Archive for the ‘Family’ Category
I really enjoyed and appreciated all the comments and encouragement from my Race Day Reflections.
This is one I thought was especially creative…
Look! It’s a deer! It’s a train!
No, it’s Triath-A-Man!
No swim, no iPod, that’s OK
Triath-A-Man is here to stay!
With my scrapes and sprain I will not quit; I will not fail;
Triath-A-Man will not bail!
I will run, I will bike, I will run some more,
WATCH OUT old guy I’m coming for more!
As I huff and I puff and cross that finish line,
Thank you God for helping me shine!
Thanks Trust Family!
43 times around the sun and today was one of the BEST days of my life!
I am now officially a triathlete! Got to tell you…I really like the sound of that.
RACE DAY REFLECTIONS
- Got up at 4:00 am and journaled to God.
- Trying to communicate gratitude to God was emotional. How do you express thanks to someone like God? Basically, I told Him this…Thank you for helping and encouraging and kicking my butt thru this whole journey. I love you.
- Ate the breakfast of champions…oatmeal.
- I also ate bananas…they are a racer’s friend.
- Loaded up with the fam…headed off to the course.
- Registered and set up transitions stations
- My worst nightmare…they replaced the swim with a run
- Canceled the swim because of the surf (Hurricane Kyle and rip currents)
- I like swimming…I hate running.
- Second worst nightmare. No iPods. I can’t run without my worship jams
- Not cool…1.5 mile run, 15 mile bike, 5 k…No iPod.
- My goals? Don’t quit or stop and FINISH THE RACE.
- Made the first 1.5 mile…had to pick up my pace…old guy was beating me.
- Coolest thing ever to hear my family cheering for me!
- They all ran aside me with their posters and kept cheering!
- I definitely had the BEST cheering out of 700 traithletes
- Did I tell you I like the sound of that?
- Got on my Pee Wee Herman modified bike
- 15 miles here I come!
- Suffering from Railroad Tracks Phobia since my spill.
- Had to ride over 2 railroad tracks…made it…almost crashed on the bridge
- Saw about 4 bikers crash. Yikes!
- Half way on bike…feeling OK
- 3/4 of the way on bike…hamstrings hurting…stinking Pee Wee Herman bike!
- Old guy just passed me…he has a better bike!
- Finishing up with my bike. Debbie and the kids are screaming like crazy!
- I’m blessed.
- I like swimming. I hate running.
- Here I go…if I quit…this will be the leg
- I miss my iPod
- Kept going thru Scripture in my head (Heb. 12:11) (1Cor. 9:24) (Heb. 12:1-3)
- Same old guy keeps passing me…he has an iPod! Not Cool!
- Half way…haven’t stopped…water table…needed that!
- Can’t believe I’m almost done…insane that 6 weeks ago I was 40 lbs heavier
- I can’t see the crowd yet, but I hear them…getting very emotional
- Picking up the pace as fast as I can now. I see the finish line ¼ mile away
- I can now hear Debbie and the kids…running as hard as I can!!!!!
- I’m a basket case!
- Thinking about tripping the old guy…just kidding…I did pass him!
- I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Footage to come…from Devin…enjoy the pics
I asked my bride and kids to refer to me now as Triath-a-MAN. I think I’ll copyright that since I just made that up.
Yesterday, our thirteen year old daughter had her weekly horseback riding lesson. She was thrilled to show Debbie and me how she learned to “trot.” I went to be the supportive dad, and to my surprise, it was quite moving!
Now Lydia, the horse she rides, apparently hadn’t been feeling too well. However, Natalie rode her anyway and began to trot. As Lydia passed by us, she began passing something else. Lydia’s trotting turned to tooting. You know, pooting, cutting the cheese, passing wild oat gas. I had never experienced this before. The sound of this horse’s farts was unbelievable!
It was loud and continuous. With each trot came another toot. It was like a song. I guess you could say it was more like a symphony…with a lot of base drums underscoring to a huge crescendo!
Debbie and I laughed hard. We laughed with every trot and every toot. The Bible says laughter is good medicine, and it’s true. Debbie and I felt a lot better…
I think Lydia did too.
Went to the creek last night and had a frog catching contest with my daughter. That’s right. I said a frog catching contest…that’s what you do when you live in the country. I was up 5 to 1…no competition. The secret is all in how you approach the frog. Out of nowhere…Natalie scored 6 unanswered frogs! I’m way too competitive. It was on…7 to 5, Nat in the lead. I scored 2 in a row…tie game.
Who wants it more? I do! I want the frog title! It’s a male ego thing! I looked everywhere for frogs. Natalie rattled off 3 in a row! Schooled by a school girl! Congrats, Nat!
- Devin and I stayed up til 2:00 am watching Black Hawk Down (tv version)
- Debbie and I watched Awakening. Dude, that movie was awesome! Deb cried twice.
- Rented 3:10 to Yuma. This is a dude movie!
- Hooked on Deadliest Catch. I know it’s TV…but I didn’t want to change my title
- Pumped about the NBA playoffs…the best of the west…meets Boston!
- Anybody have tickets?…and want to hook a pastor up?…I’m available.
- Honestly, not too much out there worth watching…any other good movies I’m missing?
I wonder if Northway should go on TV? What are the pros? What are the cons?
- Grill: gas or charcoal?
- Pre-made frozen patties or handmade?
- Ground beef or ground chuck?
- Seasoning: Season-all, Heinz 57, or salt and pepper?
- Rolls: sesame seed, potato rolls, or other?
- Cheese: Cheddar, Swiss, or American?
- Condiments: Tomato, lettuce, onion, mayo, mushrooms?
- Sides: Chips or Potato Salad?
- The first quarter, 4 to 6 services, 2 to 3 locations, 6 to 8 services!Thank you God for the break!
- Typically our family travels and gets away…staying home this year.
- Debbie wants to work in the yard…mulch is fun! Not really.
- I think we are going to cook out tonight! I grill some mean burgers!
Secret is to flip them once
- I dig Heinz 57 sauce…I also make a mean dip!
- Does anybody else watch Deadliest Catch?
- My yellow lab, Abby, loves our creek!
- Weather is gorgeous! Peace out!
So many of you have been an encouragement to me by praying for my Dad’s healing. God has answered those prayers, and God has healed my Dad of cancer! Many of you have also been praying for Debbie’s mom, Josephine.
Josephine has been battling cancer for 40 years! Josephine has been through more health challenges than any other woman I know. Josephine has had numerous surgeries and procedures, and I think most people given her challenges would have given up years ago.
Not Josephine.
Josephine is courageous; she is a fighter; and she is Italian…I think they all go together! We have just heard that Josephine has had congestive heart failure. She is tired and exhausted. Please remember to pray for Josephine, Debbie’s dad, Ray, and Debbie as she will be headed home to see her mom. Thank you. If you want to send any comments to Debbie, Josephine or Ray…I will pass them on. Thanks again.
Just a week ago, John and I were flying over the northern hemisphere returning home from the trip of a life time: China. Why China? We went to see our older sister, Kristin. As soon as we left JFK for China, we immediately morphed from maturity…2 leaders, pastors, husbands and dads…into 2 immature goofball brothers that can laugh gut-wrenchingly at ANYTHING!
Both of us had aisle seats with seats open next to us, and as soon as I got my seat on the 18 hour flight…this dude and his kid sit next to me. Get this, they both had surgeons’ masks on! When I made eye contact with John, it was over…I was destined to get SARS! We both began to shake uncontrollably with laughter. I’ve got to tell you, I love that! I get way too serious, and being with John always takes me back and makes me laugh!
We finally landed. And to see Kristin…a long way away from Elmwood Ave…a long way from a baby sitter who packs a mean punch…Kristin has emerged as a woman of purpose. Kristin is a woman of courage. I don’t have words to communicate the new RESPECT I have for my sister. Bottom line: she is braver than me. I couldn’t do what she does. She has learned a language and a culture, and she eats crazy stuff. She drives to villages, and on top of all of that, Kristin is away from her family. Kristin is the bravest woman I have ever met.
Something twisted happened on this trip. Pecking orders were pealed away. Roles were removed, and a new sibling formula was forged. An emotional bond was woven and twisted in respect, love, and appreciation for each other. Let me say to all you bloggers out there, I don’t know if these posts make sense to you…I know they are long…but that’s OK…I needed to write it. Maybe it’s just more for my bro and sis. Thank you, John, for making this trip possible for me. Thank you for making me laugh, and thank you for who you are. John, you always have made me better. You always challenge me, and you are the most generous man I know. I love you, man!
John and Kristin, I think Solomon redefined us better than I could say it…
Eccl. 4:12 A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.
I think I’m going to do a whole series on this twisted siblings thing! Who knows, maybe even a book? Kristin, John, and I are not immune from sibling issues. Growing up on Elmwood Ave in PA…Kristin was the oldest and the ONE responsible for us boys. She was the pack leader, however, I never really connected with her growing up. Kristin was more like a baby sitter who packed a mean punch! I still have bruises! Even today…I still live in fear. Kristin had to be the police for us boys, and in retrospect, I think Kristin had to grow up way too fast. Kristin left the house and moved on in her adult life when I was in 6th grade.
John and I, on the other hand, never grew up! We were always wrestling, always playing, always getting in trouble! And as the youngest, of course, it was always John’s fault! Fourteen months younger, I wanted to be like John, dress like John, and talk like John. Interesting factoid: my parents tell me that all I could say growing up was, “Me Too.? Why? Because John always spoke for both of us…and that was just fine once Kristin left. John definitely emerged as the leader of our pack. To me, John was the coolest dude on the planet! John was even cooler than Magnum PI without the Ferrari!
Looking back, I can’t think of how the twisted sibling formula of competitiveness and comparison could possibly have been played out any more than in our lives. Man, do we have stories! We were fierce, ferocious competitors from playing army to lifting weights to girls to basketball, soccer, singing…whatever the topic or whatever the game…somehow we managed to make it a full-on, competitive competition! I remember Dad got us a basketball hoop when I was in 6th grade and John was in 7th, and we would play until the sun went down…“win by two.” One problem…no one could ever win because we would foul each other so hard that it would be impossible to score! Mom could never understand how we got bloody noses playing basketball.
Brothers are unique. Growing up, it was definitely a love/hate relationship. Brothers know intuitively how to push hot buttons and manipulate each other. I’m confident in my ability to make John as mad as a hornet, and John definitely has a gift to push my buttons as well.
Years and years of memories, good ones and bad ones…all three of us have had to navigate thru undercurrents of emotion and emerge into our own worlds. Kristin in East Asia, John in Philly, and me in upstate New York…a long way away from Elmwood Ave…with all of our twisted issues as siblings. However, during this past trip to Asia, things really got twisted…more tomorrow…
