Thursday, June 28, 2007

Lights to the Soul

There have been a lot of painful experiences going on in lives around us. I understand that pain is part of this life, and that we can't avoid it.
* A friend of ours, a financial officer for a worldwide ministry, had one of the employees that worked for him brutally murdered in the parking lot of their workplace yesterday morning. She was a single Christian woman with two daughters and was caring for her mother.
* Another friend of ours has a friend with breast cancer. (Also a Christian.) The lady had major surgery this past Monday. She is now recovering and awaiting pathology reports. She will have to start chemotherapy in a couple months.
* Another friend of ours knows a lady who lost her 10 month old baby.
* A lady my wife has worked with lost a son this past week. (Also a Christian.) Not sure from what or how old he was.
* We know several Christians with physical afflictions of some sort or another and with varying degrees of pain; some are pretty extreme. Some have had knee surgeries, some ankle surgeries...

Jesus did not promise us that this life would be free from all pain just because we chose to follow Him. Rather, He told us that we would encounter pain and difficulties; then we are to count it all joy. That we are to persevere through these trials. That is no small order.

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
I saw a picture of a friend the other day and was reminded of something I've read in scripture: That the eyes are the lamp (or light) to the soul.
The person in the picture is a Christian and it was a wonderful picture of that person.
But behind the smile, the eyes reveal years of hurt and pain. I had to stop and pray for this one, and it has been heavy on my heart since.

Father God, You know the plans You have for us and Your Word says that Your plans are for good, not for evil. We live in a sinful, fallen world and we are affected day after day by those around us; some believers, some not. Only Your mercy and grace extended to us allows us to carry on and still have hope. We cannot hope in ourselves nor can we hope in even those close to us whom we love and care about. We can only place our hope in You, the Sovereign King of all Creation. Lord I pray for these around us that are enduring such difficulties and pain and I humbly ask that You would send Your ministering angels to them and Your Holy Spirit to comfort them in their hours of distress. Thank You precious Lord Jesus for interceding for each of these and for us before our Father in heaven in the perfect way that only You can do. I love You Lord and I continue to place my trust in You especially in the midst of these times in which I am not able to understand or comprehend Your purpose and plan.
I would also ask for my friend in the picture, that You will heal the scars of the deepest hurts and pains of heart that this person bears. I know that Your will and desire to do so and You will accomplish it in Your perfect time.
Amen.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Overdue Update

My last post was about mountain biking and I mentioned that I would add a post after racing... and no it didn't actually take me this long to recover, things have just been busy.
The picture in the previous post was NOT me. The picture on the right IS me (and a longtime friend of ours on the right), waiting, and waiting, and waiting... for the race to begin. I was hoping to finish in about an hour and my time was 1:06:41, so I was pretty pleased. I had fun and I learned from the experience. Now I'm thinking about trying another race next month that will be longer and have more climbing and more descending.

My wonderful wife and I celebrated our 22nd anniversary last Friday and we took a little trip up to Estes Park, CO (a town NE of Boulder) and then and stayed in a nice little bed and breakfast called Mountain Shadows B&B. I got a cabin for us called 'Sweethearts Forever'. Pretty romantic. We had a wonderful couple days and spent time talking and laughing and remembering what life is like as a couple rather than as a couple parents. Thursday afternoon we shopped all the little shops in Estes Park. Friday we went for about a six mile hike to a lake in Rocky Mountain National Park (see also link2 and link3). We had a rain storm blow over so we found refuge in a cave under a big boulder with a retired couple from Durango, CO. So we just sat tight and visited with them until the storm blew past. What a kick! After we got back to the car we took a drive up to the top of the world; well at least it seems like the top of the world. The road is named Trail Ridge Road and it winds along for several miles along the tops of a couple high mountains well above timber line (no trees grow there) and the views are spectacular.
Down the west side of the park we saw large bachelor groups of bull elk. See the animals behind my wife in the picture. Too cool!
And finally, a little further along, we had the awesome treat of viewing a cow moose with her calf... from a distance of course. Thank goodness for telephoto lenses! Mama moose looks like she endured a hard winter carrying baby. God knows what she needs and we're praying she will regain her strength.

So, summertime is upon us and we are busy having fun and enjoying the creation God has blessed us with.

Peace to you all in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Monday, June 11, 2007

This Should Be Interesting

The bug has bitten me and the poison has messed up my brain.
I must be totally sick. I've gone and registered to ride in a mountain bike race this coming Saturday. It just seems like it will be a fun adventure. I want to know if I can do it; If I can finish the race. I don't have any pretentious thoughts about winning. I'd be more than surprised if I did. But I'm going to go out and give it my best shot.

The whole biking thing started as a way to try to improve fitness and now I am pushing myself a step further. Curiosity has now gotten the better of me and it is time to test myself to see what and how I can do. For me it will be just between me, the bike, and the mountain course. Seven and a half miles doesn't sound like far, but try climbing a thousand feet up a mountain on a bicycle at an altitude of 10,000 feet. It can be a bit of a challenge.
Since it will be my first ever race, I have signed up for the beginner level at my age grouping (40-45). Ten guys entered this race for this age group last year and the time it took ranged from just under 55 minutes to an hour and 55 minutes, with the average being around an hour.
For those of you who might be curious about this endeavor you can click this link to take a look at the website. It will be Race 2.
Pending my survival of this Epic SingleTrack experience, I'll post about the adventure, what I've learned from it, and whether I'll try such a thing ever again. ;)
And for some amusing reading check out the biker slang page.
I'm going to try to bomb it and hopefully I'll avoid the balance blackout and not come home with bacon on the arms and legs.

AMExpression Moving Up

I just went to an online friend's blog-site and found she is moving up in the world. I've changed the link on my page to her new site. AMExpression has her own domain for posting her blogs to at http://www.amexpression.com. I am blessed for her.
Check out her new site and be prepared to be blessed. Whoo-Hoo! Go Ame!

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Listening and Pondering

I'm sitting here tonight finally taking a breathe. I'm listening to some mp3s that my father-in-law gave me to listen to of a group called Il Divo and a song (among many good ones) "I Believe In You" with Celine Dion. Wow! It's hard not to sing along. ;) Be glad you don't have to hear me bringing down their fabulous voices.

It seems like there is always a thousand things to do and another thousand things that need doing. The last couple weeks have been as busy as any I can remember. My daughter's high school graduation was obviously a huge contributor to that as well as having lots of relatives.
Last Saturday I finally made a day to go trout fishing with my dad. What a wonderful day he and I had. My mom had been urging me to go out with him since April.

Work has been somewhat topsy-turvy the past two months. As I've written before I've been moved to a new project, along with about six or seven others that were part of my previous project along with three guys from another project. We've been learning how to work together as well as learning the new application we're working on. It is exciting and exhausting and has been a bit tumultuous trying to get us all on the same page. It has been a good thing, but change can be uncomfortable.

I've shared a time or two in the past that I've been mountain biking. I've embarked on this endeavor to get in better physical shape, but as my wife points out, I don't tend to do much part way. When I get into something, I get into it all the way. When I started I never thought about attempting to race, but I like to challenge myself and so I think the next challenge is to attempt a real mountain bike race on a real mountain. I'm thinking of entering one on next Saturday in the beginner division for the "getting closer to getting older guys" aka men's beginner for ages 40-44. It's a good way to get some experience and attempt to determine if I'm interested in doing more races. I'm realistic about it. I don't necessarily expect to win, but I want to go out and give it the best I've got and see how it goes.

My youngest daughter has been working at a bicycle shop since spring break. She is actually becoming interested in biking. I wasn't sure that would ever happen, but the ice has started to melt. She demo'd a mountain bike from the shop this afternoon and went for a short ride with her mother and me. She was a little shaky, but not too bad given the relatively few times she has ever ridden a bicycle past learning to ride when she was five or six. I'm hoping she will get into it somewhat seriously like her papa has because it would be good for her in many ways. We'll see where it goes. She has a fiery passion and a low key competitive spirit so it could be interesting. She got a little bit of a rough introduction to it today when she got a little cocky and had a close and unpleasant encounter with the gravel. She is mostly okay, but came away with a few scrapes and bruises.

And saving the best for last...

My wonderful wife and I will celebrate our 22nd anniversary on the 22 of this month. That is pretty amazing and I am very grateful to be with this awesome lady for all these years. There is no one on earth I would have rather shared the last 22 years with. She is beautiful inside and out and is absolutely my best friend. !!!What a blessing!!! We've had our tough times but our God is good and He is faithful and has brought us through them all. I'm looking forward to the next 22 and then the next 22 after that, God willing.
And after all these years, we're reminded daily about how much we still have to learn about how much it takes to be good for each other. Thankfully we have a heavenly Father that does not get weary in sending His Holy Spirit to continue teaching us.

Monday, June 4, 2007

Coming and Going... and My Head is Spinning

Rambling thoughts about the past week and a half...

Our son moved in for about three weeks and has now moved out. He has moved into an apartment while attending summer classes at Focus on the Family Institute. It is kind of different for us to have him in town but not living with us. Quieter too.
Our oldest daughter has graduated from high school and has registered for college and has signed up for classes. She is also working three jobs to make and save money for this school year.
Our youngest daughter is working full time at a local bicycle shop so she can earn money for a car.

We had family in town for about a week. Saw a lot of some and very little of others.
Some of my wife's family was staying with us. Others spent quite a good deal of time with us. It was fine, but it was exhausting.
My youngest sister was in town for a week staying with my other sister (in between us in age) and I saw her all of a couple hours. I missed having time to visit with her. She lives in Arizona with her husband and two children and we don't get to visit with her very much.

My lovely wife encouraged me to get away on Saturday and have a day fishing with my dad. I took her up on it. Had to fight myself to go. Friday evening I was thinking to myself that I was tired and it would be too much work. Thank goodness we went anyway. We had a wonderful time. I know I treasure the time I get to spend with my father, and knowing how I feel about getting to spend time with my son, I'm sure dad was blessed by it too. There is just something special about that kind of time... time to talk as we drive, time to enjoy walking the river, being excited about catching a couple fish, being out-of-doors, enjoying the beauty of God's creation.

A friend of mine emailed me today asking if I would like to go up to a mountain bike race this coming Saturday. I'm not thinking I'm ready for a race, but it might be cool to go up and ride some of the other trails in the area for familiarization for a possible race later in the season.

I'm trying to figure out what my wife and I can do for our upcoming anniversary. Twenty-two years and I'm very grateful for such a gorgeous, caring, and wonderful helpmate. Unfortunately I think Hawaii is out of the question this year. May for our 25th anniversary, God willing. Guess it will have to be something closer this year.

It's late. I'm rambling even more than I intended. I'm going to bed.

Blessings to you all.