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

Chingawassa Days

Our community of Marion just completed it's 10th annual Chingawassa Days festival this past weekend, and once again, it was a resounding success!! The festival which runs from Friday evening thru a Sunday morning church service brings all kinds of activities to our community of 2,000 people. For the running enthusiasts, we have the "Rhino Run", for the strong at heart and stomach we have the "Rhino Challenge" (our version of Fear Factor), for the brave we have the dodge ball tournament, for the musically talented we have "Chinga Idol", and for everyone we have just about everything else imaginable. The weekend culminates in a concert in Central Park on Saturday night. This year's act was The Guess Who. They put on quite a show, singing their old favorites such as "American Woman", "No Sugar Tonight", "No Time", "These Eyes", and many more. They were fantastic musicians, and seemed to be genuinely glad to be playing for us. There were approx. 3,000 people in the Park to see the show.

Groups who have performed in the past include Little Texas, Restless heart, Ozark Mountain Daredevils, 38 Special, 3 Dog Night, Kentucky Headhunters and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Not too bad of a line up for a small town!!

Mark your calendars for the 1st week in June of 2007 and come join us next year!!!

De Colores

The Steadfast Love Of The Lord

One year ago, an event occurred that significantly changed my life. I was working for a corporate bank, struggling to fit in their culture. It was affecting me in many ways, physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally. My relationship with my wife and my kids suffered. I went to bed at night and woke up each morning consumed with all the things that needed taking care of. I thought I was too locked into this job to consider doing something else. After all, it provided me with a good income, it had a lot of good benefits, the retirement plan was great, and the stature in the community was important. But, I was miserable.

I went to a Walk to Emmaus in April of 05, and looking back now, I can see God's hand in preparing me for a change in my life. I prayed a lot over that weekend that God would make things better at work, and I had the sense that He was telling me that everything was going to be all right. I took that to mean that things at work would get better.

Little did I know that what God had planned for me was to lose my job. The way I figure it, God decided that since I didn't have the guts to remove myslf from my situation, He would do it for me. On May 26, 2005, I learned that the bank had eliminated my position, and that effective immediately, I had no job!!

I dreaded calling my wife, thinking that she would be devastated and ashamed of me. I think the Lord gave her insights and wisdom for the situation, because she immediately saw this event as God working in my life. She didn't allow me to wallow around in self pity, but encouraged me to seek God and His will. She and I immediately began praying that God would reveal Himself to me, and show me direction on what to do with my life. A passage of scripture really spoke to me. It is Jeremiah 29: 11-13. It says "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

I called on the Lord, and He was gracious and steadfast in His promises of this scripture passage. To make a long story short, I now have a great job that I look forward to going to each day, I have a peace in my mind and my heart, I have a much better relationship with my wife and kids, and most importantly, I have a refreshed, renewed and much deeper relationship with my Lord and my God.

As the familiar chorus goes,

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
His mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning, new every morning.
Great is thy faithfulness oh Lord,
great is thy faithfulness!

I never want to go through something like this again, but I thank God that He gave me the shove, then gave me the strength to make a significant change in my life.

Thanks be to God for His steadfast love that never ceases!

De Colores

In Memory

Memorial Day is coming up soon. Time to think back and remember those who made an impact on our lives and honor them.

I think of my mom, who was a hard working farmer's wife. She never complained about the difficulties and long days they faced while farming. She was a very spiritual person. She shaped the foundation of my life, and along with dad, helped establish and nourish my faith walk with God. She died "way too soon" from cancer in 1995.

I think of Rev. Charlie Hanes. He was a "tough old bird". He was a no nonsense pastor, who deeply cared about the Lord and his Church. He died "way too soon" from a heart attack while pastoring our church.

I think of my grandpa and grandma Fruechting. What special grand parents they were! Many, many memories were spun from the holiday gatherings at their home. My most precious memories, however are from the quiet times I got to spend with them "one on one". I learned a lot about family, dignity, honesty, and compassion for mankind from them.

I think of the kids in Amanda and Erin's high school classes who died "way too soon" in tragic accidents. I hope that through these tragedies, our young people will learn life lessons that will help them make smart decisions as they continue their journey in life.

I think of the soldiers who answered the call to duty throughout history. They are oftentimes called heroes, but if you would ask them, they would probably merely say they were doing their duty and following orders.

If you have a family member who is or was in the armed forces, take the time to stop and thank them for their sacrifice they made. If you have a family member who helped shape you into the person you are, tell them thank you. If they have passed away, stop sometime this weekend and thank God for the time they were on this earth and for the guidance they gave you.

I know I will.

De Colores

Patience

I had another portion of my yard seeded to grass 5 days ago. The ground was carefully prepared, the grass was drilled in, fertilizer was applied, and I have been faithfully watering it, being careful not to let the ground dry out. Each morning I go out into the newly seeded area and look for the first signs of new grass coming up. I have no patience!! I want a lush green yard, and I want it now!! Even though I have done everything I know to make a nice yard, I need to have patience and let nature do it's work to sprout the grass seed and make it come to life.

How much like this yard is our spiritual journey!! We pray, we read our bibles, we go to church on Sunday morning and expect God to give us all His blessings right now!! But, we need patience so that we may learn to grow in Christ.

Colossians 1: 9-14 says "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light."

In today's world of instant gratification, may we have the patience to wait on God, and enjoy His blessings as we persevere in doing His will.

De Colores.

Happy Mother's Day

Ah, Mother's Day. That wonderful day of the year that we husbands, fathers, sons and daughters make a clumsy and oftentimes inept attempt at showing our wife/mother how much we appreciate them in our lives. To be sure, the days previous to this and after this special day are just like any other to moms - filled with expectations of keeping the house picked up, having meals ready and on the table at the prescribed time, wiping dirty bottoms, soothing hurt feelings and body parts, oftentimes all within the scope of one day. In today's world this is commonly expected and achieved in a day that includes a full day of work outside the home.

Hey guys and kids, let's try a bold move and make every day "Mother's Day" for our wives and moms. Let's lift them up daily with encouragement, love, prayer, praise and especially HELP in their daily routines. Tell her you love her every day. My mom died in 1995, and even today, I wish I could call her up and tell her I love her. Somehow I think she probably knows, but it probably would have been most helpful to tell her more often while she was here.

President Teddy Roosevelt once said: "When all is said, it is the mother, and the mother only, who is a better citizen than the soldier who fights for his country. The successful mother, the mother who does her part in rearing and training aright the boys and girls, who are to be the men and women of the next generation, is of greater use to the community, and occupies, if she only would realize it, a more honorable as well as more important position than any man in it. The mother is the one supreme asset of the national life. She is more important, by far, than the successful statesman, or businessman, or artist, or scientist."

Guys, let's honor our wives and mothers all day, every day. Happy Mother's Day honey, I am thankful that God chose you to be the mother of my children. Happy Mother's Day mom, may you continue to enjoy your eternal rest in heaven that you so much deserve.

Marion Middle School - Boys MCAA Track Champs!

Congratulations to the Marion Middle School Boys track team for winning the Mid-Central Activities Association (MCAA) track meet!! There are 12 schools in central Kansas in this league, so the boys are to be commended for being the best!! Here is a picture of my son Brian throwing the shot put. He threw a personal best of 40' 1 1/4" to take 4th. He also took 4th in the discus. Now, if he could just run a 4.4 second 40, he'd be in good shape!!

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy

My wife and I had the pleasure of going to a Mercy Me concert at Central Christian Church in Wichita this past Friday. What a blessing!! The tickets were cheap (only $15), and they were selling their newest CD (Coming Up To Breathe) for only $5!! The church held 3,000 people, and it was full. If you didn't know any better, you'd swear you were at a church service, not a concert. They would play a few songs, talk about the ups and downs in their own lives, lead the "congregation" in some choruses and then play some more of their songs. They had a very interesting story to tell about their beginnings, their struggles in traveling in a bus for 12 years before they "made it big", and their desire to serve God even now when they are on top. They are just a bunch of guys like you and me (OK, maybe they're quite a bit more talented than the average guy), and they love to serve the Lord. All in all, we were blessed to be ministered to by them for 2 1/2 hours. What a concert!!

De Colores

"Clutch" performance

I opened the top of our bluebird house yesterday and was surprised to see that the eggs have hatched!! Mom and dad bluebird are nervously and ferociously guarding the nest against other birds. It seems that all kinds of birds must want to get a close up view of them, and they won't let any other birds near the nest.

Dad says that the term for a nest of baby bluebirds is a "clutch". I have no idea how that got started, but I guess my bluebirds have just delivered a "clutch performance"!!!!

Safety In Numbers

I was looking out one of our windows into the back yard this morning, and watched a deer come out of the trees. Now this is not unusual, as we have many deer in a meadow below our house. What was interesting this morning was a coyote came walking along and noticed the deer. Of course, the deer saw him too, so they engaged in a stare down of sorts trying to figure out what the other one was going to do. Pretty soon, another deer came out of the trees and watched the coyote, then another, and another, until there were 6 deer all staring at the coyote. My guess is the coyote decided that there was no way he could take on all 6 of them, so he turned tail and ran the other way. The deer probably have learned that there is safety in numbers in the wild.

We Christians can learn a good lesson from these animals. When Satan is lurking around, he has numerous opportunities to exploit our weaknesses. However, if we surround ourselves with other Christians in worship, prayer and friendships, we can find safety in numbers and can be more effective in thwarting his plans.

One of the Emmaus phrases is "Find a friend, be a friend, bring a friend to Christ". Look for those opportunities to serve God and help protect your fellow brother or sister in Christ.

De Colores.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho

Time to pack up the old guitar, a few clothes, some bedding, and head to the big metropolis of Garden City for the men's Spring Emmaus Walk. It is a priviledge to be a part of this event, as it is a great opportunity for men and women to strengthen their faith, and be better equipped to serve in their local churches. It is 72 hours of food, great speaking, food, singing, food, fun and oh yes, did I mention food?

The Walk is based on the scripture found in Luke 24 where Jesus appears to two men as they were walking back to their home town of Emmaus after Jesus' death and ressurrection. I urge you to read this chapter and see how Jesus opened their eyes to see Him for who He is, the risen Christ!

If you're interested in attending one of these Walks, you are in luck, there are two more scheduled this year. The next men's walk is July 13 - 16 in Haviland, and the women's walk is the following weekend. Or, if you prefer to wait until fall, there is another one in Wichita on October 5 - 8 (men's) and the women's is again the following weekend.

Pray for the members of the team, and the people attending the walks. I have seen God meet people in unbelievable ways at these events (myself included!!).

De Colores!!

"Egg"citing News!!

After successfully enticing a pair of bluebirds to build a nest in one of my boxes, I was excited to see the female had laid some eggs in it!!

I have no idea how long the incubation period is for a bluebird egg, but I'll post some pictures once they hatch.

Today is Good Friday, and as I'm anticipating the hatching of these eggs, I am also anticipating the Good News of Jesus' ressurrection on Easter Sunday. We typically don't like to dwell too long on the agony that Jesus went through on Good Friday, but without this event, our Easter story would be incomplete.

May this Easter season be a blessed one for you.

De Colores

The Bluebirds Have Landed!

A pair of bluebirds has been busily working on building a nest in my bird house. It's funny to watch, as the female works endlessly, and the male just sits in a nearby tree and seems to be supervising.

I have two theories for this behavior. Either.......(1) the male is saying "The nest building is your job", or (2) the female is saying "Let me do this, because I want to make sure it gets done right the first time!!"

Sound familiar, anyone??????

Boulders

Three years after building our house, we are still working on getting our yard in!! I had an irrigation company working on putting some more sprinklers in this past week, and he ran into some rather large rocks as he was trying to cut in the lines. Several of these rocks were big enough that he had to stop and remove them with larger equipment.

Just as these boulders caused me grief in working on my yard, the bible warns us of "boulders" in our lives. 1 Peter 2:8 says "They stumble because they do not listen to God's word or obey it".

What are the "boulders" in your life? What causes you to stumble? Seek God's guidance, and He will help you remove those boulders from your life. Psalm 119:165 says "Those who love your law have great peace and do not stumble".

I look forward to the transformation of the yard as the grass gets planted, the retaining walls go up, and the patio gets built. I also look forward to the transfomation God promises as I study His word, pray and look for His guidance in my life. I know that those boulders in my life that are too heavy for me to lift can easily be removed with God's power and strength.

De Colores

The Difference

In one of my earlier blogs on habits, I touched on the importance of a consistent prayer life. I found the following poem quite a few years ago, and had forgotten about it until I was going through some things in my bible this morning. Oh how true this poem is!! Read it and enjoy.

I got up early one morning and rushed right into the day;
I have so much to accomplish that I didn't have time to pray.

Problems just tumbled about me, and heavier became each task.
"Why doesn't God help me?" I wondered. He answered "You didn't ask."

I wanted to see joy and beauty, but the day toiled on, gray and bleak.
I wondered why God didn't show me. He said "But you didn't seek."

I tried to come into God's presence; I used all my keys at the lock.
God gently and lovingly chided, "My child, you didn't knock."

I woke up early this morning, and paused before entering the day;
I had so much to accomplish that I had to take time to pray.

May you start each day with prayer and ask God to show you His will and blessings for you. Try it, it works!!

De Colores

Rain

I'm keeping it simple today. When you read this, pray for rain!! I know God supplies us with what we need and everything is provided in His time, but I also believe that God wants us to ask for the desires of our heart. Exercise your faith. Tell your friends and family to join in, and let's bombard the gates of heaven with our request!!!

Corn rows

I was talking to one of my farmer customers today, and it brought back a lot of memories of my days growing up on the family farm. One of the things I never could master was the art of making straight rows when planting corn or milo. My dad and brother could make rows that were as straight as an arrow, but mine meandered all over the place. Needless to say, I wasn't asked to run the planter very often!

The secret to making a straight row was to keep your eye straight ahead to the other end of the field, and not get distracted by looking around at what was going on behind or beside you. You would pick out a land mark at the far end of the field and focus on it until you reached the end. As long as you stayed focused on it, your rows were straight, but if you took your eye off of it for a length of time, you would get off course, and the row would end up crooked. Only by again looking ahead could the rows get straightened out.

What a great lesson for us in life!! If we keep our lives focused on God, we are assured that He will make our paths straight. But when we lose focus, we meander around and can make a mess of our lives. When Jesus called Peter out of his boat to walk to Him on the water, Peter fixed his eyes on Jesus, AND HE WALKED ON WATER! But, when Peter took his eyes off Jesus and saw the water and waves, he became afraid and started sinking.

Hebrews 12:13 says "Mark out a straight path for your feet. Then those who follow you, though they are weak and lame, will not stumble and fall but will become strong." Life is hard, and it is easy to take our eyes off of Jesus. But, we must remember that it is only by faith and trusting in Him that we can keep our paths "straight".

Keep focused on Jesus!!

Habits

I have been taking our 13 year old son Brian to Manhattan to get some pitching lessons the past couple of months. One of the first things the instructor did was to evaluate Brian's pitching motion. At the end of the first lesson, the instructor told Brian that he could easily add 10 mph to his pitching speed, just by changing his mechanics. Unfortunately, this meant that he would have to teach his body to forget all the things he had learned over the past 13 years, and develop a new "habit" of pitching with a different motion. He said the only way to train his mind and body to do this was to do certain exercises and drills over and over again. Eventually, the new mechanics will take over and replace the old ones. Hopefully, Brian will reap the results of his new mechanics and have a fastball in the 80 to 85 mph range. Not bad for a 13 year old!!

I have been told that a habit, either good or bad, takes about 30 days to develop. Likewise, it takes about 30 days to break a habit. We all are creatures of habit, doing things over and over until they are forged in our minds. Oftentimes, we don't even realize some of the things we are doing!!

1 Corinthians 9: 27 says "I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should...." By being consistent in our prayer life, by studying God's Word daily, by always being aware of opportunities for God's service, we develop habits that make us more effective Christians. Let's look at our habits in our lives and decide if we need to change any of them, or maybe even add new ones that will make us better people!!