Delayed Gratification

By Cami Checketts

“The chief cause of failure and unhappiness is trading what you want most for what you want now.” Zig Ziglar

We live in a society of instant gratification. Need a question answered? Minutes on the internet and you’ll have more information than you could possibly use. Hungry? Wendy’s will have your dinner ready in minutes. Tired? Drink a Red Bull and you’ll feel pep immediately.

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A Box of Chocolate & A Bubble Bath

By Jodi Whisenhunt

This fall, my oldest child, Kyle, started 9^th grade. As a homeschooler, I’m a bit anxious about it. Ok, I’m a lot anxious about it! “Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way,” according to 1 Corinthians 14:40 (NIV). Paul’s referring to regulations for speaking in tongues. (By the look on my kids’ faces, sometimes they think I’m doing just that!) However, it’s also good advice for teaching. Problem is, I struggle to do anything in a fitting and orderly way. Recently, I carried a basket of clean laundry down the hall where I found something that belonged in my bedroom. I set the basket down and carried the item to my room where, after catching my reflection in the mirror, I stopped to brush my hair. My daughter came in, so I brushed her hair too. She was still in jammies, so I led her back to her room to change. Only when I took her dirty clothes to the laundry did I remember my original chore.

I admit I’ve been a bit lax with our homeschool structure in recent years. Lax is an understatement. Let me try unorganized, panicked, disappointed, unstructured, befuddled. Like the laundry incident, distractions during class time often divert our attention. Some have become bad habits, like how, being the teenage boy that he is, Kyle must eat every ten minutes.

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Down And To The Right

By Bob Kaku

With a glint in her eyes, Gail smiled. “The contrac­tors did a great job!” At last, our two bathrooms were magical­ly transformed into new ones. Bright ivory-colored tiles with a marble design snugly enclosed a new tub in one bathroom with a new floor. A new shower with a frameless glass door enhanced the aes­thet­ics of the other bathroom, making it appear larger.

We selected some attractive chrome and gold-trim towel racks with matching toilet paper dispensers to accent the newly textured and painted walls.

I gathered my electric drill, ruler, level, and other tools from the garage to attach the decorative accessories. After carefully measuring the length of the first towel rack, I drilled the holes and installed the side brackets. Mingled scents of fresh paint and drywall dust permeated the area. When I tried to insert the towel bar, it didn’t fit. Hmm—the side brackets are too close. I angled and maneuvered the bar in vain.

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Setting Realistic Goals for the Journey

By Don Otis

What is on your “bucket list?” If you saw the film starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, you know what I mean. What do you want to accomplish in life? What habits do you want to change? As the old saying goes, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.” In fitness, as in any area of our lives, spiritual, intellectual, emotional, change must be intentional.

As a personal trainer, I know how important goals are. We need to define them so there is no ambiguity. For example, I reached the summits of two 14,000-foot peaks in Colorado this weekend. My long-term goal is to do all 54 of them in the state. While it is a lofty goal (pun intended), it is achievable. Maybe your goal is to lose 15 pounds or to finish a 5 K run. Whatever it is, start now, start slow, and be realistic.

In two weeks, I will tick off another item from my own bucket list. It is the Pikes Peak Ascent. Ever since I first read about this race, I wanted to do it. It is a 13.3-mile race to the top of 14,110-foot Pikes Peak. I realized earlier this year that if I was ever going to get it done, I had better sign up for it now. What do you want to accomplish?  Write down some goals for yourself. Then, tell someone who will hold you accountable.

Bigger goals take littler steps. For example, if you want to run a marathon, you have to start with what you can do–shorter runs. You need a plan. You need direction. Because we live in an instant-everything society, we want our success to be easy. The things in life that mean the most to us rarely come easily. They take work. They require sacrifice.

A week ago I did a 10-mile training run at 10,000 feet in the pouring rain. It was no fun. I was cold and muddy. My knees ached. My quadriceps screamed. In reaching for any goal, we learn to push through discomfort and excuses. There will always be distractions. Expect resistance. Expect setbacks. Expect to feel lousy some days. Keep your eye on your goals. No one will ever care as much about whether you reach your goals as you do.

To get you going with goal setting, keep these principles in mind:

1.Your goal must be achievable. If you set your goals too high, you will become discouraged. It is better to set realistic goals that you can meet within one to three months. You can always revise and rework your goals.

2.Your goal must be measurable. Be specific. For example, “to lose weight” is not specific. It is better to say, “To lose 10 pounds in two months.”

3.You must have a plan. How will you lose 10 pounds in two months? Write it down. This can be as simple as saying, “I will walk 30 minutes a day five days a week.”

Be patient. Be consistent. Remember that anything new takes time getting used to doing. Our lives are short. Our bodies are wearing down, but God calls us to be stewards of this marvelous machine.

Don S. Otis is the author of Staying Fit After Forty and a personal trainer living in Canon City, Colorado. He can be reached at Don@veritasincorporated.com © 200

The Smell of Fresh Bread

By Julie Cosgrove

In the town where I grew up there was a bread factory. During the Viet Nam War years, that factory received a contract to bake for the troops.. The aroma of freshly baked bread penetrated for blocks each day, weekends too, spreading out into business parking lots, playgrounds, and neighborhood backyards. Whenever the folks smelled the bread, they thought of the troops.

We’d pass the factory on Sunday mornings as we drove to church. As soon as we got within a mile or so, the aroma would fill the car. Our mouths would water at the very thought of those loaves  meandering slowly on the maze of stainless steel carousels from the oven to the  packaging area, gradually cooling, giving off that enticing whiff of heaven.  

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