How Do You Spend Your Time?

Today is the day after an enormous storm system moved across the southeastern US and to this point, there have been close to 200 deaths reported from the tornadoes. It's been said by a popular weatherman (James Spann http://jamesspann.com/js/) that this was a once in a lifetime storm. The last time a storm system of this magnitude was recorded was sometime in the 1930s and it would not be likely that you would see another. The storm was very scary and very tragic and I'm certainly breathing a sigh of relief that it skipped the Albany/ Leesburg area.

With that said, I've noticed several deaths around me lately. I found out yesterday that someone I went to high school with and still spoke to committed suicide yesterday. The Albany Herald normally has a front page filled with people that were either killed or convicted of killing.

It's a bit surreal at times with all of this going on around me and I know it affects different people in different ways but what I was thinking on was what I would be doing at the time when I leave this earth. Would I be peacefully sleeping in my bed or screaming as I wreck my car? I prefer the first to the latter but its very unlikely that any of us would have a clue. I don't have any doubt in my mind what will occur after death. I don't have any doubt that I will stand in front of my creator.

I just read an article on http://www.fatcyclist.com/ about a guy that passed away while hiking in Hawaii. I didn't read into the details of his death but he certainly died in a beautiful place and it was not in bed. That got me thinking and my question is, if you knew what day and time you would die, would that change how you lived your life from the present until that pre-determined day? Would you do something daring and wild or would you spend every waking second with your family?

This is what I've been thinking about today. Beyond the fact that I claim God as my Yeshua and daily attempt to yield my life to His Will, I spend quite a bit of time in recreation- mountain biking, running, kayaking, camping, etc. The amount of time doing those things don't really compare with the amount of time I spend with my wife and 2 girls but they are things I enjoy doing. I am passionate about these activities because they offer excitement and they are things I did before getting married and having children.

In the end, we spend the time and do the things that we most want to do. If you have a balanced life, you spend some time with family and some time doing whatever your hobby is. When you fall out of your balance, there will be problems that arise.
On the one hand, I have this great family-

I love spending time with them and watching my girls grow up is a joy. On the other hand I've got these hobbies-

My hobbies keep me sane and let me blow off steam. I have to find and readjust my balance week by week.
And this is what I feel like-

Great Weekend

This past weekend I spent time with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Kristen and Matt, in Jefferson, just north of Athens. The original intent of the trip was to run in my first xterra race. The race was a half-marathon called Thrill in the Hills and it took place at Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, GA.

While planning for this race, I realized that Kristen and Matt lived 10 miles away from the park and since they were needing me to do some computer work for them, I thought it was a good time for a visit. They were happy to have me visit and I really enjoyed hanging out with them.

Friday night we went to the UGA Baptist Student Union dinner theatre. It was a production of Beauty and the Beast and it was great. The food was excellent and the cast did a great job of portraying Disney's Beauty and the Beast. It seems like it wrapped up close to 10 or a little after.

Saturday morning was my race, which I plan on covering in more detail in my next blog. Here is the only pic I took that morning from my warm car. It was about 30 degrees out.

The experience was wonderful and look forward to doing some more xterra races. The rest of the day was spent laying around the house and recovering as my legs were extremely sore.

One of the best parts of my weekend was Sunday morning. We went to sunday school and church (Watkinsville First Baptist) and it was an awesome experience. This was the first time I had been to their sunday school, which is a newly wed class. Their class was quite large and friendly. It was great to see how mission-minded they were with several in the room being involved with missions in some way, including Matt and Kristen. The teacher then spoke on Ephesians 4 and focused on "oneness" in the church. From there we went to church to hear Pastor Sibley. God's presence was palpable and you could feel it when you walked in the door and in all parts of the service. The praise band did a great job, as they have every time I've ever been up to visit and the pastor spoke on the reality of hell and the two sides of the cross. It was very convicting and eye-opening and really drew you out of any sort of tunnel vision you may have on your life and daily interaction with those around you. I could truly feel God's presence that morning and have felt inspired to look deeper in to how I use my spiritual gift for the "building up of the church."

I wrapped up my visit that day by eating lunch with my nephew, Josh, who is a pharmacy student at UGA. It was good to catch up with him and hear what he has going on since he is very active. It's exciting to hear about all of the opportunities that students have these days. You miss out on these things if you are not out there and keeping yourself open for experience.

It was an easy trek home and I used that time to replay the morning's message in my head and relive that experience. I did have to stop a time or two to readjust the roof rack on my car. The wind was blowing so hard on my bike that the roof rack shifted back at some point and made me quite nervous.

Finally, I was glad to be home with my wife and child in time to go to church and take part in the observance of the Lord's Supper. I was glad to be home with them and attempt to put my thoughts in to words (I often have trouble with that) to share with my wife the moving experience I had at church and the great time I had with Kristen and Matt. Family is a good thing!

Playing catch up-

To catch up, I'm still working as a tech specialist in k12 education. I've been there now for about 5.5yrs and its by far the best and most enjoyable job I've ever had. Having a great job is worth more than having a terrible job that you don't like and getting paid more.

I'm still running and have been for many years now. I've been in 2 half-marathons and too many shorter races to list. I'm now training for a xterra half coming up at the end of the month. http://www.dirtyspokes.com/tr_races.php?trraceid=1&trpageid=7 It's an off-road race at a state park and I'm looking forward to the challenge.

For the first time since I've been working at the school, I'm no longer coaching a sport. I've coached golf and tennis over the past few years and have loved it but its a big time commitment. Working with the kids made it worth it and I do love to play golf and tennis.

Part of the reason for the above is the pending arrival of our next child. We have a 3.5yr old daughter and we are expecting another girl. I'm certain she will consume a lot of our time and we are looking forward to it. Our daughter is looking forward to being the big sis and helping out with everything and I'm ready to watch her do it.