I have to say one of the hardest things about training for the bike race, or simply working out in general, is finding the time to do it. I told myself I would get up this morning and get in a quick 45 minutes or so on the bike before having to go to work. Feasible, but unrealistic. That means I am up and on the bike at 4:45 AM. It sounds wonderful until the alarm goes off and I have to consider getting out of bed and hopping on the bike. The sad part is I spend the next 45 minutes debating with myself whether I should work out or not and I miss my window. Working out in the evenings has been nice, but that is usually my time to hang with the better half. It is never easy, whether it is sleep or time doing something else more meaningful, it seems there must always be a trade off to finding the time to work out.
I guess this could be true regarding prayer. I know that I don't make time the way I should to really pray and to commune with God. Sure, I pray with the kiddos before bed, before my meals, and try to work in a prayer before I drift off to sleep. But I think I pray like I work out. I try to fit it in. I don't make it a specific part of my day and I don't carry on the continuous conversation with God throughout the day that He wants me to. You know it is funny. I called a friend today at work so that he could provide me with some information I needed to help another friend out. I had not talked to the fellow I called for at least 3 months, and when he answered, I went straight into the business at hand. He told me that I can't call out of the blue and not catch up before getting down to business. He was right. To me, I saw us as being friends and that he wouldn't mind a quick call for information, but I didn't see the whole picture. We had lost touch for a while and being his friend, my first concern should have been to reconnect with him. It was a good lesson. I think that is what God would like us to do when we pray...make time to reconnect with Him.
So, I didn't get any workouts in today. I am hoping to get at least one good road ride in this weekend. Hopefully it works out.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Why so serious?
Matthew 19:14
"But Jesus said, "Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
I have a pretty long commute in the mornings. Last night I was on my bike for nearly two hours and was less than thrilled about getting up this morning and fighting traffic. But, I successfully navigated the sleeping children and dogs on my floor and dressed in the dark without waking anyone, grabbed my keys, kissed my wife and got in the car for my ride to work. Traffic was a bear. School has just started and as I drive to each major intersection it takes many itterations of the signals changing for me to get through. My back windows are not working and sometime the wind comes in at just the right frequency to be quite possibly the most annoying sound on earth, and this morning happened to by one of those lucky days. The speed limit is 70 MPH on the interstate and we have people that choose to hunker down in the left lane going significantly slower than that. I do understand. Afterall, if they went any faster they might drop their cigarette from the left hand in the coffee in the right then have to pause in their phone conversation to remedy the situation. This morning, I was noticing it all and I was not happy about any of it. But then the radio caught my attention.
There was a quick teaser from the radio personality stating that we would be talking with Todd Burpo the author of a book titled Heaven is For Real. I thought quickly (and judgementally) to myself, "This is that fellow who is claiming his kid went to heaven. What a schemer!" The radio played another song as I reflected on my thoughts about how dispicable this guy was for putting his kid out there like this. After a quick commercial, the host of the show welcomed his guest and asked him to explain the content of his book. Within seconds, I felt like a heel. I had formed my analytical conclusions without any data. I had based my initial thoughts on things I had read partially and briefly from mainstream media outlets. I had not heard Mr. Burpo speak. I had not heard his story. But he said something that made me realize he was simply a father. Mr. Burpo's son, Colton, had suffered from a ruptured appendix for 5 days before doctors realized what was going on. He was 4 years old. It is my understanding that while in surgery Colton flatlined and during this time went to Heaven. Mr. Burpo, in his interview, did not spend too much time on the more fascinating parts of the story such as Colton meeting his unborn sister or spending time with his deceased grandfather, he kept saying, "He knew where I was and what I was doing while he was in surgery, and no one knew that information". It was simply stated. I thought about my own children and how I put faith in their words to me because they are not yet too influenced by the world around them to conjure fantastic stories. They simply state the facts and learn from our reactions.
Jesus says, "Let the children come to me", and this draws some puzzled looks from his disciples. But Jesus explains himself that all who find him will be childlike. I think that this means that we must be humble, unassuming, and accepting of the Kingdom of Heaven that God has waiting for us to fully experience it. A child is not tainted by the "traffic" of the earthly world and can see things without too much cloudiness. I think this is what Jesus wants for us; to see him without constraints and to feel His love without conditions...agape. It is very hard to remove the cynicism of our lives and achieve this innocence of faith, but maybe the key to removing the cynicism is to return to our faith for strength.
Well, that is what I thought about on my commute this morning!
I worked in 22 miles on the bike last night. I felt it this morning, because I had a high resistance set on the trainer. I hope to do a quick ride tomorrow morning and get some roadwork in on Saturday.
"But Jesus said, "Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."
I have a pretty long commute in the mornings. Last night I was on my bike for nearly two hours and was less than thrilled about getting up this morning and fighting traffic. But, I successfully navigated the sleeping children and dogs on my floor and dressed in the dark without waking anyone, grabbed my keys, kissed my wife and got in the car for my ride to work. Traffic was a bear. School has just started and as I drive to each major intersection it takes many itterations of the signals changing for me to get through. My back windows are not working and sometime the wind comes in at just the right frequency to be quite possibly the most annoying sound on earth, and this morning happened to by one of those lucky days. The speed limit is 70 MPH on the interstate and we have people that choose to hunker down in the left lane going significantly slower than that. I do understand. Afterall, if they went any faster they might drop their cigarette from the left hand in the coffee in the right then have to pause in their phone conversation to remedy the situation. This morning, I was noticing it all and I was not happy about any of it. But then the radio caught my attention.
There was a quick teaser from the radio personality stating that we would be talking with Todd Burpo the author of a book titled Heaven is For Real. I thought quickly (and judgementally) to myself, "This is that fellow who is claiming his kid went to heaven. What a schemer!" The radio played another song as I reflected on my thoughts about how dispicable this guy was for putting his kid out there like this. After a quick commercial, the host of the show welcomed his guest and asked him to explain the content of his book. Within seconds, I felt like a heel. I had formed my analytical conclusions without any data. I had based my initial thoughts on things I had read partially and briefly from mainstream media outlets. I had not heard Mr. Burpo speak. I had not heard his story. But he said something that made me realize he was simply a father. Mr. Burpo's son, Colton, had suffered from a ruptured appendix for 5 days before doctors realized what was going on. He was 4 years old. It is my understanding that while in surgery Colton flatlined and during this time went to Heaven. Mr. Burpo, in his interview, did not spend too much time on the more fascinating parts of the story such as Colton meeting his unborn sister or spending time with his deceased grandfather, he kept saying, "He knew where I was and what I was doing while he was in surgery, and no one knew that information". It was simply stated. I thought about my own children and how I put faith in their words to me because they are not yet too influenced by the world around them to conjure fantastic stories. They simply state the facts and learn from our reactions.
Jesus says, "Let the children come to me", and this draws some puzzled looks from his disciples. But Jesus explains himself that all who find him will be childlike. I think that this means that we must be humble, unassuming, and accepting of the Kingdom of Heaven that God has waiting for us to fully experience it. A child is not tainted by the "traffic" of the earthly world and can see things without too much cloudiness. I think this is what Jesus wants for us; to see him without constraints and to feel His love without conditions...agape. It is very hard to remove the cynicism of our lives and achieve this innocence of faith, but maybe the key to removing the cynicism is to return to our faith for strength.
Well, that is what I thought about on my commute this morning!
I worked in 22 miles on the bike last night. I felt it this morning, because I had a high resistance set on the trainer. I hope to do a quick ride tomorrow morning and get some roadwork in on Saturday.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
24 Days and Counting...
Isaiah 40:31:
"They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles's wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint."
This is most likely my favorite passage from the Bible concerning encouragement and encouragement is what I need to complete the task I have set for myself, the Metric Villainous Viper in Asheville, NC. I have been working to get back into shape and part of this journey is culminating in this ride with one of my brother-in-laws. I am by no means a super athlete..I am a near 40 year old father of three that breaks a sweat a few hours every week on my two-wheeled stress reliever. The hills at the beginning are going to hurt me. I weigh close to 250 lbs (much less than 3 months ago I might add), and sticking with my endurance athlete brother-in-law is going to be like a sloth running down a gazelle. But, I will find the strength to make my way up the mountain.
After all, isn't that what we do every day? Living a Christian life is not always easy in today's society. Sometimes it is hard to see God's plan in our vocation or the monotony of an ordinary day. But, like the verse says we have to have hope in the Lord. He is with us in every moment of every endeavor, no matter how big or how small. Recently I read a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer that really struck me as relevant, "We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts." So, I have this task of conquering some mountainous terrain ahead of me, but what I need to realize that when I call for God to strengthen me on the uphill climb, he is wanting me to make that call everyday, even the ones that don't seem special. Because, to Him, everyday we invite Him into our lives is special in its own right.
Sometimes I have these thoughts and I need an outlet for them. So I hope to chronicle my ups and downs over the next few weeks as I train for the Villainous Viper. I am looking forward to the challenge and I hope to increase my spiritual strength through this training as well. Any encouragement you can pass along will be greatly appreciated.
I will end with some training logs for the day (or previous day depending on the schedule):
16 Miles on the Trainer at varied resistance for exactly an hour. Want to hear something ironic...I love listening to the group Social Distortion when I ride! It puts my head in the right place for some reason.
"They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles's wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint."
This is most likely my favorite passage from the Bible concerning encouragement and encouragement is what I need to complete the task I have set for myself, the Metric Villainous Viper in Asheville, NC. I have been working to get back into shape and part of this journey is culminating in this ride with one of my brother-in-laws. I am by no means a super athlete..I am a near 40 year old father of three that breaks a sweat a few hours every week on my two-wheeled stress reliever. The hills at the beginning are going to hurt me. I weigh close to 250 lbs (much less than 3 months ago I might add), and sticking with my endurance athlete brother-in-law is going to be like a sloth running down a gazelle. But, I will find the strength to make my way up the mountain.
After all, isn't that what we do every day? Living a Christian life is not always easy in today's society. Sometimes it is hard to see God's plan in our vocation or the monotony of an ordinary day. But, like the verse says we have to have hope in the Lord. He is with us in every moment of every endeavor, no matter how big or how small. Recently I read a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer that really struck me as relevant, "We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts." So, I have this task of conquering some mountainous terrain ahead of me, but what I need to realize that when I call for God to strengthen me on the uphill climb, he is wanting me to make that call everyday, even the ones that don't seem special. Because, to Him, everyday we invite Him into our lives is special in its own right.
Sometimes I have these thoughts and I need an outlet for them. So I hope to chronicle my ups and downs over the next few weeks as I train for the Villainous Viper. I am looking forward to the challenge and I hope to increase my spiritual strength through this training as well. Any encouragement you can pass along will be greatly appreciated.
I will end with some training logs for the day (or previous day depending on the schedule):
16 Miles on the Trainer at varied resistance for exactly an hour. Want to hear something ironic...I love listening to the group Social Distortion when I ride! It puts my head in the right place for some reason.
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