One of my concerns as a parent is whether or not my kids, actually our whole family, is active physically. I have no desire to be Mr. Potato Head o' Household for a bunch of couch potatoes.
This summer Jina made a committed effort to make sure the boys spent more time outdoors playing. We don't have the biggest house, but by today's standards, we have a big yard. Plenty of room for the "kiddos" to play. Toss in several "play dates" to local parks (Does anyone else remember the good old days when you played with the kids in your neighborhood, and you played at anytime that wasn't dinner time? Now kids have more appointments on their calendar than I do at work? Yes I realize I'm getting older and dwelling on the "good ol' days"!)and our kids have remained pretty active day in and day out.
During our vacation we went for a family bike ride and afterward I left the bikes down, assembled and ready to ride. Now we go for post dinner 3 to 5 mile bike rides multiple times throughout the week. The best part is that my kids look forward to it. Jared, my oldest is riding an 18 inch kids bike, with only a couple of exceptions he attacks and conquers the hills in our surrounding neighborhoods without complaint. We challenge him to keep pedaling, to push himself, and then praise his efforts and point out the accomplishment each time he tackles a new challenge. Several times he has nearly melted down emotionally and psychologically (he gets upset if he begins something and then thinks he is going to fail-I can't count how many times we've had that talk) on a tough climb, but when encouraged he pushes through and the reward is that we've ridden new routes, such as a ride through the local city park behind our neighborhood. (Hey Brian, we rode on an old gravel trail and then a dirt trail for maybe 2 tenths of a mile, he thought it was the coolest thing.)
The only issue with being an active family is that it has really cut down on my running. I didn't think it would be an issue, but those evening bike rides with a trailer load of toddlers are more fatiguing than I thought. Even so, I'll take the trade off.
Anyway, I'm typing this quickly and not sure how well my thoughts are flowing, but my point is this. It is important for us as parents to set examples for our children in the area of physical fitness. However, we can not just hope that our kids will see what we do and follow our lead. We need to create opportunities for them to be active, not just in organized sports, but also in our family activities and their daily play.
31 July 2008
28 July 2008
Fruit of the Spirit
During our trip to Georgia I had the opportunity to walk down to my grandmother's old place. The house was in disrepair before she passed away some years ago, and time has continued to wear the old house down, yet the minute I stepped off the road into the gravel drive, memories came flooding back.
I was there for a reason; figs. For the first time since my childhood, I was visiting when the small tree in her back yard was bearing ripe fruit. I met my dad and uncle walking back up the road,dad was munching away on a handful of figs,now I travelled down the Georgia asphalt with anticipation of reliving a childhood memory. As I stepped into the yard, I couldn't help but remember the small tree in the back yard, maybe six feet tall, growing beside the old tool shed.
What greeted me was much different. Instead of a diminutive tree with a handful of ripe fruit, I gazed upon a twenty foot specimen, it's branches loaded with ripe and green fruit, some having already fallen victim to the hungry birds. I filled my stomach and then a small bowl. For a brief few moments I found myself alone with fig tree and my thoughts. I drink in my surroundings and bathed in memories. Behind me a grapevine was loaded with not yet ripe grapes. Not your typical grocery store variety, but a variety exclusive to the southeastern U.S. and Mexico, I had not tasted them in years, and would not on this trip either. Standing a little further back, beside the old garden spot, stood an apple tree. A few of the green apples showed tinges of red, I pulled one, remembering how my grandmother used to dry apple slices on old window screens in the southern sun. Despite her passing years ago, her trees and vines still bore succulent fruit and the old pecan tree had, thanks to my uncle, provided many nights of late night snacking for Jina and I this past winter.
Thankfully, those fruit trees weren't the only things she left behind. She also left behind four sons who grew up witnessing her love for Christ and her steadfast devotion to the Bible. One of those four sons is my dad. He not only witnessed her life in Christ, he followed it as well. She planted within him a seed of faith which grew through the years into a tree. God then nurtured that tree by adding a Christian woman, my mother, and that tree bore fruit. My brother, my sister, and I all came to find God's grace and salvation. My sister's two kids have professed their faith in Christ and Jina and I strive daily to raise our three little ones up as our parents raised us. So, it isn't just my grandmother's trees and vines that continue to bear fruit, her life does as well.
As I stood there picking the figs, I thought about how they were a fruit mentioned in the Bible. I thought about the passage in which Christ curses the fig tree for not bearing fruit in season. Then I asked myself, "Will my life be like that tree, or like my grandmother's?"
I was there for a reason; figs. For the first time since my childhood, I was visiting when the small tree in her back yard was bearing ripe fruit. I met my dad and uncle walking back up the road,dad was munching away on a handful of figs,now I travelled down the Georgia asphalt with anticipation of reliving a childhood memory. As I stepped into the yard, I couldn't help but remember the small tree in the back yard, maybe six feet tall, growing beside the old tool shed.
What greeted me was much different. Instead of a diminutive tree with a handful of ripe fruit, I gazed upon a twenty foot specimen, it's branches loaded with ripe and green fruit, some having already fallen victim to the hungry birds. I filled my stomach and then a small bowl. For a brief few moments I found myself alone with fig tree and my thoughts. I drink in my surroundings and bathed in memories. Behind me a grapevine was loaded with not yet ripe grapes. Not your typical grocery store variety, but a variety exclusive to the southeastern U.S. and Mexico, I had not tasted them in years, and would not on this trip either. Standing a little further back, beside the old garden spot, stood an apple tree. A few of the green apples showed tinges of red, I pulled one, remembering how my grandmother used to dry apple slices on old window screens in the southern sun. Despite her passing years ago, her trees and vines still bore succulent fruit and the old pecan tree had, thanks to my uncle, provided many nights of late night snacking for Jina and I this past winter.
Thankfully, those fruit trees weren't the only things she left behind. She also left behind four sons who grew up witnessing her love for Christ and her steadfast devotion to the Bible. One of those four sons is my dad. He not only witnessed her life in Christ, he followed it as well. She planted within him a seed of faith which grew through the years into a tree. God then nurtured that tree by adding a Christian woman, my mother, and that tree bore fruit. My brother, my sister, and I all came to find God's grace and salvation. My sister's two kids have professed their faith in Christ and Jina and I strive daily to raise our three little ones up as our parents raised us. So, it isn't just my grandmother's trees and vines that continue to bear fruit, her life does as well.
As I stood there picking the figs, I thought about how they were a fruit mentioned in the Bible. I thought about the passage in which Christ curses the fig tree for not bearing fruit in season. Then I asked myself, "Will my life be like that tree, or like my grandmother's?"
25 July 2008
Running, Biking, Sprints and Circuit Training
All have been part of my regimen this week. My bike rides have been tame affairs, a four miler with the family, with me getting the added benefit of pulling 60 lbs of 3 year olds up the the hills. I also threw in a trip to the grocery store and then back with a fully loaded trailer. Finally then a quick ride to return some movies. Not exactly Lance Armstrong, but on top of my other morning workouts, I'm feeling it.
I ran sprints again this morning and held up well. I run the sprints after completing a circuit training routine, starting with my legs, then chest, shoulders, arms, and finally abs.
The sprints paid off tonight. I played a double header, for the softball team that picked me up as a fill in, and found that my fast twitch muscles responded much better to my demands and requests than they have in previous games. Besides, I'm warped and find the agony of the sprints a challenge.
I'm off to bed (it's 12:30), no work tomorrow, we are headed back to my families hometown in Georgia after the death of my Uncle's wife. (Yes, it is technically my Aunt, but he married late in life and I wasn't around her very much, so it is difficult for me to relate to her as my "aunt") That likely means no long runs this weekend, and also no posting for several days, which is either a good thing or a bad thing. That's up to you guys/gals to decide.
Take care, keep exercising, and will post again when I get back.
I ran sprints again this morning and held up well. I run the sprints after completing a circuit training routine, starting with my legs, then chest, shoulders, arms, and finally abs.
The sprints paid off tonight. I played a double header, for the softball team that picked me up as a fill in, and found that my fast twitch muscles responded much better to my demands and requests than they have in previous games. Besides, I'm warped and find the agony of the sprints a challenge.
I'm off to bed (it's 12:30), no work tomorrow, we are headed back to my families hometown in Georgia after the death of my Uncle's wife. (Yes, it is technically my Aunt, but he married late in life and I wasn't around her very much, so it is difficult for me to relate to her as my "aunt") That likely means no long runs this weekend, and also no posting for several days, which is either a good thing or a bad thing. That's up to you guys/gals to decide.
Take care, keep exercising, and will post again when I get back.
22 July 2008
Is this love that I'm feeling?
Besides being the title of a 1980's pop song, it is also the question I'm asking about my marriage this morning.
Today was my first workout incorporating sprints. Last night, while discussing it with my wife, I told her I figured I'd go to the "Y" and run them sideline to sideline on the basketball court. Her response, "Why don't you run base line to base line, we always did. You know we always did the ones where you ran out, touched the lines...."
Now what I didn't rationalize is that my wife last ran wind sprints, or "suicides", 16 years ago. What I did do this morning is suffer from OLS and decide that she had challenged my manhood and therefore I needed to run them as she directed.
Ouch. Think you're in shape? Concentrated only on distance running for some time now? Try running sprints up and down the basketball court and see how you hold up. Anyway, back to my original question, "Is this love?" or "Was it a concerted effort to collect on the life insurance policy?" Hmmmm.......only time will tell, but how much time do I have left? Wasn't there a line from an Aerosmith song, "that kind of love was the killing kind"?
Today was my first workout incorporating sprints. Last night, while discussing it with my wife, I told her I figured I'd go to the "Y" and run them sideline to sideline on the basketball court. Her response, "Why don't you run base line to base line, we always did. You know we always did the ones where you ran out, touched the lines...."
Now what I didn't rationalize is that my wife last ran wind sprints, or "suicides", 16 years ago. What I did do this morning is suffer from OLS and decide that she had challenged my manhood and therefore I needed to run them as she directed.
Ouch. Think you're in shape? Concentrated only on distance running for some time now? Try running sprints up and down the basketball court and see how you hold up. Anyway, back to my original question, "Is this love?" or "Was it a concerted effort to collect on the life insurance policy?" Hmmmm.......only time will tell, but how much time do I have left? Wasn't there a line from an Aerosmith song, "that kind of love was the killing kind"?
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