All Out, All The Time

Well, the Warrior JV finished out their season on a high note, beating their oponents 28-0. It was an interesting season, to say the least. Due to low numbers in the upper classes, many sophomores had to play at the varsity level. This left our JV with mainly freshman players. Most of the schools we played against had lots of sophomores and even Juniors playing on their JV teams, so we oftentimes found ourselves out-manned.

Despite this inequality, they managed to win 3 games, and were in all the other ones they played. Our coach kept after the kids every play of every game, reminding them to give their best effort, and never give up. He expected the kids to adopt his "all out, all the time" philosophy with each down. When they played as hard as they could, they were pretty much equal to any team they faced, even when they were out-manned by kids a couple years older than them. They know that this attitude will help them as they get to be upper classmen.

Wouldn't it be great if we Christians lived our lives "all out, all the time for God"? Just think what we could accomplish!! The world would be a much better place.

De Colores.

Matter of Mind

Today, I turned 48. Nothing special, no big deal. Just quietly another year older. The old body is still holding up fairly well, although for some strange reason, my whiskers and hair on my head keep getting grayer and grayer.

An anonymous philosopher (because I don't know who it was) once said "Age is a matter of mind...if you don't mind, it don't matter..."

That's my philosophy for life, at least today.

De Colores

600 miles and still going!!

Today I passed another milestone in my running. 600 miles!!!!! I feel kinda like the Energizer Bunny; I keep going, and going, and going.............

I was running the other day, and as I went by a group of people, one of them hollered "Run Forrest, run!" I don't know if he said that because he thought that I looked like I could run forever, or if he merely thought I looked like an "old guy" that should be pitied...........

De Colores

Frosty Morning

I woke up this morning to an unbelievable reminder of God's creation. The sky was clear, the wind was calm, the air temperature at my house was 34 degrees, and a blanket of frost covered the grass down through the valley below. There were 2 deer grazing in the meadow, and a flock of turkeys were making their way out of the trees to look for breakfast. Looking at the scene, I couldn't help but think that God was probably also watching, sitting in heaven with a cup of morning coffee, more than likely with a smile on His face.

How awesome and wonderful He is!!!!

De Colores

21 Day Challenge

I am currently using a daily devotional called "Men Of Integrity". It tackles issues that we men face in our every day lives.

One of the devotionals last week dealt with being thankful in everything that happens in our daily lives, both good and bad, positive or negative. The writer challenges the reader to devote 21 days to praying the following prayer at the beginning of each day.

"Heavenly Father, you're in charge of everything that's going to happen to me today--whether it be good or bad, positive or negative. Please make me thankful for everything that happens to me today. Amen."

Praying this prayer for the next 21 days won't change anything on the outside, but it should change how I feel on the inside. Circumstances won't change, but hopefully my attitude towards them will.

Ecclesiastes 5:19b says "To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life--that indeed is a gift from God."

I'm going to give this a try. Will you?

De Colores

What's Your Reason?

We had an interesting conversation in our Sunday School class this past week. We were discussing church and why we go. I think most of the time we as humans tend to go to church to "recharge", or to "get encouraged" or hopefully to "be challanged" by the sermon.

But what should be the main reason that we go to church? TO WORSHIP THE LIVING GOD!! How many times have you heard someone complain that they "just didn't get anything out of church today"? Woah, who is worshiping who? We are in God's House; we come to acknowledge His lordship, His authority, His goodness, His grace!!

Just think how awesome the service would be if everyone who walked in the front door would sit down in a pew (or even stay standing) and genuinely started praising and worshiping God. What an awesome experinece it would be!! We invite God's Spirit to be with us as we begin our worship service, but how many of us truly expect to meet Him in the sanctuary? We were joking in the Sunday School class that if we walked into the church and saw God sitting up in the front, we'd probably ask Him "What are you doing here?"

I'm just as guilty as the next person, in that I oftentimes catch myself being discouraged because I "didn't get anything out of the sermon", or the service in general. It's probably because I was focusing on myself and my needs, and not on worshiping and praising. In the future, let's invite God to be in our service, and then truly expect Him to be there to hear us as we praise Him for being our awesome and wonderful God!!

De Colores

Sticker Shock

I went to Manhattan yesterday with Lori to begin the odyssey of #1 daughter's wedding. After meeting with photgraphers, caterers, cake decorators, florists and looking at the church and reception sites, two words come to mind...sticker shock.

It is hard for me to fathom the cost of these various services, and when added together, it can seem a little overwhelming.

Oh well, I love my daughter immensely, and so I will continue to stick by the advice some anonymous person gave me as my duties of being father of the bride....show up, shut up, pay up.

De Colores

500 miles and counting

I just ran to Denver, and boy, my legs are tired!! This past weekend, I turned over my 500th mile of running for the year (ok, it also includes a little walking). It's funny how each day of 3 or 4 miles seems like such a short distance, but when it accumulates over the course of time, it sounds pretty good!!

Not knowing what was a reasonable goal to set at the beginning of the year, I chose 600 miles. Unless I fall into a deep pot hole in the road, or twist my ankle on one of those confounded brick streets here in town, I should easily attain my goal. Maybe I should start slacking off a little, so I don't have to set next year's goal so high!!

My son Brian's first JV football game is in Halstead this evening. It should be very entertaining, as MHS has a pretty good talent pool in the freshman and sophomore classes. We'll see!!

I was blessed to have my girls home for the Holiday weekend. You don't realize how much you miss them until they come home, and then leave again. Oh well, that's the way life works, so I savor every moment they are home.

The next Walk to Emmaus is coming up in October; I'm hoping that God will give a little nudge to some people to want to attend. It is a great event, and is a wonderful way to allow the Lord to show you ways in which you can grow and serve Him.

De Colores

MHS football

Well, MHS didn't get their footabll season off to a very good start Friday night. The Warriors hosted Halstead, who was the pre-season favorite to win our division of the league. Our starting quarterback had a devastating hand injury about mid-way through the first quarter, and had to be taken to Wichita to have surgery done on it. Needless to say, he was lost for the game, and most likely for the rest of the season. You could hear the collective air come out of the team when that happened, and they were out manned and out played the rest of the game. We lost 34 - 6.

On a positive note, my son Brian was the place kicker for the Warriors, and got to make his freshman FB debut with an extra point attempt in the first quarter. Unfortunately, his kick was blocked :(. He was worried what the coach would say when he got back to the sideline. Coach Thierolf told him not to worry about it, and said from his vantage point, it looked like it would have been good, had the line held up. That made him feel better.

The young Warrior team will have to re-group during practice this coming week and figure out how to come together and play competitively without their senior leader at QB.

Could be an interesting season!!

De Colores

Engagement News!!

I am venturing into an area that I have no expertize in, I'm going to be a father-in-law!!! My oldest daughter Amanda called us with the exciting news that her boyfriend proposed to her at school on Friday in front of her 2nd grade class. He must have done it right, because she said yes!! No wedding date has been set yet, but they are thinking early summer of 2007. He is a good guy (an elementary teacher also), and I am glad to have him be a part of the family.

I will gladly accept any words of wisdom from anyone out there with experience in this field!!

De Colores

School Daze

It's back to school time for my 3 kids. Amanda, our oldest is in her second year of teaching in the Junction City school district. She has a class of 2nd graders who will hang on to her every word and action. What an awesome responsibility it is to be entrusted with shaping, molding and nurturing the lives of such young children!

Erin, our middle child, has transfered to Johnson County Community College, where she is going to enter their culinary arts program. She has this real desire to get into the pastry and catering business. She can come home and try out what she learns on ol' dad any time!!

Brian, our youngest is now an official "high schooler". He is a freshman at MHS, and has started two-a-day practices in football. He is discovering new aching muscles every day. Let's hope he exercises his mind in high school as vigorously as he is currently exercising his body!!

Life goes on, Lori and I are getting older, our kids continue to grow and mature, and God continues to bless us beyond measure!!

De Colores

Stay Hydrated

In these hot, dog days of summer, you often hear people say that it is very important to drink lots of fluids in order to not become dehydrated, and cause harm to your body. My son Brian has been doing a lot of conditioning in preparation for the upcoming football season, and we can't seem to keep enough Gatorade around the house!! He drinks it down about as fast as we can buy it!!

It got me to thinking about how we sometimes allow our souls to become "dehydrated", by not seeking God in His Word, not going to church, not taking time to pray, or allowing the busyness of our lives to interfere with doing God's work.

Jesus offers us "living water" to keep our souls hydrated. In John 4:14, he tells the Samaritan woman "Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life".

Stay safe in these hot days, and be sure to drink plenty of fluids!! Likewise, lets keep hydrating our souls with the "Living Water" that Jesus offers us!!

De Colores

Lessons on Winning and Losing

Well, our 14 year old CVL All Star team went to the Babe Ruth State tournament this past weekend, only to lose two consecutive games and be eliminated. Of course, they were very disappointed, and quite discouraged. That is, until they cooled down a little, got their swimming trunks on, jumped in the swimming pool with their buddies and enjoyed the benefits of being 14 year old kids again. When they were losing, life didn't get much worse than at that moment. However, when they realized that life goes on, they quickly forgot about the defeats and continued doing what they do best, enjoying life.

We as adults sometimes wallow around in our past failures and sins. God, however, wants us to take those failures and give them to Him so we can be released from the burden and enjoy life once again. Psalm 103:12 says "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us."

Yes, we were all disappointed that our boys weren't more successful than they were, but they tried. When they were done, they moved on. Let's see if we can give God our failures and mistakes so we can move on to the goal of eternal life. That is the ultimate victory!!

De Colores

District Champs!!

Congratulations to the Cottonwood Valley 14 year old All Star team for winning their District Tournament!! Brian's team from Marion, along with kids from Cottonwood Falls, Hillsboro and Peabody make up the All Star team.

Now they are off to Fort Scott, Kansas to participate in their 5th straight State tournament. They have won State once and finished second once in the past 4 years. Not too bad!!

Lori and I will be loading up the car for another road trip to support and cheer them on beginning this Friday the 28th.

GO CVL!!

De Colores

Cool Change!

At a little before 6:00 this morning, I reluctantly drug myself out of bed to go for a run. I walked out the door and was greeted by dead calm air, 82 degree temperature, and dreadful humidity. I just about turned around and went back inside!

After about a mile or so, I felt a North wind starting to blow in my face. It was a welcome breeze, and lifted my spirits a little. The farther I went, the steadier the wind blew. By the time I got back in the house, the air temperature had actually fallen a couple of degrees, and the wind was blowing at a steady 10 to 20 mph. When I left for work, my thermometer showed 72 degrees!!

How quickly things can change in Kansas! It's supposed to be nice for a couple of days, and then get back to being hot again next week. I'll sure enjoy the "cool change" while it lasts!

Brian's 14 year old baseball team goes to Buhler tonight to play in the District 4 tournament. They have the potential to take it all the way through State, or they could go out in two games in this tournament. We'll see which team shows up!! Good luck to them tonight!!

De Colores

Area Of Influence

During my prayer time this morning, God seemed to ask me to stop and focus a little on all the people who have shaped and influenced my life. I know that I am certainly not a saint, and have a long way to go to reach spiritual maturity (I know, you are all going DUH!!). But in significant ways, small ways and subtle ways, many people have helped shape my life.

My parents, family members, school teachers, Sunday School teachers, people who gave children's stories in church, choir directors, pastors, past and present church members, friends, bosses, co-workers, youth group leaders, just to name a few have all left their mark in one way or another.

I guess it made me realize how important it is to recognize the opportunities I have to be a positive influence in other's lives. As I go about my daily living, I am casting a wide "area of influence". As I help with and participate in worship services, serve on administrative council and trustees committees, play in the praise band, teach Sunday School, sing in the choir, or just lend a sympathetic ear, I hope to maybe encourage someone so they can say years later that I was an influence on them. Hopefully, most of it will be positive!!

Stop and thank God for all the people who helped shape your life, then think about the ways and opportunities you may have to help influence other's lives. Whether in church, or out in the world, be willing and ready to cast your "area of influence" net!!

De Colores

Vacation

You may have noticed that it has been a couple of weeks since my last blog posting. That is because Lori, Brian and I loaded up the car and spent some time at Tan-tar-a resort at the Lake of the Ozarks. Although it was way too hot and sticky, we still managed to have a good time. Brian and I got a few rounds of golf in, and Lori managed to work a spa day into her busy schedule. There was a junior high cheerleading camp with several hundred middle school girls running around while we were there, so needless to say, Brian was a little distracted with the scenery!!

From there, we went to Kansas City to meet up with Amanda and Erin and attended a Royals baseball game. It was great to have the family all together in one place, even if just for the day. Unfortunately, the Royals lost (again), but there was a spectacular fireworks show after the game, so it was fun to be there.

The best part about vacations is getting to spend time with the family. How much fun would it be to go do things alone? You wouldn't have anyone to share the experience with. Spending time with your family strengthens the bonds between husband and wife, parents and kids.

Same thing thing with your spiritual walk. It is much more rewarding to share your experiences of life with fellow believers. There is joy in sharing in the good times, and there is strength in leaning on others in the bad. Matthew 18: 19-20 says "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

Share your experiences of life with others. Meet regularly with fellow Christian brothers and sisters. It is in gathering together in fellowship that we grow and mature in Christ.

De Colores

The Long Haul

I have just hit a major milestone in my commitment to better health. As of today, I have logged 351 miles of running and walking since Jan. 1. I set a goal of 600 miles for the year, so with half of it gone by, I am ahead of pace to reach my goal. Not too bad for a 47 year old codger like myself!! I'll have to admit that when I started back in January, writing down 2 miles was kinda discouraging. Pretty soon though, that 2 miles turned into 50, then 100 and so on. As I log each days distance, it reminds me that I can't base my success or failure on what I did that day, but to remember that I am in this for the long haul. Hopefully when I reach the end of the year, I'll have made my goal, and that 2 miles in January will have been just as important then as the miles in December.

Perseverance is talked about a lot in the bible. James 5:11 says "11As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy." As we go through life, we are not to be content or gloat with our present successes, nor are we to become discouraged with our present sufferings. As we persevere, we are working to attain the goal of becoming saints in God's eternal home.

I'm going to keep on running, and do my best to attain my goal of 600 miles. Likewise, I am going to continue to pray, study, and trust in God to attain my spiritual goal of eternal life.

De Colores!!

Right Of Passage

OK, I am officially in distress. I took my youngest child (14 years old, all 6', 183# of him) to our local vehicle department to get his learner's permit. It seems the driver's ed instructor thinks he passed enough tests to get his permit.

How did this happen? Where did the time go? What happened to my children, they're all grown up!! My two little girls are now beautiful young women making their mark in the world. My son, who was a shy, timid little kid now is bigger than me and is going to be a "high schooler". Somehow, I seemed to have leaped into a time warp, and the past 23 years of my life occurred in a matter of mere seconds!!

If you see my son driving down Main Street in Marion with a grin from ear to ear, wave, but give him plenty of room!! After all, a mere flash in the pan ago, I was that same kid with my crispy new learner's permit in my pocket ready to take on the world. Lord help us all!!

Congratulations son, you have worked hard and earned this permit. May the next 4 years of your life in high school bring you many opportunities and much joy. I'll be right beside you, enjoying the ride.

De Colores

'Til The Storm Passes By

There have been many times in my life when I have been faced with a situation that has caused me physical, spiritual or emotional distress. I have prayed many times for God to take me away from the situation, only to continue to struggle with it for a period of time. Sometimes for a long time. It is so easy to get discouraged and wonder why God doesn't answer our prayer to make the situation better.

During these "storms" in our lives, it is important to remember that God is always in control. I'm sure God wants us to let Him know when we are hurting or in distress, and we can sure ask to be delivered from that situation, but we must always ultimately submit to God's sovereign will and not our own. Even Jesus, when facing his ultimate crucifiction and death prayed "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."

An old hymn that became a favorite of mine when my mom was suffering from cancer, and ultimately succumbed to it, is "Til The Storm Passes By". Part of the chorus goes...

Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of your hand. Keep me safe 'til the storm passes by.

God doesn't always answer our prayer by making the storm immediately go away, but He always is ready to hold out His arms and cradle us and keep us safe until it passes by. Some day, we will have our eyes opened, and will get to see what the reason was for those stormy times, and we will understand. Until then, I'll keep praying, keep me safe 'til the storm passes by.

De Colores