The Tour De France is on. Believe it or not Lance Armstrong who has not raced for 3 1/2 years is right in the mix of it. Currently in 3rd place with over a week and a half to go. So today I took a rare day off. Well kind of. I spent the morning working in my sons apartment sheet rocking. This afternoon I met up with Tom from the camp. We put on our biking shorts and headed for the Highway. Having done this a few times we were dropped off at Wal-mart in Decorah so the wind was at our backs. 85 degrees and sunny we headed up hill toward Waukon. Now Tom being somewhat 10 years my younger and much better looking then me, I new I was in for a race! I felt my competition rise up. The hills tested my lungs and legs. The heat my sanity, but over all we arrived in Waukon with a great ride behind us. Feeling like we need to prepare more before the Bike2camp ride at the end of July.
Who won? Well Tom of course! Who encouraged him every mile of the way to victory? His Coach, Me! Who else. If you can't win, Coach. If you can't coach, make up stories about your trip.
Richard Baxter said: “This life was not intended to be the place of our perfection, but the preparation for it.”
No matter where we have come from or what we have been through we are all moving like a shooting star through the night sky. Destined to reach it's target and to return to hand that has set us ablaze. This week I have finally come to an end of a road that I hope will lead to a place of some summer rest. With great things on the horizon and many pieces in place for the future I am ready for a rest. Feeling like the lyrics to a Kerry Livgren song I'll follow you, when he says:
"Searching horizons of hope For some long lost dream In one sweet moment I'm Plunged into Your healing stream
I'll follow You, 'cause You give me the desire I'll follow You, leaving the world behind I'll follow You, though You take me through the fire I know I can never be the same
The seasons of life come and go. We continue to step forward and we continue to believe. All that happens to us is not for naught, but rather an important part of the preparation for perfection. Painful, exhilarating,exasperating even bewildering at times. Perseverance builds character. We will become new!
"Always another word to be said Always another symphony in my heart Never repeating, ever so new Whatever the music, still I will cling to You One so true"
I can feel the meaning now in every breath I take Through the laughter and the tears, in every choice I make Not a moment passes by that I don't realize We never live, until we harmonize,
Mark Twain said "when I was 18 I knew everything and my parents knew nothing. When I turned 26 I was surprised how much they had learned".
I'm convinced that every boy, in his heart, would rather steal second base than an automobile.
— Tom Clark
At a certain point, I just felt, you know, God is not looking for alms, God is looking for action. Bono
I like to do all the talking myself. It saves time, and prevents arguments. Oscar Wilde 1856-1900, British Author, Wit
"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." C.S.Lewis
"If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." C.S.Lewis
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