CLIMBING A MOUNTAIN

I don't consider myself a mountain climber, but I have climbed West Spanish Peak a couple of times. I can relate my 1000 mile goal to those experiances. You begin with enthusiasm and it soon becomes real work. What it takes is staying at it and not quitting. As V.R. Edaman would say, "Quitting make a dead end to any road, It is always to soon to quit". The peak, the goal always looks so far off, but if you look back, it is always amazing to see how far you have come. For the first 10 days of April, I was ill and not able to make progress. The end looked a long way off. I have been back at it and today I reached 334 miles or 1/3 the way to the top. That encourages me. So much of life is like that. You begin something with enthusiasm and the the real work begins with a temptation to quit. I repeat if the thing was worth beginning then it is TOO SOON TO QUIT. It is the discipline of determination. One of my grandchildren may be in a situation where you are tempted to quit. Keep your eye on the goal, ask Jesus for strength to continue on and sometimes look back and see how far you have come. IT IS ALWAYS TOO SOON TOO QUIT!

March Update, For My Sake

It is time to report on our progress toward the 2011 goal. Not every one is involved, but I’m happy to report what is given to me. This goal is probably more for me than any one else in the family. I have been down sick this week and it would be easy to forget all this exercise, but I have made myself accountable, so I guess I better get back with it next week. Oh well, maybe someone else will profit also. I don’t want it to be like so many resolutions that are forgotten by February or March. We will see what April brings. (BY HIS GRACE!)
Roger & Mary: Roger-291 miles, Mary-357 miles We are on schedule with Bible reading.
Roger & DeeDee: Roger -38.2 miles, Brittany-18 miles, Dawson-20.4 miles, Cooper-4.2 miles
Damon & June: Damon – 107 miles, June – 310 miles, Maggie - 60 miles
Damon, June and Maggie still reading the whole Bible
Micah and Evan are still reading the New Testament
John & Elisa: Johnny and I have fallen a little behind on the Bible reading but are going to be trying to catch up in April. Trey is a little behind but on better track than his mom and dad. Avery has fallen behind too but will be trying to catch up reading the new testament...our miles are
John- 62.4, Elisa-217.7, Trey-47.1, Avery -holding steady at 29 :)
Greg & Susan: Bendon-22 miles, Caleb-23 miles, Trevin-40 miles, Meryn-42 mile
Phil & Julie: Julie-15 miles, Owen - 29 miles, Malia - 24.5 miles, Meredith -11.5 miles
Owen & Malia reading NT - Julie reading OT/NT - we all are a little behind but still reading

ARE WE CUTE?

Recently Mary and I quoted part of Isaiah 40 together at church and the people clapped when we were finished. Karen spoke up and said,"they did not clap for me". I said it was because we are cute. (laughter) Jack said "Mary may be cute but you aren't". So I said, let me tell you the story. We were walking at the arena recently, holding hands. A nice young lady said, "that is so cute". Now, I have always thought that cute was reserved for little children or for the elderly. So, I was not sure it was a compliment. Last Saturday night we ate at a restaurant, and when we were finished, Mary got an ice cream cone. She offered me a bite and our waitress said, "that is so cute!". This is getting a little out of hand. We are trusting we are not appearing that ELDERLY. I will update if this continues.

FEBRUARY TAKES ITS TOLL

It is time to report progress on the 2011 goal. I think February must have been difficult for staying on task. There is plenty of time before the end of the year for catching up. The following is what I have received:
Roger and Mary: Roger-175 miles, Mary-222 miles, we are up to date on reading through the Bible.
Duehrings: Damon-47 miles, June-220 miles & Maggie-55 miles, Damon, June& Maggie are on track reading through the Bible, Micah & Evan are on track reading the New Testament.
Seabas: John-33.2 miles, Elisa-164.6 miles, Trey-23.5 miles, Avery-22.5 miles Elisa, John & Trey are up to date reading through the Bible and Avery is in the NT.
Lankers Greg-38 miles, Susan-45 miles, Meryn-16 miles, Greg and Susan are working on catching up in Bible reading.
Veers Julie plans on catching up on Bible reading in March. If others let me know I will edit the post. I remember what it was like in the business of raising a family. I will look for a good report at the end of March.

A BUSY JANUARY

I am taking this opportunity to report on progress in the 2011 Goal. I am only reporting what has been given to me.
ROGER & MARY Roger-107 miles Mary-137 miles We are reading the Bible on RBC plan
VEERS Owen-3.5 miles Malia-3.5 miles They are reading the NT Julie-the Bible
DUEHRINGS June-178 miles Damon-17 miles They are reading the Bible, Maggie-51 miles
Micah-9 miles Molly-4 miles Maggie is reading the Bible, Micah & Evan NT
SEABAS Elisa-154 miles John-32 miles They are reading the Bible, Trey-22.5 miles
Avery-21.5 miles Ethan-12.5 miles Trey and Avery are reading the Bible
LANKERS Susan-25 miles Greg-35 miles They are reading the Bible Brendon-3.6 miles
Caleb-2.15 miles Trevin-19 miles Meryn-11 miles Brendon & Caleb are
reading the Bible Trevin the NT
J.Neirs John & Melanie are reading the Bible
THANKS FOR REPORTING IN. IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE IF WE CAN KEEP IT UP THROUGH 2011

GRADUATION

I have decided to write this blog before I am any older and still in good health. Unless we have the joy of being caught up in the rapture, the day of death will come. I believe we have the joy of being close to our grandchildren, but that makes death even more of a trauma. When that day comes it is so important to be able to see it as "graduation". I have had two small visions that have left an impression on me. They were brief, but very real and the picture I saw was indelibly imprinted on my memory. The first was shortly after my dad died. I saw him and I would judge that he appeared about age thirty. He appeared to be so happy. I remember him having that look when he was really pleased about something. It left me with a lasting impression of his present happiness. The second was seeing a grandson who seemed to be in his early thirties or late twenties. I didn't recognize him, but I knew who he was and he was a very handsome man. I was in the picture in bed, but not very distinct. I assumed I was about finished with my time here. From our perspective here death is always a sad thing because of separation and the weakness that accompanies it. I want my grandchildren to know that when that time comes; It will be GRADUATION. I will be happy, even as I had that impression about my dad. You grandchildren will have life before you and a mission to complete. Rejoice in the blessed hope we have in Christ, "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord".

2011 Challenge to Family

As I was walking and running at the arena early this month, I had an inspiring thought. Why not set a goal of running and walking 1000 miles in 2011. My next thought was, why not challenge the family to that goal. I have always found that if I am more disciplined physically it helps me be on track spiritually. I passed that on to the family with a financial incentive. Then the Lord reminded me of I Timothy 4:8 "For bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." Therefore I added reading through the Bible in the year also. I added some smaller goals so the grandchildren could get involved as well. It ended up as follows:
$100 reading through the Bible
$30 reading through the New Testament
$100 for 1000 miles of purposed walking or running
$50 for 500 miles of the same
$25 for 250 miles of the same
Must be completed by Dec. 31, 2011
God has encouraged me to invest in the family. I trust this is helpful. May God bless our family.