Choosing Your Battles

So while I was mowing a couple days ago I was thinking about Sunday School. We have been teaching the four year old class for the past two months. Some of the behavior issues are truly amazing. So I was thinking on how I can raise my kids to be well behaved and obedient.

You have probably heard the advice that you should pick your battles, but while I was mowing I was thinking how that probably isn't good advice for a parent. Maybe for a child, but as a parent don't the battles involve obedience? Isn't that worth fighting for? If I want to raise obedient children, then I think I will have several battles to fight.

I met with a father of four, and he agreed for the most part, but mentioned that he believes the mother contributes about 80% to their behavior since she is dealing with them most of the time. So that means I need to get Wifey on board. This is mainly because my son is not doing a very good job listening and obeying, and I think that problem will wear us down faster than if we just spend the extra energy up front to deal with it now.

A Valley Set Apart

Well, time to take a break in a place that means a lot to me. New Life Ranch is a wonderful place to be. So we will go there to spend some time with family, and some time relaxing.

There is also some thought about having my baby girl dedicated at this wonderful place. So if you want, reserve labor day weekend for a fun time.

Not too much else going on. Putting some thought into getting an iPhone, but don't really want the added cost. Playing some computer games, but probably need to keep that limited to the weekend. Need to try and exercise when on vacation, that is something that doesn't happen, but vacation is so short anyway, I just need to get out and hike when at NLR.

Excuses and Priorities

Some excuses can be pretty lame, but others are actually valid. But they are both excuses. I think a big difference is recognizing your priorities. If you slept in one morning something has to give. Maybe you regularly get up early than needed and thus put a lower priority on sleep, but for times like this you have created some padding in your schedule to still do what is important. Maybe you make compromises and just grab a granola bar to eat at work, I've done this a few times. But how bad does it feel when you decide to skip your quiet time with the One who really matters? I've done this, and I usually end up regretting it.

Yesterday I received some comments about not missing workouts, thus not needing excuses. But is physical exercise really that much of a priority? What about mental exercise such as scripture memory? Is it harder to have the will power for that? I think so, if my mind is tired it is hard to do, but my mind can force my tired body to do things.

Is it just me, or do others put a lower priority on spending time with Jesus too?
How is this corrected?

Variables in Life

Establishing good habits is great and all, but there are some variables that make it difficult. The variable that I find the hardest is children. There naps aren't really consistent, but more of a general time. You put them to bed, and hope they go to sleep. Then you hope they don't wake you up in the morning. These things aren't that common, and maybe if they were common it would be easier to work around.

The weather is also an interesting variable. This morning it is raining, but I was pretty sure it would be, so I was pretty much planning on driving instead of riding to work today. Though with the rain came a drop in temperature, so it is a little sad I'm not riding in the cooler weather.

Well, speaking of kids, I hear by baby girl, so I should probably go get her.

What are some variables that make good habits difficult for you? Or what excuses do you use to get out of your workout?

Keeping Records

Well, now I'm not so sure about the myfitnesspal.com That requires a lot of work to keep track of how much I'm taking in and how much I'm putting out. So I'm not sure I'm going to be sticking to it. I have enough trouble entering my biking logs into http://www.tulsamillionmiles.com/ and that is only my biking information. Or walking. I think I entered that information in twice or so.

I think it is fun to try and track my food, but is it worth it. I think I would rather read. But I am forming some good habits, and I just don't know if this one is worth tacking on.

On a side note, has anyone hiked Turkey Mountain? I thought it was just for mountain biking, but I read on backpacker.com that it is a hiking trail too. So who wants to go hike it sometime? May plan to take the dog too.

Sorry Pange, but it is Wednesday, so that means it is time for a new verse.
John 15:7 "If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." Jn 15:7

Pretty easy verse at least. It seems to have some sort of rhyme with it, but I'm not sure. I think it is the you rhyming with you, so it has a weird flow (in a good way).

What a start for the day

Well, for some odd reason the baby boy woke up at 5am and wouldn't go back to bed. So I got up with him, and should have done my quiet time, but didn't. So I don't have a memory verse for Pange. Wait, I can do this from memory. Joshua 1:8 "This book of the law shall not depart from your lips, but you shall meditate on it day and night, being careful to do all that is written; and then you shall prosper, and then you will have success." Josh 1:8

Ok, so now I'll look it up, because I'm pretty sure I messed up.
"This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. "
Not bad, several word/phrase changes, but pretty good.

So I decided to check out this MyFitnessPal.com because it sounds interesting. I wonder how I put in my biking, and how much that is worth.

Fair Weather

Well, it is raining pretty good this morning. No riding for me. I'm tempted to take commuting by bike more seriously, but there isn't much reason for it. I enjoy it, but I don't think I would enjoy it so much in the rain. I'm not really saving much money, I have a fuel efficient car and only go 10miles round trip.

On a different note, this weeks memory verse is Joshua 1:8. Memorizing scripture helps combat memory lose. So try to keep that mind active and exercised.

Oh What a Beautiful Morning

Beautiful I say. started out in the mid 60's, ended in the upper 60's. Calm winds. Low traffic. I even got to see David this morning. Not sure why he was crying, but he got up over an hour early, so we got to spend some time together.

But there is one minor problem. See, I grabbed a nice long sleeve collared shirt this morning. Well, I hadn't tried it on before. I got it from my dad when he went through his clothes to free up some space. Well, the sleeves are too short for me. I didn't realize we had different arm lengths, but it makes since. So now I have to figure out if I want to wear my riding shirt, which is a nice blue short sleeve t-shirt, or endure tight sleeves, or I could attempt to roll the sleeves up (which I'm not sure how that would look). The t-shirt isn't so bad, I can get away with wearing it at work, the issue is the date with my beautiful wife tonight. I could have her bring me a shirt to wear. Oh the possibilities.

Back to the good parts. I was able to maintain a cruising speed of about 20mph. This sounds better than it was, because I pretty much stop or slow at every light, so I only cruise for less than a mile at a time.

Commute Update

A beautiful morning today. Rode in this morning with a slight head wind, which dropped my speed some. I've been improving a lot. Before my average speed was around 16mph, this morning with the head wind I had 17.4mph. I can usually average 18-19mph now.

So on the way to work this morning I was thinking, should my goal be to get faster and use my commute for training, or to take it easy and enjoy the ride. I decided it should be both. I don't want to arrive at work really hot and needing several minutes to cool down, but at the same time I like getting faster. So I can push some, just not much. I think this is pretty good. I enjoy my commute, and it is only 5 minutes slower than the car. For those unaware, my commute is only 5 miles.

Also, Happy Birthday to my brother. Hope the Lord has given you peace on what activity to pursue.