Three Days to Marathon

Going for distance or going for speed?

One thing I've repeatedly read since deciding to run was that a first-time runner should aim just to finish the race and not worry about their time. Early on, I thought I could jive with this. But then I read an excerpt online from some running book where the author claimed that Oprah ran her first marathon in under four hours. Alas, an excuse for me to forget about merely finishing. If I can't do better than Oprah, then I'm giving up . . . on everything.

Then I started training and I started to think that that dude made up the Oprah fact. In order to run a four-hour marathon, you need to run nine minute miles. I started running in January between 9:30 to 10 minute miles. Disappointed, I picked up my time week by week. When I did twenty miles a couple of weeks ago, I nailed my nine-minute mile over the course of the run. I'm thinking that dodging traffic cost me a few minutes during that run. And considering that they say that you pick up a little time on race day and the fact that I've trained well and I'm focused, I think I can do a little better than I original suspected.

So just because I like throwing down the gauntlet, here'll be my reaction to the following finishing times:

— Over 4hrs: satisfied and smiling; perhaps upgraded to "happy" if an injury or weather slowed me down.

— Between 3hrs50mins & 4hrs: happy

— Between 3hrs40mins & 3hrs50mins: ecstatic

— Under 3hrs40mins: astonished

Back to Harpo. True, when I started training I wasn't in the best shape, but I suspected there was no possible way the talk show queen could've done four hours. Turns out (did my best lazy fact checking tonight) that Oprah actually ran the marathon in about four hours and twenty-nine minutes. Really, I'm not sure that makes me feel much better. That means she averaged about 10:30 per mile. If I can't smoke that time, I'll cancel my subscription to "O" magazine.

EDITOR'S NOTE: It was just now that I finally realized that my blog countdown was screwed up, counting down one day early. One of the email alerts I received from the Flying Pig people had a countdown going until Marathon WEEKEND and I mindless used that count. I went back and fixed the titles. Sometimes my fact checking is extremely lazy. Don't worry, though, I won't be lined up to run on Saturday morning.

Four Days to Marathon

A little 'bit about running-wear.

One thing I never thought about was having to to buy runner-specific clothing. I thought it was shirt, shorts, shoes and off you go. You can go that route, but a little wisdom goes even further. The best piece of advice I received early on was to buy a good pair of long-distance running shoes.

In the half-marathon I ran last year, I wore a regular pair of Nike's. A few weeks into my training, I started having some knee issues which eventually forced my to get a compression brace; I ended up having to wear that brace during the actual race. Later, when I was telling my neighbor about my knee issues, he identified the shoes as the culprit. At the end of last year I went up to the running store in O'Bryonville and bought a nice pair of Mizuno shoes.* Throughout my training, they have been completely reliable— both my knees and my feet have felt great. So the most important thing I discovered: if you run the marathon, don't get cheap with the shoes.

The early winter runs demanded that I purchase a some cold weather running gear. While I haven't worn any of that in over a month or so, it was critical in my not freezing during those January/February runs.

As I started running over six miles I discovered that, at least for males, certain things start rubbin' the wrong way. I never experienced this when playing soccer because you're constantly starting and stopping in your motion; I never had the consistent, repetitive running motion that accompanied long-distance running. On those longer runs, I'd come home walking like I just rode a horse or, in my northern hemisphere, feeling like Andy from The Office. As a result, I invested in some Under Armour which eliminates any chafing.**

I will admit that on Sunday, in addition to the shoes and shorts, I'll be wearing only the tight Under Armour t-shirt. This is somewhat amusing as I really don't have the chiseled body that is supposed to accompany the wearing of such a shirt, i.e., my six-pack is more like one of those small Heineken kegs. Still, I'm more interested in utility than aesthetics; the shirt breathes well and has the ability to keep me both warm and cool when necessary. Plus, I don't think I look THAT embarrassing in it (not enough to solicite groans) so I'm going for it.

Shoes, shorts, shirt— that's about all I need.

____________

*I usually only buy Nike or Adidas shoes; this was the first time in a long time I've gone outside the big two. Mizuno, by the way, was the brand Pete Rose used when he broke the all-time hits record.

**I must admit that I have another tool to ward off unnecessary chafing. It rhymes with "gasoline" and, as this is a family blog, I will not describe the where it goes.

Five Days To Marathon

About tunes . . .

I'm not gonna lie: if it weren't for the mp3, I wouldn't do the marathon.

I get bored while running; even though the scenery changes, it can get pretty monotonous. Music makes the difference. I needs my tunes in order to get by.

Sure, the Walkman got people through the 80's and 90's, but it also added enough weight and bulk to be thoroughly annoying while running (not to mention being limited to one cassette/CD). Maybe that's why I never really ran more than six miles. But with the mp3 player, you have a lightweight, portable way to hold a ton of music.

But sometimes, not enough.

When I started prepping for the half-marathon last year, through the early months of my training this year, I used a cheap Sansa player a couple of years old. It worked well, but I ran into a couple of problems:

1) Wearing it on the strap around my forearm was messing with my elbow. There was a two-week period where I was experiencing pretty bad pain. I couldn't figure it out, until I finally realized the repetition in the running motion combined with the weight was causing the problem.

2) As I started on the longer runs, this older player was limited in the number of songs it could hold. It had about 40 songs which lasted about two hours. Since the marathon is about double that

So I used these negatives as excuses reasons to get the last generation iPod shuffle. It holds plenty of songs, has a clip that attaches to my pocket/waistband, and is so light that there are times I feel like it's not even there (then, I remember I'm still listening to music, so it is obviously there). It was well worth the investment to upgrade.

When it comes to the tunes, I have a diversified playlist. A lot of rock, some rap, and a couple of tunes of my girls' to inspire me late in the race. Here's a sampling, but don't judge me:

Beautiful Day by U2 Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve This Is Why I'm Hot (Rock Mix) by Mims featuring Purple Popcorn Control by Mute Math Sex On Fire by Kings of Leon Epic by Faith No More Pour Some Sugar On Me by Def Leppard It's Not My Time by 3 Doors Down Take Back the City by Snow Patrol Ladies and Gentlemen by Saliva Won't Get Fooled Again by The Who Lose Yourself by Eminem Pretty Vegas by INXS Do You Want To by Franz Ferdinand Paradise City by Guns N' Roses Numb/Encore by Jay-Z & Linkin Park Icky Thump by The White Stripes  All My Life by Foo Fighters     Touch the Sky by Kanye West     E-Pro by Beck Song 2 by Blur   The Pretender by Foo Fighters Misery Business by Paramore  Jump Around by House Of Pain

What do I need to add by Sunday?

Six Days To Marathon

Tonight, let me talk about food.

One of the reasons I was compelled to run was to get back in shape. I'm slightly obsessed with staving off the aging process to prove I still "got it." My metabolism ain't what it used to be, so I thought: run far, stay in shape. My personal health philosophy is that I'd prefer to exercise more in exchange for eating whatever I want. I know the clock is ticking, and I won't be able to eat what I want forever, but I'm gonna live it up.

There are tons of articles and websites that describe stringent diets you should adopt while prepping for the marathon, but I haven't altered mine much at all. After eating Kaelyn's birthday cake in February I've basically sworn off desserts, only giving in a handful of times (I mean, they were Girl Scout cookies).

What I found interesting was, in those first few months, I really wasn't losing weight. I figured running 25 miles a week would knock off a few pounds, but nothing really happened. It wasn't until the past few weeks that I noticed I was slimming down. The weekend after my 20-mile run, I felt like I was in my college playing shape. Again, this was while I ate whatever I wanted, except sweets.

Now things get really interesting: the last week before the race, your diet is all about the carbo-loading. For someone who doesn't really think about what I'm eating until I'm hungry, this is a little much. I'm going to have to load up, perhaps even gain some weight as I reduce my running, so my body has enough to get through the marathon. Towards the end of this week, I'll be eating like a guy on death-row.

When I wake up early next Sunday, I'll eat a bagel. During the race, I'll drown myself in Gatorade and eat a couple of energy bars on the course.* Even though many people I know [and trust] have urged me to eat the GU (an energy gel high in carbs designed for endurance athletes), I've read too many people who say the texture is like phlegm. No thanks, I'll stick to carb intake plan.

And Sunday after the race? I'm getting some ice cream.

_________

*One of the most bizarre things I've done during training is learning to eat on the run. I though it would be worse than it was. In fact, I'm able to eat an energy bar and run another couple of miles before needing a drink to wash it down.

Seven Days To Marathon

It's bizarre, but as I type this I'm actually a little nervous.

A week from now, I'll be recovering from my 26.2 mile trek. The Flying Pig Marathon starting gun goes off a week from today at 6:30am.

I feel ready. I followed my training program, except for an illness that kept me from a few runs. I monitored how my body reacted during the training. I've run further distances than I've ever run before. I've been blessed with no major injuries. And the seven-day weather outlook seems to indicate a beautiful day for a run.

When I started training, I didn't fully grasp how much of a commitment this would take. I've been running since January. I've run in freezing weather and snow, in rain, and now in abnormally warm April heat. So because of all I've put into this I'm going to devote this week on the blog to describe my marathon prep.

Maybe you'll be interested to see what I've been up to. Maybe you've run or are planning on running a marathon. Maybe upon hearing my perspective you'll be convinced to run one in the future (or decide to never even think of it). Regardless, this is more for me than anything else. Even though everything culminates in the race next Sunday, I don't want to forget the lead-up to the race.

So feel free to share your stories in the comments. At the House of Carr, it's marathon week.

20 April

Still a bit hectic in my life, so all you get is the update.

I was at Xavier tonight. Only two classes left. Unfortunately, I still have a lot to get done. Met with my thesis advisor earlier this afternoon to talk about my paper. While he was extremely helpful, I have quite a bit of writing left. And I still have some course work to accomplish as well. So that, plus the marathon in twelve days, plus everything else, and I have an exciting two weeks in front of me. Rock.

I promise the blog will pick up next week as I'm going to detail some of my marathon thoughts. Until then, here's some things with which you can engage:

• I've been telling you the Twitter will not last. And last week, it was confirmed as Oprah helped it to officially jump the shark. But the must-read article is this one by my cousin (not really) is about the narcissistic attitude Twitter creates.
• Even though I've only taken adult education classes there, I'd be kinda sad if Hebrew Union College closed.
• I love that some people payed scalpers thousands of dollars to make it into the gate for the first game at Yankee Stadium only to realize that their $5-face-value-tickets didn't even let them see the entire field.
• And finally, I need your opinion on this one. Since we started Echo, my collection of dress clothes has significantly declined. I can preach in a t-shirt and jeans and no one cares. This article, however, has me thinking of buying some more khakis. What do you think: should we decrease our denim dependence?

Fin.

14 April

Yes, Steve remembers that he occasionally blogs.

The occasions, however, have been few and far between.

After conquering an especially busy time in my life, I'm on the cusp of completing another. So a few rambling factoids/opinions in case you're interested.

1. I'll be graduating from Xavier in a little over four weeks. I have to finish the coursework from my last class and defend my thesis. In a future post, I'll attempt to summarize that entire academic experience. I've decided not to participate in graduation as I've done that before. Instead, I'll be able to celebrate with my brother-in-law Josh who's getting his Masters.

2. Speaking of Xavier, I think they did well to hire Chris Mack as coach. He's a Xavier guy, so he'll be more likely to stay longer. Just like I still hold that Mick Cronin was a good UC hire, Mack will be good for X. Hopefully at next year's Crosstown Shootout they'll go Huggins/Gillen on each other.

3. The culmination of marathon training will happen in a couple of days: I'll have my last, long training run— 20 miles. Looks like the weather will cooperate, so that's cool.

4. We're going on a sans-Kaelyn vacation after marathon/graduation. Since we didn't get away last summer for our 10th anniversary, this will hopefully fill the void.

5. Easter at Echo is always a little downplayed. Few people think "Easter Sunday NIGHT" so our attendance (as it has been for the previous three years) was a little low. We still, however, had a great time. A great group of our folks who made it out for the gathering. Preaching on Easter is pretty awesome. And if anyone's interested, we're doing the pot-luck deal after church this week. We love to eat.

6. In other Echo news, Emily is finally coming home from London this Saturday. She was there at the very beginning of our church and (I hope I'm not going to far to assume this) she's now back with us. She already has a project to keep her ultra-busy back in the States: Stop Traffick Fashion.

7. I'm tiring of Facebook. I've almost reached 600 friends, but I'm still lonely. Actually, I'm just thoroughly annoyed at it. Sure, I can now "hide" news about friends in whom I'm not as interested, but they constant surveys in my feed is driving me crazy. I'm hiding those like an addiction and yet people continue to find more. Here's my plea to you: STOP ANSWERING THOSE STUPID SURVEYS (yes, the need for all caps is justified here). I have no interest in which muppet most becomes you, or what kind of rock you most resemble. I'll tolerate what you're fixing for dinner or what funny thing your kid said with relative ease, but keep your surveys to yourself.

8. Speaking of Facebook, I also can longer check the site while shows that I'm DVR'ing are on. There is no Facebook "spolier alert." Some of you might doubt my allegiance to certain programs as I don't watch them live, but I save a significant amount of viewing time by waiting to watch them later. In these difficult economic times, I'm hardpressed to encourage you to increase your spending but, if you do, upgrade to a DVR.

9. I'm no prophet, but I predict increased sexual frustration among Chinese males.

10. Baseball's back, and I'm glad. The Reds are going to be OK, as long as Fox Sports stays awake at the control panel. Misnomer if there ever was one: The Best D*mn Sports Show Period.

11. Here's a funny one: I've been accepted into grad school . . . again. I've decided to continue in my educational exploits at the place where it all started: Cincinnati Christian University. I'm going to take some Seminary classes starting in a few weeks and will be enrolled in a couple this fall. There are some who think I'm trying to stay in school the rest of my life. I promise, that is not my intention.

12. I will sleep well tonight as my taxes are finished. Money back from the Feds and the State, but we owed the city as we haven't paid taxes since moving here.

13. My TV updates for you:

• I'm loving 24 this season. Tony goes from bad to good to bad. It's a soap opera . . . with guns.
• The Office has its swagger back. I'm feeling it. Parks and Recreation, not so much. I'm afraid it needs to come on strong in order to survive.
• Speaking of survival, how long can Jimmy Fallon last? I loved Jimmy on SNL, but late night talk is not his gift. I actually feel awkward watching it.
• The producers at American Idol are screwing up the show. They don't have enough time in an hour to let the people sing full songs and hear from all the judges? The only judge I want to hear from is Simon, and his voice is much more influential in voting than producers realize. So, in essence, not having Simon speak about certain performers is actually influencing votes. And obviously, the fourth judge was a huge mistake. Kris sings the Swell Season, and is now my dude.
• I love watching the Masters every spring. It was great TV this year . . . until the end. It was like no one wanted the green jacket. I felt bad for Kenny Perry. Really wanted to see him pull that off.
• This is the first year that I have no horse in The Amazing Race. I find all the remaining teams to be somewhat unlikeable. I'll still watch, though.

All for now.

Training Update

Tomorrow is exactly one month from the marathon. Thought I'd take a few moments to update my progress.

So far, I've run 189 miles this year. It's pretty ridiculous for me to think about that. It's amazing that in order to run 26 miles just one time, you have to run a few hundred before hand. I've been doing between three and four runs a week, including a longer run at the end of the week. All was going well until I got a virus a couple of weeks ago. I was in bed four-days straight, and did not get back into running-shape for 10 days. In that time, I missed five of my running sessions and it definitely has set me back a bit.

I'm beginning to doubt that I'll be able to run this thing in my goal of under four-hours. While most of my training runs have yielded under-nine-minute miles [the time necessary to best the four-hour mark], today didn't go so well. I did a 16-mile run, the longest since my illness, and it was very average. I still have a nagging cough, and my body isn't as strong as it was a couple of weeks ago, so I was doing 10-minute miles. There's no shame in that, but it leaves me somewhat disappointed.

On a side note, I don't think I've really lost much weight during this training. I think I'm a little more toned than I used to be, but not that much. No, all this cardio has yet to give me a six-pack.

I do believe, however, that I have enough time left to get back to my goal. I only have two long runs left [an 18 and 20-miler], so the time is drawing near. These long runs have been educational, as I'm discovering more about my body. Apparently I can run for two hours without having to worry about my food/liquid consumption. But after that two-hour mark I need to carb up, otherwise, I'm dead. I purchased a huge Gatoraide pack from Sam's so I can keep it carbin' up.

As of now, and I know there's still some time to think about this, I can't say that I'll ever do another marathon. I love the idea of it, especially the chance to run through this city that I love. But I'm extremely bored of the training. Even an mp3 player can't keep me distracted enough from the continuous hours of running. After a couple of hours of running, I'm ready to check out. That's not to say that I'll be hyped-up a month from today. But when I cross that finish line, you can stick a fork in me.

That's Life

For more than a week I've been ruminating on an article I read online in the New York Times. Political scientist Charles Murray's drew me in with the title, Thank God America Isn't Like Europe -- Yet. I'd encourage you to take a look at it and wrestle with his assertions.

Murray begins by describing our continent's fascination with the European way of life, noting that the majority of us view it as superior. But, in reality, their worldview supresses life. The Europe Syndrome, as Murray refers to it, was shaped by Freud and Darwin and presupposes that, "human beings are a collection of chemicals that activate and, after a period of time, deactivate. The purpose of life is to while away the intervening time as pleasantly as possible." This creates an Epicurean generation that devalues things like religion, interaction with neighbors, and raising children. And while Murray posits that while America has yet to adopt this perspective, the time is coming when it will be here.

"So what?" you ask. The problem is that this point of view eventually leads to a society where all human outcomes are measured scientifically. And any deviation from the perceived norm is decreed to be a result of human or societal error. In short, we will begin to legislate and medicate anyone different. When we boil down human existance to scientific outcomes while ignoring metaphysics, we will lose our identity. Murray implores,

"People must be treated as individuals. The success of social policy is to be measured not by equality of outcomes for groups, but by the freedom of individuals, acting upon their personal abilities, aspirations and values, to seek the kind of life that best suits them."

We mustn't sacrifice our country's diversity in an attempt to achieve equality of life— an equality that doesn't even exist. But it seems as though many of our policy-shapers are sold-out to adopting the European way of life. Since I've decided to quote large sections of the article, I figure I might as well give you the pay-off to Murray's article.

"The trouble is that American elites of all political stripes have increasingly withdrawn to gated communities -- literally or figuratively -- where they never interact at an intimate level with people not of their own socioeconomic class. Over the last half-century, the new generation of elites have increasingly spent their entire lives in the upper-middle-class bubble, never having seen a factory floor, let alone worked on one, never having gone to a grocery store and bought the cheap ketchup instead of the expensive ketchup to meet a budget, and never having had a close friend who hadn't gotten at least 600 on her verbal SAT.

"America's elites must once again fall in love with what makes America different. The drift toward the European model can be stopped only when we are all talking again about why America is exceptional, and why it is so important that America remain exceptional. That requires once again seeing the American project for what it is: a different way for people to live together, unique among the nations of the earth, and immeasurably precious."

Thoughts?

People Still Buy CDs

Late notice, but you have a few days to work out your schedule.

Our friends Tye and Andrea front the band Artists and Authors and have been working on their new album for a few years. It's finally completed and they're having a CD release party this Friday night to celebrate. The venue will be amazing, at The Redmoor [most recently, the Mount Lookout Grille] and the music will be even better. It's a cheap cover [$5], good food available, and the Carr's have a sitter, so it lines up to be a good night.

It starts at 8:00, so we're looking forward to seeing you there.

Staking Ground

I never wrote much about Richard.

Sure, I mentioned a little about him during those early days of Echo Church, but didn't see fit to tell much more after that. Richard died a couple of weeks ago. It's difficult to determine the background of his life, because he could never tell the truth. For example, reading that old blog post when he told me his age, he should've been 50 when he passed. His obituary stated that he was 53.

Richard was a guy from the neighborhood, known to every church and business establishment throughout the area. Although he was harmless, he had a drug problem which caused him to do whatever he could to get his next fix. He would beg. And he would steal. I visited Richard in jail once. He had stolen some CD's to sell them to buy crack. Most of the time I knew him he was in and out of jail for petty theft. Still, we tried to love Richard. Refusing to give him cash, we'd buy him meals.* One time he urged me to get him winter clothes because he didn't have any. I scrounged around for stuff to give him, trying to meet his need. I never saw him wear the clothes I gave him. Those too were most likely sold for drugs.

We still maintained a good relationship with him until one Sunday night Kelly saw him breaking into a car in the church parking lot [someone had left their doors unlocked]. I told him to go home and that if we found anything missing, I'd call the cops. He didn't get enough time to take anything from the car.

A few months later, Richard seemed hopped up and was desperate for some cash. I told him we had nothing for him. At the end of the worship service that Sunday night, he created a diversion and stole money from the offering plate. Ironically, since our offering was collected after the service at the front of the sanctuary [and because our church is small], we knew the only money that had been given was from a newer couple who had been attending. That night I had to call them to see how much money they had given to decide whether or not to call the police. It was a small amount, so I didn't think it the best investment of my tax dollars to have the cops pick him up. By the way, this is why we now have an offering box with a lid instead of a plate.

As he returned the next week, I sat Richard down and forced him to admit his theft; he did and apologized. I informed him that he had broken trust with our church and before we let him back in, he'd have to pay God the money back and apologize to the church. After that, he was gone for almost a year; yet another theft charge kept him in jail until this past January.

Richard came into the church service early a few weeks ago. He shook many a hand throughout the church and sat silently through our service. He spent my sermon time drawing me a picture of a flower. Afterward, our leaders sat down with him and informed him that the terms of his reconciliation still existed— he needed to repay the money he stole and apologize to our church [many of whom had started attending since Richard was last incarcerated and had no idea who he was]. It was the most peaceful I'd ever seen him. He never even asked for anything. He said he wanted to right his wrongs, and he was ready to get his life in order.

The next week, I was at a meeting and not at our service, so I might not get all these facts straight. From what I understand, Richard was once again seen attempting to break into a car. He fled inside the church and hid under a table in a darkened room. He was confronted, told to leave, and still asked for money before being kicked out. I knew that he would be back, and I'd have to deal with him myself.

The week after that, right before the beginning of our service, our worship leader Tye alerted me to some snow tracks heading back to the minister's office. I knocked on the door, heard nothing, so I entered to check things out. I didn't see anyone and was ready to leave when I thought should glance into the private bathroom there. There was Richard, sitting in the dark on the toilet, claiming that he really had to go. I was irate. I had him come out and frisked him to make sure he hadn't taken anything. I kicked him out and told him that he had completely broken his trust with us. We are renting our space and are responsible for taking care of it and we couldn't babysit him throughout the building. I was so angry, I told him that I would need some time before my anger subsided and I would seek him out.

But within a couple of weeks, Richard was back in jail. There the years of drug abuse finally caught up with his heart. He died in prison.

This, friends, is a very depressing story. For over three years, we tried to infiltrate this man's life and were unsuccessful. We never got through to him— addiction won out. What good could come of this?

But even though experiences like this could reinforce the idea that there is no hope for the city, I am not dismayed. The culmination of the Scriptures in the book of Revelation is the city. And throughout the Bible, we are given a vision where the city is redeemed. We might not win every battle, but the war will not be lost.

One last story. Richard had roommates in a recovery home in the neighborhood. He lived with them for quite a few years. As I understand, not one of them will miss him. They described him as a "pain in the ass" whom they always watched out for, fearing he would take their stuff. Walnut Hills will soon forget Richard. We won't.

There will always be Richard's in this neighborhood. They will come to us wanting to find a path to their fix, but we will give them Jesus. We're continuing to stake our ground. Our community needs our church. And we're not going anywhere.

____________

*While our church doesn't give out money to people, I will occasionally. I make sure that the recipients know that it's coming out of my pocket. I will usually only give a couple of bucks and will tell them that they'd had better not buy booze or drugs with the preacher's money. I doubt that my warning is ever observed.

Moving On

Sorry I haven't written much about our loss last week. We've truly been blessed by the abundance of kind words and gestures from family and friends; we have seen the graciousness of God in you. That said, I'd highly encourage you to read Kelly's take on things, as the Lord has given her the amazing gift to put her emotions in writing poetically; yet another reason that I'm proud to have her as my wife.

09 March

It's been a crazy week here at the House of Carr. We're still trying to recover from things, but appreciate your prayers and support. Here are ten things for your reading pleasure.

1. Still teaching through 1 Corinthians at Echo and spoke tonight about not shooting the messenger, specifically the pastor. Didn't realize that there was a pastor who was shot and killed during a service this morning in suburban St Louis. Very tragic. I pray for that church that they might be a powerful testimony to their community.

2. Michelle Obama serves at a soup kitchen and the big news is that the poor have cell phones. Kinda ridiculous that people make a point about this. First, not all soup kitchen folk are homeless. In fact, in our community, many have places to live but can't make ends meet; because of the economy, the number of guests at the Walnut Hills Soup Kitchen is increasing. Additionally, it's actually cheaper in many instances for the poor to have cell phones instead of LAN lines. Instead of complaining about it, why not meet us at 2631 Gilbert Avenue this Saturday afternoon to help serve?

3. No fantasy football this year, but two fantasy baseball leagues. Yes, I am a geek, but I loves me some baseball.

4. Kaelyn is starting to watch Diego and Dora. Kelly and I are enjoying the diversity from her other favorite shows.

5. Less than two months to go and my marathon training is going well. It's crazy to think that I've already run over 150 miles this year. I'm gradually increasing my time, hoping I can get it in under four hours.

6. The skies appear to be ready to open a little bit. By the end of next week, I'll have wrapped up the two classes I'm teaching for CCU. Between now and early May, I have to finish a major paper and my thesis so I can graduate from Xavier. And I need to do my taxes. We'd love to squeeze in a vacation during the next few months too.

7. Sadly, our neighbors are selling their condo. But it could turn into a positive if you've ever dreamed of living next to us. You can check out their place here. I get no commission if you buy their house, but I might shovel your deck.

8. My television updates:

• The deaf dude in The Amazing Race was a jerk tonight for the sake of impressing hot chicks. No matter who you are, the U-Turn karma is really powerful, so I think his time will come sooner than he thinks.
• American Idol played games with my girl Tatiana. I'm not feeling the top 13??? at all, but I'm hoping Anoop can keep going back to the Bobby Brown. And although she was good during the audition stage, I'm not feeling the new judge much anymore. I wouldn't be shocked if this was a one-season experiment.
• There's a new television series on NBC that seems to be a modern-day take on the King David narrative in the Hebrew Scriptures. Gonna have to DVR this, but I'm always somewhat skeptical with these kinds of shows.
• I love Jimmy Fallon, but his first week at the Late Show was horrible. It must improve soon, otherwise the axe-man could come this summer.

9. Considering one of my very first posts on this blog was concerning U2, how about a brief album review here? While there are a few good songs, I'm afraid they could be hitting that point in their career where their music loses its relevancy. I'll have to give it a few more times through before I confirm that. Still, I think I'm going to make a concerted effort to get Kel and I to their next tour.

10. While it killed me that the Bearcats fell off the map at the end of the season, misery loves company and UK has been pretty miserable this year too. I'm now hoping that the organizers of the NIT decide to match the two teams up so I can wear my Cincinnati gear at Rupp Arena.

End.

Loss

Kelly and I are sad to tell you that we have lost our baby. Obviously, we are devastated, but we are doing OK. Throughout the past couple of days, we have not felt at all alone. Not only have we felt the Lord's embrace, we have already been surrounded by family and friends to lift us up. We are blessed to know people who have experienced what we've experienced. We've seen how their faith has brought them through and are confident of the same for us.

The awkwardness surrounding this loss is now we have to inform people of it. But as we noted in the beginning, this is precisely why some people questioned our talking about it. As painful as it is to experience this, it would be far worse if we could not grieve openly. In community, our loss is your loss, and we can't deprive each other of this. This is yet another reason we give thanks for Christ and his church.

It's funny how things reemerge at times like this. During these past couple of days, I've been thinking about something that a college friend wrote almost five years ago. Crazy that something I read but once could continue to resonate within me, but I would offer that this is precisely how the Spirit of God works— through those around us. So do yourself a favor and read what he wrote about his family's loss.

Thanks for your prayers for our family.

Contentment

My job is weird.

For the bulk of my job, I spend hours of my week in preparation for a 35-50 minute speech. My subject matter is always the Bible, and I usually spend a good amount of my research time examining the nuances of particular texts. For example, in order to teach from 1 Corinthians 8 last night, I spent time last week researching the worship of the pagan Roman deity Asklepios [a healing god] in order to better understand what the apostle Paul was referencing. Additionally, I always highlight my messages with pop culture tidbits as a means of reinforcing relevancy. The climax of my professional week is the sermon, something which I spend a considerable amount of time crafting each week, only to start all over the following Monday.

One thing I've discovered throughout the past fifteen years of doing this somewhat consistently is that the process is the same. Although I could always be "more prepared"* I make sure to invest hours into this process; I do this so that I never take for granted my role in teaching people the Bible.

What this truly means, is that I try to give my all whether I'm speaking to seven people or seven hundred people.

Echo is still a rather small church. We're blessed to have visitors at least every couple of weeks, but our growth has been rather slow. Sure, since our first year we've tripled in size [ah, how math comes in handy when you're dealing with smaller numbers], but I can tell you pretty accurately what our crowd will look like from week to week. And I know on Monday morning that there won't be hundreds of people busting down the doors of the church to hear what I have to say on Sunday night.

So as I approach my study for the week to come, understanding that few people will notice the fruit of my labor, it wouldn't be surprising if I decided to mail it in. I suppose I could scour the interwebs to get someone else's sermon series. I'm sure there are books a plenty at Family Christian Store that I could steal from use as a template for some messages. Heck, I could go buy the complete set of Nooma's and allow Rob Bell to babysit our church for a few months.

But I could never do that.

Because I absolutely love what I do.

Right now, I'm still engaged in the same wonder that my three year-old is experiencing now for the first time.

For her birthday, Kaelyn's great-grandfather gave her an interesting gift: seeds. Kelly thought it would be educational for the little girl to witness what it is like to watch plants grow. Since she's already seen it on every kid's show available, Kelly figured that Kaelyn should get to observe it first hand.

A few weeks ago she planted the seeds and has watered them every day or so. And absolutely nothing happened. Nothing, that is, until last week. A couple tiny green sprouts began to reach up towards the sky. Saturday, those first sprouts were joined by a few more. And then this morning, quite a few more have emerged, which led Kaelyn to exclaim, "Look at my plants!" And she never would've experienced such joy if she had never planted the seeds.

I want a garden in the city. But I'm still planting seeds and watering.**

Some antagonists might insist that it that wasting hours of my week writing sermons isn't the best way to accomplish this, and I could see their point; understand that preaching is by no means "all" I do. We continue to immerse ourselves in this community. But my theology insists that preaching plays a major role in the transformation of the world. So as I spend hours of my week crafting words and concepts that only few will hear, I'm not discouraged. In fact, I feel as if its importance is gravely underestimated.

I'm not a farmer, aiming for the biggest yield; I'm gardening. What grows will grow.

And I'm so happy.

____________

*One way I am not as prepared as I used to be is that I used to always attempt to go note-less into the pulpit. I could easily memorize my 25-30 messages years ago. But since I've extended the average length of my sermon, and since I desire to more deliberate in making certain observations and pre-crafted sentences, I now preach with notes. Not sure if I'll ever go note-less again.

**I'm not claiming to be revolutionary with this gardening metaphor. It's quite clearly stolen.

Playing . . .

. . . catch up, anyone?

This is the least I've blogged since I started my site. I'm not giving it up by any means, I've just hit a spot where I don't have the time to blog. During this week and next, I will have taught or preached for about twenty-two hours. I was in Chicago last weekend, will be in the middle of nowhere Indiana this weekend, and I'll still be at church preaching Sunday nights. All these opportunities are awesome, but I just can't manage to post any content here.

So since I have a few moments here tonight, I'll give you a pot-pourri of what's on my mind.

• Like I mentioned, I was in Chicago last weekend for a gathering of urban ministers. It was very cool, and I was thankful that the weather wasn't too bad. I've only been there once before, and I've never been downtown, but I have to say that I'm struck by how huge the city is. It's pretty amazing that so many people choose to live in a place where the weather sucks most of the year.
• Unfortunately, I missed out on Kaelyn's Lexington birthday party. I did not, however, miss out on the killer cake that my mother-in-law made. I'm going to need some extra-exercise to erase the damage it did to me.
• Speaking of exercise, my marathon training is going surprising well. Ironically, the only injury I've sustained is my elbow. I think it's because I let my mp3 player hang too low on my arm, forcing me to bend my arm at an awkward angle. So all this running, and it's my elbow that's throwing me off.
• My last class at Xavier is pretty intense. The professor is brilliant, but challenging. Considering that I'm going to have to finish up my thesis as well this semester, I'll be OK if May is slow in coming.
• We're potty training Kaelyn. This kinda sucks. While she gets the idea of what we're trying to do, she still doesn't like it. I'm amazed that Kelly has been able to be so patient with her. I'm at the point where the kid could wear diapers tell she's in high school.
• Even when the weather sucks, I love living in the city. Doing my running downtown is definitely a plus. It's constant reinforcement that Cincinnati is a beautiful town.
• Fortunately the DVR allows us to keep up-to-date on all the reality TV. Amazing Race started this week, and it should be more promising than last year. I'm not sure how many people didn't think the deaf guy could do well but, apparently, that was the message that was out there. If you watch, I loved how the hick couple outsmarted everyone in the cheese challenge and still almost lost.
• I was majorly bummed that my girl Tatiana didn't advance in American Idol. That would've been television gold. I'm just telling you fanatics now: that Danny Gokey isn't as adorable as you think. He's going to be the guy that people think will surely win but will get kicked off in the final four.
• America's Best Dance Crew is getting good too. You should be watching. If you've been wondering who the people with masks are on that Gatorade commercial or dancing with Shaq at the All Star Game, you don't watch ABDC.
• My adjunct teaching is going rather well. I'm teaching a class on biblical interpretation and I'm really feeling it. Grading papers . . . not so much.
• We're still having a baby, in case you forgot. I sometimes do. It doesn't seem quite real yet.
• On the sports-front, the Reds could do OK this year. I'm just hoping for some competition. And if the Bearcats could somehow manage to beat Louisville and/or West Virginia, they're a tournament team. That would be enough to get me through the rest of the year.
• I'm loving our church. Our folk at Echo are really starting to come together. Like Susan reminded me this past week, Echo is like our first child. It's awesome to see her grow up.
• I love my wife. She's amazing.

That's enough to keep you interested, isn't it?

The Never-ending Nightmare

Was I shocked this weekend when it was revealed that Alex Rodriguez, arguably the best baseball player of his generation, [allegedly] tested positive for steroids in 2003?*

Nope.

One of the things I've discovered in my relatively short life is that anyone is capable of anything. I think it's my job as a minister that gives me a better vantage point from which to declare this, as I see people not only at their best but at their worst. We pedestal people far too often, placing them above the fray, so that when we discover they're actually human— we're crushed. I've been guilty of this numerous times in the past and am finally getting to the point that where I find no hidden vice shocking.

I've never been an A-Rod fan, but I've never been a hater either. I admired his immense skill, especially in the midst of cheaters. And I constantly felt sorry for him because he seemed uncomfortable in his own skin.** He is the coolest kid in class, but doesn't know it.

Look at his off-the-field actions over the year and you see a guy that is desperately trying to solidify his social standing. Why date a past-her-prime Madonna? Because someone might be impressed. Why tear down other teammates through the media? Because the worst they look, the better you appear. From what I heard on the radio earlier [I have no link to this], the steroid A-Rod took was actually a cosmetic one; apparently, it wouldn't bulk him up to hit the ball harder, but would improve the way his body looked. If this is true, it proves my assertion that he has a low-self image. Yes, friends, the man that supposedly every man wanted to be and every woman wanted to be with, is terribly insecure.

And for all of us, even for those non-baseball fans still reading, there are a couple of valuable lesson here to learn here. First, just because a person seems to have it all-together doesn't mean they really do. Just watching the Grammys last night reinforced this. Even the coolest people in the world continually try to maintain/create their own relevancy. What did Paul McCartney need to prove last night that he needed to perform an old Beatles song? No matter what McCartney does now could increase his standing as a part of his band. But he, too, wants to still be noticed. Like A-Rod, he just wants to be loved. This is why I believe that the most healthy self-image is one grounded in Jesus. If I really believe the teachings of Scriptures, my self-worth is centered in Christ, so I should know that I truly AM LOVED. Leave it to me to go from steroids to the Beatles to Jesus, but I sincerely believe this to be true.

The second lesson I observe is in relationship to the broader issue of steroids in baseball. Among the steroid-users that we've discovered in baseball, it's dominated by names who were already star athletes, poised for baseball immortality. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens didn't need steroids to make it to the Hall of Fame. They were the best of the best, and yet they could not control their competitive drive when it came time to decide if they should cheat. No matter who you are, nor how much talent or resources you have, the temptation to take a shortcut is always enticing. If anything, in my view, this cements Ken Griffey Jr as the greatest player of the past two decades. Sure, I was frustrated at his performance here in Cincinnati, but a cheater he wasn't.***

All this right as pitchers and catchers report next week. It's too sad. I'm just hoping baseball will survive so that my kids when be at least somewhat interested in it.

_________________

* While this is still only allegation, my belief in its truthfulness is bolstered by the fact that A-Rod has remained silent. If a rumor like this were false, he would've been on ESPN within the hour to refute it.

** Someone might suggest the feeling sympathy for a person who will make over half-a-billion dollars in his career is ridiculous. I would counter that holding this perspective is just as classist as looking down on the impoverished. People are people, no matter what they have or don't.

*** The Reds have stayed relatively clean throughout this steroid witch-hunt. Even though there was one obscure Cincinnati Red in the Mitchell Report who used, he had previously spent some time in New York and that's how they nailed him. I tend to think that the Pete Rose/gambling/personal trainer relationship which caused his banishment from baseball led local people who would deal 'roids to back away from the ballclub all-together fearing authorities getting into their business. Then there's the tale of Brett Boone who was a twig when he was here in Cincy, left town, bulked up, then hit almost 40 home runs in a season. While Boone denies it, he'd better hope he's not another one of the names on this 2003 steroid list.

Livebloggin' the Grammys

What to do on a Sunday night where you're physically exhausted?

Live blog the Grammys of course.

Fortunately, we have the DVR, so I can go all the way through while skipping through the commercials [although I'm not sure if watching on delay allows me to label this as "live" blogging]. Let 'er rip.

1. Opening up with the new U2 song. Love the sound, will buy the CD, not sure about Bono's choreography, however. It starting to look more and more like he needs John Madden's [BOOM] tough actin' Tinactin.

2. I thought Bono was joking about Whitney Houston when he finished his song. He was actually introducing her. I'm not sure I give her a live microphone at K-Mart, let alone at the Grammy's. I keep hearing the Mad TV parody in my head of Whitney shouting, "Bobby!"

3. Glad that Jennifer Hudson is getting her life back on track. But you can't miss the obvious: her dress looks like she went to the dentist and forgot to take off her bib.

4. Remember when Boyz 2 Men were on top of the world? Now they're relegated to back up singer status. Wait a minute: Whitney Houston to Bobby Brown to Boyz 2 Men. What are we missing? Some Bell Biv Devoe!

5. Loves me some Hova with my Coldplay. When Jay-Z comes back wearin' the FOUR-FIVE, it ain't to play games with you. I will admit that I'm tiring of Coldplay right now. Feels like they've played this album live in every conceivable venue.

6. With Carrie Underwood we're thirty minutes in and two American Idol contestants. Wondering how high this total will go. Praying for a Sanjaya appearance.

7. Keeping everyone in the loop: Sheryl Crow is now a country music singer. I think Kid Rock is too . . . and George Jones is pissed. Speaking of Kid Rock, I need to know who's buying his albums. Full disclosure: I loved Bawitdaba, but he was a rapper then. Just like I'm not going to pay to Michael Phelps run, I'm not going to recognize Kid (nor Kanye West for that matter) as a legitimate singer. And now, listening to Miley Cyrus, I'm thinking she needs to added to that list. Going head-to-head with Taylor Swift was not a great idea. NOTE: the coolest thing about this previous paragraph is the "Bawitdaba" is actually in the Wordpress Spell Check.

8. So Robert Plant doesn't want a Led Zepplin reunion but he'll sing country music? I'm loosing my mind.

9. Admit it: the way the Jonas brothers were standing around Stevie Wonder, you were hoping they'd drop, "Jammin' on the One."

10. Metallica and Coldplay in the same Rock category? Considering neither James Hetfield nor Lars Ulrich showed up, I think they knew the inevitable.

11. Why does watching Katy Perry make me feel embarrassed for her? Her performance looked like they gave a twelve-year old girl four minutes to run around a stage. Kelly and I are still thoroughly confused by her obsession with fruit.

12. Kenny Chesney = Fastforward DVR.

13. I have a new dream: that my very pregnant wife will be able to rap with TI, Kanye, Lil' Wayne and Hova while wearing a polka-dot bikini type thing like M-I-A. It's tough to look thug when you look like a cartoon character.

14. I LOVE THE FOO!!!! Still confused: who was that old dude singing the Beatles tunes?

15. The live feed didn't appreciate John Mayer winning the award. I cannot disagree.

16. Love it when the recording academy dude comes out and talks. In the midst of so many cool people, his appearance is definitely the "one of these people is doing their own thing" moment. Using "Yes We Can" throughout his speech probably seemed like a good idea, but it was just out-of-touch awkward. And I love that he thinks he can give a serious speech asking for political concessions from the President immediately after TI just got bleeped for his potty mouth.

17. Neil Diamond, on the other hand, still incredibly relevant . . . creepy, but relevant. I'm stoked that they mic'd the audience because you could hear the "BA! BA! BAH!"

18. Justin Timberlake > Robin Thicke

19. This letter left over from the Super Bowl commercial they just ran:

Dear Pepsi,

Seriously, no matter how bad his current live show is, Bob Dylan will never be will.i.am's equal.

Sincerely, Steve

20. Sad: I fastforwarded through Robert Plant [w/Allison Kraus]. And they won album of the year? This leads me to believe that my grandmother has yet to relinquish her Grammy vote.

Stevie Wonder plays us off. We finally caught up to the broadcast at the very end, meaning that we were able to watch the program commerical free and finish before midnight. Overall, nice show. No matter how bad parts are, I always enjoy the Grammys. Now the real contest: will Neil Diamond make the top ten of downloaded songs on iTunes tomorrow?

Beware the Harpies!

A couple of Saturday mornings ago the family was lounging in bed. Kaelyn was reading some books and Kelly and I were trying to see if there was anything on television that could occupy our attention. After three or four cycles of flipping through the channels, we noticed Stephen Baldwin in a movie.

Believe it or not, this was enough to stop us in our tracks.

Besides his well-known born-again Christian lifestyle, the only exposure we had with the youngest Baldwin was his stint on Celebrity Apprentice. His appearance in the Trump's reality show [and, yes, I will DVR the newest edition of the show as I find it train-wreck-like fascinating] made us wonder how this guy can claim to have an acting career. Since The Usual Suspects was carried by an amazing script and Kevin Spacey, and since we missed out on Bio-Dome [or did we?], Kel and I decided to give this movie a try.

It took as a commercial break to determine what we were watching. It was actually on the Sci-Fi channel, a 2007 movie entitled: Stan Lee's The Harpies. If you are unfamiliar with Stan Lee [you probably have a life], he is the creator of such iconic comic book characters as Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk and the Fantastic Four. So you'd have to figure that even if Baldwin didn't have the acting chops, a Stan Lee script could redeem the film, right?

No. Not at all. In fact, I would have to nominate this as one of the worst movies ever.

Yet even though the blessing of digital cable provides us with almost 150 channels of entertainment, Kelly and I chose to watch the entire flick. We could not look away. It was so horrendously bad that it was thoroughly compelling. Do you doubt me? Feast on these clips from the movie here and here and become a believer.

It reeks of a rip-off of Bruce Campbell's Army of Darkness, as Baldwin's security officer character is teleported back to the mythological Middle Ages. He has access to a pistol and sawed-off shotgun, which he wields in a way that testifies to his unfamiliarity with firearms. His goal: to get back to the future. Of course, along the way, he's forced to fight an evil overlord and his harpies, which are described by someone somewhere [sorry, no citation] as flying Amy Winehouses. SPOILER ALERT: he makes it back and wins the girl.

While the CGI is painful to watch, the constant overacting by the cast and underacting by Baldwin overpower the lack of technology. Seriously, I've seen middle school plays that contain better dramatization. In short: it has everything needed to be deemed the worst movie ever, especially as it was somehow created to be a serious film.

Enticed? The block out 90 minutes of your life and watch it on Japanese YouTube here. I'm sure the subtitles could get annoying, but the quality of this movie's presentation will naturally cause them to fall by the wayside. I'd be delighted to hear from others who have seen this cinematographic masterpiece.

Romans 11:33

So that you may be fully aware, we are expecting again.

This is exciting news because . . . well, it's exciting. And, no, this is not mere retaliation against those who ceaselessly prodded us with, "when are you gonna have another?" On Thursday Kelly was at the doctor and, even at this early stage in the pregnancy, they found the tiny heartbeat. Observe the picture above and consider that, while our little one is about the size of a blueberry, it has a heartbeat. That's breathtaking. Try to tell me there is no God.

Yet in the midst of our joy is some fear. A call from the doctor informed us that Kelly is not producing enough progesterone. This hormone is important as it is the "power source" for the baby until the placenta forms. She is now taking a prescription that is supposed to boost this. If this level does not increase, there is the possibility that Kelly could miscarry.

This is the type of information that is usually kept inward just in case "something" happens, but both Kelly and I feel like sharing it. Too many times we try to bear these burdens alone and not include the support structure around us. As Christians, we believe strongly that one of the purposes of the family of believers is to rely on each other when times get tough. And that is exactly what we want from you, our friends and family— continue to BE our church. No, you don't need to call or send a rightly-worded email. Just do one simple thing: pray for this baby. This is a life, and we desperately want the opportunity to meet it in person.

So thanks in advance for the congratulations and encouragement. We love you deeply. We would greatly appreciate your prayers. God is good.

"Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!"