An Amazing Legacy

This past Sunday, September 9, 2007, an amazing and inspiring man stepped from earth into the presence of Jesus Christ. My grandfather, Dr. J. Allen Blair, was 94 years old. He had been married for 69 years. He had been in the ministry for most of that time. He pastored several churches, and co-founded Glad Tidings with his wife Elva.

But more than being a great preacher, he was a great man. He was a man of integrity. He lived what he taught. He was very intentional about being the man God made him to be, not just preaching and writing about it.

I have been personally challenged and impressed by several things over the years. One is the number of times he read through the Bible. In one of his books, he shares that if you read 3 chapters a day and 5 on Sunday, you can read the entire Bible in one year. I have been looking through his Bible over the last couple of days, and in the back he has a Bible Reading Record. It only goes back to 1974, but it starts with #51 for the Old Testament, and #79 for the New. The record only goes through 2003, with OT readings at 94 and NT readings at 125! That is unheard of these days! I'm working on 4 or 5!

The other thing that Grandpa was very disciplined in was Scripture memorization. He had hundreds (maybe thousands) of verses committed to memory. He had a box of index cards with verses written out. He would review the cards daily, always keeping the verses he had memorized fresh in his mind. Sadly, most people can count the number of verses they have memorized on one hand!

Grandpa was an amazing man of God. He will be missed, but his legacy lives one! He has 3 daughters, 9 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren. His radio broadcast will continue to air for several years. Many people have come to meet Jesus through his ministry. Many more will come as a result of his legacy.

Finishing Strong

I know many of you have been patiently awaiting the finally of my 200 mile bicycling adventure. I apologize for leaving you hanging - thanks Paul for the reminder.

Stage 7 (17.8 miles) & 8 (21.85 miles)

Arriving at exchange zone 7 was a big step. The next stage would be the shortest of all the stages - just under 18 miles. If I can just make the next 18 miles, I'll have only one stage to complete. I'm almost done! I can't believe I only have 40 miles to go to complete my first 200 miles in one day! Things are starting to look up, and although it was never terribly hot, things are starting to cool down as well. The cool breeze is a welcome change.

As I pull out of exchange zone 7, I make a left turn. About 1/2 mile down the road, Nancy pulls up beside me in the van: "You're going the wrong way" she says. "Not again" I think to myself. O well, at least it's only 1/2 mile. I turn and get back on course.

I don't remember a whole lot from stage 7. I do remember exchange zone 8. The volunteers there looked rather bored, and totally unimpressed that I had just ridden 180 miles to see them. They just wished I would hurry up and move on down the road so they could go home. So I ate a few snacks, refilled water bottles, and hit the road. My brother and his family were there to cheer me on. He let me know that the next climb would be short, but very steep. How right he was!

I began the ascent. It gradually got steeper and steeper the further I went along. The road was winding back and forth. The urge to stop and walk was overwhelming. Finally, about 1/3 mile from the top, I did stop, and I did walk. It was either that or fall over sideways!

Upon reaching the top, I remember some guy in a car stopped to ask directions. "I am not from around here. I don't even really know where I am" I told him. I mounted the bike, and began the descent. It was as steep going down as it was going up! This was a pretty scary moment. Back and forth, around the corners ahead, hoping a dog or a deer doesn't decide to jump out in front of me!

I made it down, then up another longer grueling climb, and back down the other side. The scenery again was absolutely stunning. God's creation was screaming out all around me. It was almost surreal. I finally made it to the final descent into Asheville. Nancy was there to guide me along the last few miles. I CAN'T BELIEVE I DID THIS! I just couldn't wait to get to the finish line! I envisioned a big sign with the word "FINISH". I envisioned a race official ready to record my final time. I envisioned Nancy and Garren standing there yelling and cheering me across the finish line...

I made my way through 8 or 10 stop lights. Traffic around me was oblivious to what I had just done. No one seemed to notice me as they whizzed past. I turned right, then rode through a couple more stop lights. I strained to see any kind of activity, a route sign, something to let me know I was heading in the right direction. We went about 1 mile. Nancy finally pulled up beside me: "We must have missed the turn. We are looking for the courthouse. It was supposed to be 1/10th mile from the last turn." So we looped back around. We finally found the courthouse. I coasted up on my bike. No one. No signs. No race officials. No cheering. What in the world? The course was supposed to stay open until 10pm. It's only 8:30pm. Did they forget about me? Did they give up on me?

Nancy wanted phone numbers - now. She wasn't going to have any of this! I said: "Who cares. I finished. You know I did. I know I did. I don't really care right now if anyone else knows. Let's go home."

So we did. We found a hotel. I crashed (after an amazing shower and a Bacon Cheeseburger from Wendy's). I was emotionally and physically drained. It was the strangest feeling I've ever felt. But I am so glad I did it. (Where do I register for next year?)

Epilogue
So where was everyone? Why wasn't there anyone at the finish line? I finally was able to connect with the race organizer. He told me that he never heard from the volunteers at the final exchange zone (that's right, the ones that didn't seem to care what was going on). He apologized profusely. He left the finish line just minutes before I arrived. We just missed each other.

Encouragement for Moms

My wife Nancy wrote this today - I thought I would share it with you all:

Hello my friends who are moms!

I was reading in my Bible and came across this verse:

"Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,
but abundant crops come by the strength of the oxen."
Proverbs 14:4

You may look at this and say "so what, I don't have oxen or mangers (feeding troughs)". We can still get the meaning of the verse -- if your manger is clean then you aren't using it to feed oxen and therefore have no animal to help produce your crops.

As I read this verse I changed the words a little to read:

"Where there are no children, the house/minivan is clean,
but abundant joy comes from a home filled with children."

As a mom I sometimes get overwhelmed with the mess and clutter that my kids can make in the house and in our minivan. It seems as though a large amount of my time is spent either cleaning up after them or, in the case of my older two, staying on them to clean up after themselves. This verse reminds me that without my children I could have a wonderfully clean house and minivan but what JOY would I miss out on. The time will come too soon when they will be older and will move out on their own. That is the time when my house will be clean and I may drive something other than a minivan. I am sure that then I will miss the mess!

So as an encouragement to you I say, enjoy the mess and remember the JOY your children bring. Life would be so boring without them. What a blessing from God they really are!

Have a great day,
Nancy