Care Bear Band-Aids

I went mountain biking this morning. It was awesome. Until my front wheel got caught in some roots and I went flying over the handlebars. The end of my handlebar caught the inside of my leg, leaving a rather ugly mark.
When I got home, I showed it to my 2 1/2 year old daughter, Kelsey. She looked at it and said: "Daddy, we don't have anymore Hello Kitty band-aids. I used the last one."
I looked at her and said "Oh no! What am I going to do?"
She said "I have some teddy bear band-aids upstairs, you can have one of those."

It's so great to know that my youngest has my back.

What's Your Problem?

It never ceases to amaze me how many people all around us are struggling with life issues: relationships, personal habits, insecurities, lack of direction. Every time I meet with someone who is dealing with some issue, feeling hopeless, not sure what to do, and even less sure how they got to where they are, I ask them a series of simple questions.

1) Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?

2) Are you spending time with Jesus daily, through Bible study and prayer?

3) Are you in a small group, living life in community with other believers?

4) Are you faithfully attending worship services with other believers?

9 times out of 10, the answer to one or more of these questions is “No.” These are not some magic potion, or a magic series of steps that will automatically make everything in life perfect. These are, however, a series of things that will enhance our ability to cope, to deal with the struggles of this life. Everyone has issues. Everyone has struggles. Hard times bring us all down. Life is hard – for all of us.

But if you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, if you have chosen to follow Him, having committed your life to him, and if you are spending time with Him daily, reading and studying the Bible, and praying, life will be noticeably different. If you will join a small group of believers, and join in a weekly time of worship with other believers, you will notice a significant change in your ability to handle whatever life throws your way.

I want to challenge you to check yourself in these four areas. Don’t turn it into some sort of check list, thinking that if you check them all off, then you will be fine. But make these things a part of your life, just like eating is a part of your life. We have to breathe, we have to drink, and we have to eat. Without these things life would become quite difficult (and very short). God created us for relationship. We have a God-given need to be in relationships, both with Him and with other people.

Are you struggling? Don’t go it alone. Follow Jesus. Spend time with Him everyday. Join a small group, live in community with others. And don’t give up meeting with other believers.

3 Mountain Madness

Some of you have already heard about my personal fitness goal this summer. I plan to ride the Black and Blue Double Century Relay, a 200 mile bike race on July 21. I know, I am a little insane...ok, a lot insane. But I just love to put myself to the test, to see how far I can push myself.
This past weekend I did a ride near Winston-Salem, kindof a warm up ride, to see how things were going. 3 Mountain Madness was a 95 mile ride, with 3 major hill climbs: Sauratown, Hangin Rock, and Pilot Mountain. Total elevation gain - 11,017 ft. It was awesome! I finished in 6 hours 51 minutes. My goal was 7 hours.