Run, You Fool, Run

Wendy dragged me out of bed in summer and fall 2009 to start running. She had started four months earlier and part of what got me out of bed was guilt that she was running and I was not. Somehow, by God’s grace, I began to run more and more. Now, we run together. It is our joy to be together and neither of us like to run alone. It is good for our marriage, our bodies, and our souls.

2010 was the first calendar year of our running together. While I have a friend who ran over 1,700 miles in 2010, I am pleased to say that I ran 596.5 miles. If I had realized how close I was to 600, I would have pushed for 3.5 more. Oh, well. There is a parable about my life in those numbers.

Our goal for 2011 is at least 750 miles.

If you use Nike+ and I know you, let me know.

Sallow and Scrawny

Wendy and I (especially Wendy) are challenged by how to feed a family of six in a healthy way. In light of our desire to feed our family well and of the Olympics and the sallow and scrawny look of many of the athletes, I thought the following comments from Douglas Wilson quite appropriate.

One last comment. Suppose someone were to ask why I appear to be so against "healthy eating." First, I have no objection to faithful stewardship when it comes to food, and I do not believe that all foods are equal when it comes to a healthy diet. A steady diet of deep fat fried Twinkies is probably not the way to go. If your doctor tells you to knock off the coffee, Ho Ho's and cigars for breakfast, then go ahead and listen to him. But this is a spiritual issue only in terms of stewardship and general wisdom. It is not a case of spiritual defilement. People who react to an offered Dorito the way a rabbi would respond to a slice of pork roast are sinning. And secondly, as a practical observation, some of the sickliest people I know got that way through an obsessive interest in what they call healthy eating, but which obviously isn't. If they were to show up at Melzar's exam after ten days, he would slap them back on the Babylonian diet so fast it wouldn't be funny.

Daniel and his friends were willing to put it to the test. Let's take three groups of kids, and let's look closely at what they eat for ten days. One group watches television constantly, one hand on the remote and the other in a bag of Cheetos. The second group is languishing on a diet of tofu and rice. The last group is fed on what we might call a common sense American mom suburban diet -- Honey Nut Cheerios for breakfast, PB&J's for lunch, a couple of cookies after school, and a well-rounded dinner (meat, potatoes, veggies), with a little ice cream for dessert. On the eleventh day, let's have them all run around the block.

I'll put my kids up against your tofu and rice eating kids any day.

(HT: Douglas Wilson)

What Everyone Needs to Know About Stem Cells

From Chuck Colson's Breakpoint:

In October, surgeons removed 500ccs of bone marrow from Carron’s left hip. The cells were cultivated, and four hours later, 30 million stem cells were injected into the right side of Carron’s heart.

Read the result: "Your Own Stem Cells Work!"

The Stones Have Rolled

Today was a momentous day this week. I stayed up Sunday night and worked on my paper. At 5:00 am this morning, Wendy looked up from bed, looked at me working at my computer, and said, "Have you not come to bed yet?" I turned around and said, "Five more minutes!" I crawled into bed at 5:15 am with a major draft completed. It is due tomorrow night, so I still have to revise the paper and interact with secondary sources, but at least the draft is done.

This afternoon, the other major problem in my life went away. That is a significant praise. Enough said. At least I don't have to go to the doctor....

We heard Vancouver had a bit of snow. It must be cute out there.

Snow and Stones

It is Tuesday night and the weatherman says that we should be getting five to eight inches of snow between now and Thursday. That sounds kind of fun. Despite the fact that snow is a regular occurance in Minneapolis, if it goes two or three days without snowing, people forget how to drive in it. So, tomorrow's commute should be very slow.

As for stones, the doctor says I have them. As in multiple kidney stones. I have had several recurring instances of extreme abdominal pain in the last four weeks, so at the strong urging of my wife, I went to see the doc. Sure enough, the Star Trek like CT Scan indicates that small rocks have formed in my left kidney and have decided to make like Mick Jagger and be rolling stones. Unfortunately, the route they want to roll is a bit small. The doctor called today and insists that I get in ASAP to deal with this problem, but I have an exegesis paper due in 1 week, as well as two finals. I don't have a lot of time for either snow or stones.

Needless to say, we could use your prayers.