Hoodie

About a year ago I found this old hoodie in the back of my closet.  Wrinkly with a stale hadn't been worn in forever smell, I pulled it down.  Memories came tumbling down with it.

The spring of 1985.  Nearing completion of ninth grade & my less than illustrious career at North Richland Junior High.  As freshmen, we were the big dogs of junior high & not the tadpoles of senior high. Spring football that year included shared practices at the high school that we were bused to.  And each of us were given Rebel football hoodies so we'd look the same on the field at Richland High School.  A proud moment it was, receiving this hoodie from Coach Staples.  You can still make out HOUSEHOLDER scrawled across it in permanent ink.

Since rediscovering it, I washed it & pull it out to wear around the house from time to time.  This morning as I was helping my six year old learning to read masterfully daughter, Mary Elizabeth, get her coat on she read it. 

"Ree-buhls.  Where'd that come from, Daddy?"

"Oh, Honey, I got this a long time ago.  Almost 26 years ago.  Before I went to high school."

"Wow, Daddy, you haven't grown much since then."

Melanie laughed out, "Haven't grown much?," looking at my slight 40-something belly.

"Well, Mary, Mama & Daddy are basically the same size as we were in high school.  Some things," motioning from my chest to tummy,  "may have just shifted around a little bit."

She flew out the door to the bus.  My mind tumbled.  Not about physical changes since high school, but real growth.  Maturity.

Personally, socially, spiritually.

How have I grown?

Where am I weak?

If I knew then what I do now, how would I have been different in high school?

Who would I have treated better?

How would my life be different as a result?

Most of you, Dear Readers, are not in high school anymore.

But.

You can still grow.

You can still change.

Take a moment & write a comment.

What do you wish you'd known or done differently growing up?

What do you need to, maybe as a result of reading this post, change today? 

New Shoes

I've got a question for you: What do you see?  Five pairs of shoes.  Each a Nike.  Each similar.

You've got a question for me: Why so many?  Five pairs of shoes?  Each a Nike?  Each similar?

The first, on top of the shoe-star, silver & black with red, was my first pair of Nike's since kiddom.  The Vomero 2 sold me on the company & this line the moment I put them on.  Cushy & springy.  Compared to the tanks I was retiring & the brand x mid-range shoes I was struggling in, this pair was a dream.  I ran my first marathon in these: Lincoln, 2008.  I proudly retired these to be my knocking around shoes near two years ago with 472 total running miles on them.

The second on top right, white & silver with lime green is the Nike Vomero 3.  I ran my second marathon in these: Cowtown, 2009.  I retired these with 451 running miles almost a year ago.  Other than the colors, they are identical to the next pair.

The third, lower right, white & black with orange, are Nike Vomero 3s.  I ran my third marathon in this pair just days after my 40th birthday: Cowtown, 2010.  These are nearing retirement with 397 miles.  They don't go any longer than six miles now lest I feel it in my hips & knees later.

The fourth, lower left, white & silver with blue, are Nike Vomero 4s.  They are my current long run shoes. Going 12+ miles every Saturday while training for the 2011 Lincoln Marathon will elevate their mileage quickly.  They have 157 miles after this morning's run.

The fifth, upper left, white with red & gray, are my newest pair, the Nike Vomero 5.  I just got them this week through an amazing eBay deal.  They've got the smell of new & zero running miles.  I'll put about 30 miles on them with a long run of 12 before they serve to carry my 26.2 miles through Lincoln on race day, May 1st.

Why so many pairs?  Experts say & my experience validates that the average shoe has a running life expectancy of around 400 miles.  Give or take some miles given the shoe & the runner.  As an example: take the second & third pair.  Identical shoes other than the color.  And.  Other than mileage.  Thats the key.  With 250+ miles difference you could put one shoe from each pair on me while I was blind-folded & I could tell the difference.  Just standing.  On carpet.  Not even walking or running.  That noticeable.

Why is that?  Simply put: the white, sometimes gray, squishy foam that makes up the midsole & majority of cushioning in running shoes is shot.  That foam holds micro-bubbles of gas.  The bubbles burst until the foam looses its spring.  You loose energy return.  You loose protection.  You end up more tired or, worse, injured through the pounding running puts on a body. 

You're thinking: Thanks for the pointers to track mileage & buy new shoes regularly, Aaron, but what's the point of this post?

Here it is: Well designed, properly chosen, thoroughly executed anything grows old & worn with time. Replacements.  Upgrades.  Progress.  Change.  These are healthy.  These are part of life & growth.

And.  As with my running shoes.  Change can be safer & better for you than staying the same.

Missing Meals

Whodathunkit?

A simple Facebook status question this evening would have generated so many responses.  More than 20 at the time of this writing.

What's for dinner at your house?

That was my simple question.

From pizza burgers (that sounds real good) to quiche, from chili to leftovers.  Folks are serious 'bout supper.

A few observations:

• Some of you, my friends, really need to have my family over for dinner because y'all are cooking good.
• The Householders need some more dinner invites.  I mentioned one just like that already?  Sorry.  Not.
• We ain't missing meals round here, are we?  On average, a Facebook status gets two or three replies. But dinner?  We folks got plenty to say about what we're gonna eat.
• Would that I could be so hungry for the Word of God.  That I had a plan to consume it & passion to share it just like my dinner.  We, as Americans, & even as Christ Followers, are missing too many meals.

 Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:35

How do you get the Word of God in your life daily?  Please share a comment with your suggestions for others.

The Wind

I snapped this pic after my run today.  A joy to be out.  A joy to be done.  My day off, I'd waited til after the kids left for school this morning.  With the sun up over the horizon warming the 8 degree skies, wind at 10+ mph, & a real feel of -3, I layered up appropriately.  Out I went to run the snow plowed, yet patchy streets of our subdivision with the assurance I had the right gear for the conditions.

For the first few minutes in the sub freezing outdoors you wanna think, "Agh, I overdressed.  I'm gonna get too hot before I'm done."  Then you remember two things: first, you got dressed where it was 60 degrees warmer; second, you always feel this way until the cold presses in through your layers.  Wait a few minutes before turning home to shed some gear.

Sure enough a mile or so down the road the warmth you felt yields to the weight of the cold.  Your flesh is screaming the reality, "It's really cold out here, Yehu!"  Experience speaks to your flesh again before you are tempted to turn home, "Give it a bit more & you'll warm up."

And, if you've dressed right, you do warm up.  You feel great.  Cold face, yes.  Chilled a bit here & there, at times.  Yet generally, just right.  Run you do, picking your steps through the snow & ice.

Then, just when things seem to be going so well, you face another force.  One more fierce than the cold.  "You conquered 8 degrees? Ha! Wait until you meet me," it growls.

You turn into the wind.

The wind.  Bites.  Cuts.  Hurts.

All the warmth from being layered right.  All the self-congrats for choosing well & running strong.  All are laughed at by the wind.

You push through.  You steel your will.  You suffer on.

No matter how you feel you have gotta get your miles.  And if it's too tough to get all your miles, you at least have to get home.  These conditions will hurt you.

Isn't life like that?

You bring your best plans.  Your best stuff.  Your best prep.  You are up to the challenge.  You are ready to conquer.

Then you turn into the wind.

The fierce, frozen, cutting, angry wind.

You question yourself.  You question God.  You second guess.  You doubt.  You cry.  You complain.  You stumble.

But you gotta keep going.  You can't stay out there in the cold.  You gotta reach the peace & warmth of home. You press on.

Through.

The wind.

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Romans 8:37

Root Nacks

(Note: This is the recreated post that I lost provoking my declaration against PCs in the previous post.)

Half eaten bowl of Lucky Charms before him & my sweet when he wants to be, always entertaining son, JM, starts in this AM.  Lobbying his Mama.  Working it with all the preschool logic he can muster.  The boy wants fruit snacks.  In Markese, his somewhat still toddlerfied talk, it comes out "root nacks."

We're two days away from his fourth birthday.  He & Mama had been shopping just yesterday.  They returned with all sorts of goodies for his Toy Story themed party.  And not just Toy Story, but Toy Story Three.  If you forget to add the third word he'll correct you.  "Toy Tory Free."

One of those goodies was a box of Toy Story Fruit Snacks.  Fruity.  Chewy.  But, dare I say, waxy.  JM wants root nacks right away.  

I wanna open my root nacks now, Mama.

You can't eat them now, John Mark, they're for your birthday.

I won't eat them.  I'll just hold them.

Temptation.

How long do you think ten root snacks will last in the hands of a three year three hundred sixty three day old boy before they make it to his mouth?

We think we can get close to our temptation & not fall.  Maybe.  Some.  But not always.  No more than a preschooler with root nacks.  Why even go there?

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.  But his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day & night.  Psalm 1:1-2

Share a comment.  What does this Scripture teach you about avoiding temptation & falling to it?