 Whole Fat Yogurt and Mango Yesterday a friend, Mike Busch, and I rode bicycles to Jamestown from Boulder. It was hotter than anticipated and longer, too. It was my longest ride of the year and possibly the last couple of years, at 34 miles.
My legs need a lot more conditioning to be worthy of that ride. Climbing makes for a much stronger rider so it was good to get started on hills right away. Thanks, Mike!
After a ride like yesterday, calorie replacement is important. But when the weather gets hot, food becomes rather unappealing especially heavy foods. It's been warm for several days so I've been eating more foods raw or foods that don't need much cooking.
I like to eat whole fat yogurt often because of the live cultures. Today the yogurt is served over mango as a treat, after riding to Jamestown. One mango is about $1 so it's a treat I'll spread over a few days with yogurt.
Yes, that is a Tabasco place mat because it's a Louisiana product and I'm from Louisiana. I love Tabasco! It sits atop an antique table my aunt gave me years ago. They're all a little bit of home.
Years ago I had to roll a control room over which controlled a large EC, ethyl chloride, reactor. One motivating factor to roll this control room over was the proximity of the EC reactor to the non-explostion proof control room. Modern control rooms are explosion proof and can take a certain blast pressure. This old control room would not. The company needed to automate and move personnel to a modern control room.
Those aren't too bad to roll over and operators are generally even keeled and know exactly what to do under most circumstances. Richard wasn't most operators.
Richard was easy to talk with, he was helpful, and a good man. But this project was upsetting to him and for good reason. He had been in the control room for 15 years and didn't know anything else. After it was rolled over, he was going to another unit, with new people, equipment, and processes.
A new work environment wouldn't bother most people but Richard wasn't most people. He was a Vietnam veteran with PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He would routinely become anxious on his shift over the project. Sometimes he would brood. He periodically called in and threatened to go postal in the control room. On those days management told him to stay home.It was interesting to hear how Richard was doing from day-to-day. We were in that control room daily for two months working long hours to roll everything over. It was good to see Richard at work because those were good days for him. I didn't think he would do anything drastic but you never know what people will do when they reach an Anxiety Threshold for Catastrophe.We rolled the reactor over, when it was shut down. We tested our configuration and code extensively to ensure there were no mistakes and it would run as required. Our safety was in full consideration, too. We were ready and confident.As luck would have it, Richard was on shift the day we had to start the EC reactor up. My programmer and I hoped someone else would be on shift but you seldom get what you want. He was so nervous and upset about it he refused. His Technical Assistant assured him she would be by him the whole time to assist the startup. This went on for four hours without success.I had been told to not interfere. I didn't. Another control room called telling the TA they needed to startup the EC reactor or they would have to reduce rates or shut down. The TA was flummoxed. She walked away.I stepped over to the operator's station and told Richard the programmer and I would stay at the engineering station and watch him start up. If he got into trouble, we would take over and start the unit for him. We knew what to do and how to do it.Richard needed assurance we were absolutely confident it would start up safely and and run the way they had always run it. He needed confidence in the programmer and me to assist him. Fifteen minutes later, Richard began to start the unit up from the Foxboro I/A.Richard did a beautiful job and was well pleased with himself. He beamed nervously, after the unit reached steady state. He couldn't believe he had done it and how easy it was.
Richard still wasn't thrilled with leaving his 'home' but he was confident he could handle the new system, which was also in the unit he was going to next. That day changed Richard's outlook and he never called in threatening to go postal to get a sick day off.
Richard was a precious man to become acquainted with and became even friendlier that day. He is a good man. We enjoyed some laughs over his postal threats during the rest of our time in that control room. It was a pleasure to work with him and hang in there with him on his victorious day.
Don't get me wrong. I love my dad, as much as I'll be able to in this life. We had a "good" father-daughter relationship but that's it. Some years, it didn't even reach that level. Dad abandoned us, when I was six years old.Dad's are supposed to do a lot of things for their children, which gives their children a glimpse of our Heavenly Father and His plan for us.Dad's are supposed to provide food, clothing, and shelter for their children.They are to protect their children.They are to provide a sense of belonging in the family unit.They are to care for their children during illnesses.They are to nurture, encourage, and guide their children.They are to love them.Because my dad did not fulfill his parental responsibilities, I interpret that as a lack of desire to do so. Desire to help your children is born from love for them. Daddy didn't love me and that created a lack of desire to fulfill the promises he made at my conception. This is one stumbling block in my spiritual walk with the Lord.
It's been very difficult for me to believe my Heavenly Father has a desire to fulfill all of His promises to me in the Bible because my earthly father blew it. I have difficulty believing His love for me on an emotional level.
Intellectually I understand my Heavenly Father's promises. Emotionally I cannot. I have the sin of unbelief. I understand His promises but believe they apply to others not me.
I discovered this is the sin of unbelief listening to my childhood friend, Lori, recently. Daddy's failure created the sin of unbelief in my Heavenly Father. I began praying about it. Half the battle is admitting you have a problem.
Occasionally I meet people who question me about my single life. They envision a lot of fun parties, trips to exotic places, free time, and a host of other things I have yet to experience.
OK. I have traveled to some pretty neat places but those were mostly work. Work travel is a lot different than vacation travel.
My life is full of the mundane aspects every other person's life is full of. Who can escape it unless you're very wealthy? I suspect even they have a certain amount of it.
I have to do everything that relates to life for myself, from the bills to working. I don't mind. I'm not that lazy.
Single people have the same trials and tribulations others have from the emotional to physical, with the situations life throws at you. Sometimes a support network is in place and sometimes it isn't. You do the best you can with your circumstances and leave the rest to God.
Whoever you are and whatever your load, everything passes through His hands before it hits your shoulders.
hyp·o·crite [hip-uh-krit] noun 1.a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, especially a person whose actions belie stated beliefs. 2.a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude, especially one whose private life, opinions, or statements belie his or her public statements.
In short, a hypocrite is someone who is not what they claim to be
According to one woman, I am a hypocrite. She sent me an email expressly to tell me and how low her opinions of me are. I readily admitted I can be a hypocrite and have been but don't make a practice of it. I don't know of a human being alive who isn't at one time or another. We all fall short of how we want to act and how we act. That behavior is a problem, when it is a lifestyle. It is not a lifestyle with me. What you see is what you get. I will even warn you about the nasty part of my personality, when warranted.
Why did I raise her ire? I am a moderator at a cycling website and the owner enforces Christian values. She did not like the Christian values or me moderating her.
I will walk a long way to work with people. I'm unsure why other than Christ has walked a long way with me. But, just as Christ got fed up with the money changers, I get fed up, too. I don't care for ugly confrontation and will work to resolve it quietly, quickly, and fairly. If all efforts don't end attacks, a warning is issued. If that doesn't stop attacks, the full effect is released and that usually shuts people down. The full effect is what surprises people. I am not ugly about it but I am even more blunt than usual and thorough in my observations and not the least encouraging at those points in time. Often it seems people think their bad behavior will go completely unnoticed forever and ever.
This woman, who accused me of being a hypocrite, was surprised. Her boyfriend told her I am not one to start a confrontation but I am one to end a confrontation, if one insists on continuing it. He also informed her that she wouldn't like the ending. She didn't believe him. She should have. She didn't like what she started. She didn't like her own stink.
But what is a hypocrite in God's eyes? My pastor, Jim Shaddix, taught a lesson on that recently, which recalled the entire event that led to me being called a hypocrite by a woman that doesn't know me. A hypocrite in God's eyes is a person without God who is trying to act like a person with God. Jim backed this up with Matthew 6:1-18, cf. Matthew 7:5; 15:6-9; 23:14-15, 25-32; Luke 12:56; 13:15.
He went further to provide characteristics of a hypocrite. 1. You are blind to your own faults. Matthew 7:5 2. You put tradition over the Bible. Matthew 15:6-9 3. You influence others for religion instead of for Christ. Matthew 23:14-15 4. You put on a religious front to cover an evil heart. Matthew 23:25-28 5. You refuse to acknowledge the similarity between you and your predecessors. Matthew 23:29-32.
In God's eyes, a hypocrite is also a person who does right things for the wrong reasons. Matthew 6:1, cf. Amos 5:21-24; Matthew 5:14-16; Mark 7:6-7
A hypocrite, to God, is a person who exchanges heavenly rewards for earthly recognition. Matthew 6:1
I can't cover the whole lesson here but it is worth hearing. If you are interested, contact Riverside Baptist's Hope for Today to get it.
Ultimately, I fall short of God's definitions occasionally, too, not just man's definitions. What is redeeming about me? I am in relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ and through Him I am redeemed and made righteous because of his finished work on the cross.
At a business meeting recently, a local politician was the guest speaker. He's a young man, with a bright future. He indicated that some of us were being too negative in the meeting stating facts about the state of the economy and government. Since when did facing naked reality become such a negative behavior? I suspect the answer is, "when the politically correct era began under the Clinton's." We have become so afraid of words we cannot face naked reality. We need heaps of sweetening applied to get the facts. That is exactly what the local mayor was implying with, "You get more with honey than vinegar." I've been thinking about that with respect to the Bible and the way God operates. God doesn't sugarcoat anything about the depravity of human nature. In His view, we're pretty darn bad. Compared to His unquestionable perfection we are pretty darn bad. I've noticed many times in life that quite a few of us don't get the true meaning of sugarcoated words. So, the behavior we dislike never changes. I know people who take great delight in insulting others and the recipient never understands because it's been sugarcoated or couched in oblique language. They have the intellect and education to so do and use them routinely. God reveals David's sinful status to him through Nathan in 2 Samuel 12. Nathan goes through the litany of David's sins. Nathan was sent by the Lord to open it with an analogy that inflamed King David. After David's response, Nathan informed the king know he was the object of the analogy. Nathan doesn't rant and rave, jump up and down, make false accusations, or belittle Kind David. He simply states the facts and what the Lord is going to do to King David. We can only imagine what emotions King David's face revealed. Scripture records nothing more than his repentant words. I suspect he went through a range of emotions beginning with shock followed quickly by arrogant indignation to culminate in humble repentance. King David was the most powerful man in the world so God's convicting words through Nathan must have been an emotional ride.
I understand the philosophy of getting more with sugar than vinegar. Yet I see the result of so much sugar the message of our severe problems has been lost and the United States is in a world of trouble, that will take generations to work through.
God does not deal lightly with sin and He will not deal lightly with our debt. Our debt is indicative of deeper moral decay. The conservative groups have sprung up around the country because they are ready to stop the application of sugar, apply the vinegar, and get down to the gritty business of digging out of debt we are on the verge of pushing off to their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They understand the medicine will be bitter and last longer than castor oil on the tastebut that sugar is killing their progeny.
In 2007, I backpacked into Havasupai. This remote Indian tribe has one of the most beautiful places on earth to call home. The round trip trek is about 20 miles and mostly flat. The mostly flat is what tripped me up.
In making plans for the trip, I decided that lighter weight hiking shoes would do fine. My pack weight was coming down significantly, too. Between a lower pack weight and flatter ground, yeah, a mid-weight hiking shoe would do fine.
Was I ever so painfully wrong! After the first ten miles, my feet had blisters. One foot was particularly bad. We spent three nights on tribal grounds and it was impossible to stay off my feet. There was too much to explore. Overall, they were getting better and I wasn't being too rambunctious. It was a time to relax, be a bit lazy and playful, and enjoy friends.
The trek out was the real killer for my feet. Some of the Indians felt pity for me and offered to give me a ride back on a horse or at least take my pack. I refused both. I got myself into that mess and I was going to get myself out, pack and all. I had a lesson to learn and I learned it.
I reduced my pack weight even more and I will not backpack in anything but hiking boots.
The really bad blisters on that one foot popped about two or three miles from the trailhead, where the adventure began. The pain was excruciating but I walked out with all of my stuff. It took weeks for the skin to heal and I couldn't wear shoes for quite awhile. Some of my friends didn't understand why I refused help but I do.
I was raised in a family that helped one another but also believed that each tub has to sit on its own bottom. In other words, you have to take responsibility for your life and the situations or problems you get into. Some people don't understand that but I do.
It builds knowledge, character, and strength. It also strengthens your faith in God.
I met a lady last weekend named Nancy through a church friend. Nancy is from Wisconsin but has lived her adult life in Denver. She never married and has no relatives here so you know she is one courageous and adventurous soul.
Nancy struck me as kind, generous, thoughtful, and interested in life. She is a nurse so her intellect needs no verification. Her interest in life was the most outstanding quality about her. You see, Nancy's breast cancer returned a year ago by metastasizing in her bones as well as other places. She can't beat it this time but hopefully they can keep it in remission through treatment, which often makes her ill.
She works still and enjoys her work for many reasons. One is that Nancy enjoys being productive. Another reason is she needs the social aspect of work. She enjoys the job and her coworkers.
She is keeping her home up to the best of her abilities. She recently hired someone to help clean. Her yard is in very good shape through her own efforts, primarily. I'd say Nancy is remarkable because the treatment has ravaged her body and she was skinny to begin with.
I admire and respect Nancy! She could stay home and mope about her bad fortune but she isn't. She could make everyone she comes in contact with her emotional hostage with her bad fortune but she isn't. She could reject people and especially new people but she isn't. She could set guidelines on conversation but she isn't. She participates in life as fully as possible and lives each moment with interest in life and those around her.
A pastor I studied under for many years, Col. R.B. Thieme, Jr., said often that you can tell a lot about a person's integrity by the way they keep their home and other possessions. If they take care of what they have, they have integrity. Nancy has integrity.
He also said a lot of things about having capacity for life. Since Nancy is living life as normally as possible through her battle with cancer, she is demonstrating a capacity for life.
She knows the end is near but that does not stop her. She is not mired in self-pity, depression, narcissism, etc. She is facing death and lives her life with as much zest as her weakened and frail body can.
Many of us could learn lessons from such brave and courageous souls about integrity and capacity for life. It would help us face life and our own death, however near or far, better. It would make each day sweeter to the very end.
Three things any Project Manager doesn't want to let run amuck are scope, schedule, and budget. Of those three, scope is the most important, in my opinion. It is most important because of its relationship to schedule and budget. You can exceed your budget by underestimating a piece of equipment or several pieces of equipment and not impact your scope or schedule. You can exceed your budget by going over schedule but this not an automatic response. Exceeding your scope is a certainty to exceed your schedule and budget.
Consequently, containing the scope is one aspect Project Managers work diligently to control. If the scope of a project grows, you blow your budget out of the water as well as your schedule yielding a failed project.
This is the reason I cringe, when I hear Republicans claim we need to be the Big Tent party. It doesn't matter that we lose 20% of the Conservative platform because we're going to gain 80%. In my mind, that 20% is scope creep and has been ongoing for decades. It has also landed us in a hole with huge debt and an extremely long time to dig ourselves out, i.e., we've blown our budget and schedule.
What scope has crept? The US Constitution. We cannot survive creep on the US Constitution. We've also had scope creep on The Bible and the Declaration of Independence, which we cannot survive. We've endured scope creep on our culture, which no nation can or has survived. We need change for Conservatism not Progressivism. Progressivism is killing the best hope of humanity, the USA, outside of Jesus Christ.
So, when I hear the Republican Chair of Colorado, Ryan Call, exclaim that we need to be the Big Tent party and be content with getting 80%, I don't see much chance of improvement in the near term. I also have to disagree with him.
Today my heart is heavy. If you have little strength for some of the harsher realities of life, stop reading now.
My Bible study leader, Don, brought up Charles Roberts and his actions at an Amish School in Pennsylvania in 2006. As he discussed the path that young man took and the subsequent forgiveness and compassion the Amish expressed towards him and his family, I was overwhelmed with emotion. Tears began to well in my eyes. I did not realize anything was left but there is.
I've read some of the unforgiving comments about George Sodini. Forgiveness is very hard to extend to someone who commits such a heinous act. Yet, it is the very thing our Lord Jesus Christ commands us to do, which was the intent of Don's mentioning the young Mr. Roberts and his tragic path. The Amish forgave him and supported his family financially. How many times are we to forgive those who do wrong? Seventy times seven according to Jesus in Matthew 18:22. I've heard pastors say this is not a literal number but illustrates an unlimited number of times. I believe it is allegorical.
How many times do we suffer through the same injustices before we tire of them completely and get short or worse to make our antagonist, teaser, or pest stop? Jesus Christ paid for all sins on the cross through spiritual death or separation from God the Father. All sins includes the ones committed repeatedly over the course of our lives, all of our lives, from anger to xenophobia. My finite mind cannot comprehend that but I would have to categorize that as an infinite number of forgivenesses. Do I have that ability? Not in my humanity. I hope to have more grace in my spiritual walk with God. Lord knows I've been presented with plenty of practice. I appreciate those who have extended forgiveness to me through their grace.
I've had a lot of emotions about George's path over the last couple of years. Some emotions are conflicting because I feel relief that he didn't murder me and guilt because he didn't murder me. I felt those today as well as sadness and grief. I didn't realize those emotions were still in my soul. Perhaps had Don discussed Charles Roberts less I wouldn't have felt anything. The longer he talked the more old memories stirred thus the emotions.
Some of Don's points made me want to comment but I didn't. Some things I've read about George make me want to comment but I don't.
But, there is one point I would like to clear up about Tetelestai Church and George's brief banishment. He was asked to not come to church at my request to the Deacon's. George needed to cool off and I thought being banished from church for a time would help him understand how badly he had breached my boundaries. It was never meant to be a permanent exile but a time long enough for him to rethink his actions and cool off. After a few months of exile, George returned.
We never spoke again, though. Because of George's actions, a friendship ended. I hold George responsible for that because I had advised him many times, since 1999, to seek professional help, which he never sought. He needed it.
Perhaps had I stopped attending church for a few months George would have pursued a different path. We will never know. If I had known how mentally disturbed George was and that continued church attendance would have helped him, I would have gladly stopped for awhile and gone elsewhere. Ultimately, with my knowledge of George, I surmise neither would have changed his path. We will never know.
I hold no animosity towards George in spite of my emotions and his treatment of me several years ago. He was a tormented soul and his anguish was evident. Being unforgiving towards him would be futile and wrong of me regardless of lingering emotions. I've been forgiven of much through Christ's work on the cross. I understand forgiveness. Christ paid for my sins on the cross and he paid for George's sins on the cross.
Christ forgave and paid "seventy times seven."
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