Wednesday, January 30, 2008

No REAL Biking - Trainer Weary

Alas, it is winter time in Colorado. There is snow on the ground and every time it gets warm enough to start to melt, we're getting a fresh blast of winter depositing more of the fluffy white stuff on the ground.
As I've become more of a biking enthusiast in the last couple years, I've also grown more impatient with the few winter months we have.
All the biking I've been doing for the past several months has been indoors on a trainer. 90 minutes, three times a week, trying to keep my muscles in some semblance of riding shape. I know it will pay off for the days when I can actually get back on my bike outside, but until then, I'm growing a bit weary of the pedaling, pedaling, pedaling, and not going anywhere. And honestly, I'm getting kind of tired of looking at the guys in my spin class. Just as sure as they are probably getting tired of looking at me. ;)
Sometimes while I'm in the spin class I'm actually wondering to myself how many hundreds of miles I would have really ridden if I'd been on the trail during all that time, or at least had a odometer on my back wheel to get an idea.
But so life goes.
In the meantime, it's only another month or so until I'll be back out on the dirt (and mud) being able to look at the beautiful Colorado as I'm riding along through it.
Until then...
I'll be pedaling along merrily on a trainer and longing for the coming days of spring.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

New Link in Other Blogs Worth Reading

Shameless plug...

Our Olde Bike Shoppe (aka Ascent Cycling) has started a blog so they can post about different stuff, so I thought I'd add a link to them. Not much there yet, but I'm hoping it will get interesting as the guys start adding to it.

I admit that I am biased, but it is the best bike shop in town, so check it out if you can.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Ponderings

Sometimes I love reading my son's blog. God has given my son the ability to ponder and perceive in ways that, I don't know whether I don't know how to, or just don't take the time to consider.
My son gets insights that I just don't seem to be plugged in to. I read what he has written and I think to myself, "You know, he's right. Hmmm. I wonder why I never thought about that."

God has given us all gifts. Wonderful gifts. Sometimes though I kind of wonder why it seems like some people seem to get more gifts than others of us do. ;) Not that that is really the case, but it sure can seem that way sometimes. Our gifts are just different.
I liken it to a friend of ours whom God has given a wonderful ability to communicate things the Lord has shared or revealed to him, and I think to myself, "Gee, I'd really like to be able to communicate things like he does." But then I remember that if I am comparing myself to my friend that the Word says I am without (spiritual) understanding. So I get to live with the gifts I have been blessed with. Sometimes I wonder though, does anybody ever think to them self, "Gee, I would like to be able to do ... like David does." Of course, I'm not really sure what anyone would think like that for. Silly huh?

Anyway... That's what I'm thinking about tonight.

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Seasons Of Change

These days we are in are seasons of change...

Today was the first day our church has started meeting in a home for our Sunday service. There are many financial reasons that sum up to insufficient funds for us to rent a building at this time; but to be clear, lack of tithing by our congregation is not one of them.
For the past two years, up through last week, we had been meeting at an elementary school and that had been okay, but it became clear that we were to move on. For nine and one-half years prior to that we rented a building from another church until that church decided they could/should get more money than we were able to pay.

Today's service was very much a blessing! We are where God wants us to be in this season. What more can we really ask for? It was an intimate time together.

Our church doesn't seem like much when compared to the many mega-churches in our city, but it is more than okay because God hasn't called us to be one of those. I believe that we get caught in the trap of the standards by which today's churches are judged against other churches and the "successful" church is the one that has grown to have thousands of people and built large edifices and have multiple services. If you don't have that and don't look like that, your church appears to be a failure. There were times that Jesus had a church of thousands. Most of the time he had a dozen or so followers. If that was good enough for Him, shouldn't that be good enough for us if that is what he has called us to? I think it is. Additionally, His Word tells us that when we judge ourselves against others we are without understanding spiritually.

On a different but kind of related note, our son left to go back to Norman, Oklahoma yesterday. He needed to be back this evening for his job as an RA. Originally he was going to leave today, but prompted by the Holy Spirit decided it would be better to drive part of the way yesterday afternoon and then complete the drive today. We had been keeping an eye on the weather in relation to his need to travel, but the forecast on showed a very slight chance of any precipitation or possible bad weather through today, but we each one had that feeling from the Spirit that he needed to leave yesterday. I'm glad we heard that prompting so clearly.
Snow started falling this morning about 6:00 a.m. and we had about 3 to 4 inches in less than two hours. Roads quickly turned to sheets of slick, icy, packed snow, and I'm sure that similar conditions existed all the way to the South where he would have had to drive today. That would have been pretty lousy conditions for him to drive in.

The time our son was home, short though it was, was very much a blessing. When he is home, the average decibel level in our home escalates unbelievably. His voice is resonant (a.k.a. loud) when he isn't being attentive to keep it down. That's okay. That's just who he is. We had some good talks and just enjoyed being together as a family again. Also, as he noted on his blog recently, he is perhaps as happy as anyone can remember seeing him in a long while. Hurray!
I am grateful beyond words for the work God has done and is doing in him. What more can a parent ask for?

Our older daughter (middle child) was home from her first semester of college as well. She had a very rough first semester, but we are able to see God's Hand at work in her life. There is much He is desiring to teach her about herself in this time. It is hard as a parent to wait and watch as this process takes place. We have this desire to want to save, or at least help, our children when they are in difficult places in their lives. Our daughter came home very down and very discouraged. She had a hard time making new friends which is odd for her. She had a hard time getting plugged in with any of the college ministries because she found there wasn't the depth there that she was expecting. She was talking about wanting to change schools, change majors, wanting to change pretty much everything. There were many difficult emotional things that occurred and our feeling is that she felt like she just wanted to run away from what this semester of school has been. Fortunately, she has calmed down and started to hear the Holy Spirit speaking His peace to her heart and spirit and soul. We're praying for this next semester to be better for her. We are also praying for her to invest in the ministry where God calls her to.
She will be home for a couple more weeks before returning to college and I'm hoping for more opportunities to talk with her during this period of time. This is her season of change...

I want to take a line and note for my kids that I am so very proud of each of them. Each one is special and each one has their special gifting and nothing can take away from who God has made them to be.

It is a season where many of us are reflecting on things of the past, things that are happening in these days and considering things that will soon come about. I could write pages of the other things that this relates to for us, but I think you get the idea.

I am so thankful that we have the One that cares about us and leads us in these changing seasons.

May God bless you!

Friday, January 4, 2008

Not A New Year's Resolution

I've never been a big one for New Year's Resolutions.
I kind of tried last year.
Kerry and I joined the local Fitness 19 in December '06 and we were going to be working out together. It was a great plan and was working okay until January 3, the beginning of our annual New Year's ski trip with the kids, and Kerry's back went out almost as bad as it ever has. We had rented a condo up in the mountains so we could ski for 3 days. As Kerry was getting dressed that first morning, she bent over to pull on socks or something and slipped her disc. She couldn't hardly move much less ski. Needless to say, she wouldn't be working out when we got home. It took many months and physical therapy for her to recover. Since I had joined the gym with Kerry mainly to encourage her to go, my motivation to go by myself was pretty low, so it was pretty much done when she was injured.
When spring came around last year, I went back to riding my mountain bike for some semblance of exercise. I realized then that I probably should have continued going to the gym. ;) Anyway, after biking through the summer and fall I got to be in the condition I was wishing I was in back in the spring... So my challenge for this winter has been to not lose the conditioning gained in the past year, I've been going to "spin" classes at my favorite away-from-home hangout, the local bike shop (LBS). Spin classes, for those of you that may not know, are where you put your bicycle on a stationary trainer, get on your bike, and torture yourself (with the encouragement of an instructor) by pedaling at varying speeds and levels of resistance for an hour and a half. Occasionally (about once a week) engaging in this joyous activity has helped get me through the holiday eating season with only somewhat minimal weight gain. But now that the eating season has passed I have resolved to attend these classes in earnest, which means about three times a week.
This is not a new year's resolution, hence the title of the post. This is a goal to enable me to better participate in some of the biking activities I'm planning on this year. These planned activities include (barring schedule conflicts):
* Riding more, maybe all, of the mountain bike races in the Winter Park series (I did two of six last year);
* Riding in a 69 mile endurance race in Laramie, Wyoming;
* Possibly riding as part of a four man team in a 24 hour race in Gunnison, Colorado;
* Courage Classic to benefit 'The Children's Hospital' (this is looking less likely now because it conflicts with the just announced schedule for the Laramie race).
This should fill up most weekends of the summer.
Until then I'm going to be busy trying to rid myself of about 20 unneeded and unwanted pounds and whip myself into shape to be able to give it everything this 44 year-old body can muster.
Sound crazy?
It may be, but it'll be good.
Care to join me?
And since I've never been big on New Year's Resolutions...

It is Not A New Year's Resolution!
It's an achievable goal.


Tuesday, January 1, 2008