news articles about same-sex marriage, which is what I am going to talk about Sunday. That should be pretty interesting, even though there is nothing controversial about it - ha ha. I like a challenge, so here we go.

I spent a lot of time at the Store yesterday. We are having a guy redo the front window panels. They have become faded and need to be painted. In fact they need to be replaced, so that's what we are doing. I made trips to Ace for paint and to Lowes for plywood. A lot of times we have things done around the Store to help those who need some work. It works out well for everyone involved. I will need to be there quite a bit today to help get things going.

"Out of the blue" last week a young man contacted me. I had talked/worked with him 2-3 years ago. He is severely depressed and has addiction problems. I talked with him briefly and prayed with him last week. I sent him a note after that, and got a note back that included these words (of hurt):

i appreciate your prayers, but right now i am so angry with God I want nothing 2 do with him. i went to rehab 2 get help and came out too sick togo back to work. i have stopped going to AA meetings as well. right now if God where a man i would beat him to death. i am not able to experience him the way others are, and honestly i am very pissed off about it right now.

I so desperately want to help him and will try getting with him today or tomorrow. He is open to spending some time together. I don't think any of you would know him but please pray for him. Disappointment with God is such a huge issue, and it originates in misunderstanding and unmet expectations. I just finished reading the Book of Job. God never answers Job's questions regarding suffering and apparent injustice. God says, basically, "Trust me." It's very hard for some to do. That, though, is the essence of faith: trusting God with/ in spite of all the unanswered questions of life.

Yesterday had other stuff too, but let's get to the fun part! Our Tuesday night ride switched from a paceline ride to a time trial. We had 11 riders, and we were launched from the Washington county line 1 minute a part, from predicted slowest to fastest. The idea was that everyone should finish pretty close together, and we did. 

I was sent off in 4th position but improved by 1 notch, so I was pretty pleased with that. There was a headwind, which slowed everyone some. Jim said it was good for 1-2 mph. I wanted to average 20 mph over the 10 miles of rolling terrain, but ended up at 19.67. I was happy with it and believe without the wind that I can go north of 20 mph. If  you want all the details, you can read Bill's account.

After we got back to the Park, secured our bikes, and switched shoes, 6 of us ran 3 miles. I am getting used to the weird feeling of running right after riding. These "bricks" are helping me prepare for the triathlon. Following the run we gathered at Wendy's for some refueling and story telling. It was a pleasant evening.

I'm getting to go for a run, followed by another day of living in the Kingdom of God, trying to do good.