lately

What's your brand?

Talking with one of my clients last week brought up a conversation about his children and how he and his wife are working with them on their 'brand'.  I guess it's the new, hip word for reputation but I like it.  It's good.  I asked him if it was working and he told me the day before he had raised his voice at home and his nine year old asked him if he wanted that to be a part of his brand.  Obviously this comes from man who is very business minded but I liked the idea of he and his wife sitting down and having a conversation with their children about what they want their teachers to think of them at the end of the year, same with their peers at school.

My favorite part of biking to work is hitting that downhill at 35 mph (on my bike!).  My least favorite part is the 5 mph uphill that follows.

Speaking of biking, I completed my second triathlon this past Saturday.  Praise the Lord for health, strength and ability!  The entire thing started out with such mixed emotions... I had slacked off in my training, I didn't know anyone I would be racing with, and I didn't have friends coming to cheer me on (my sister did end up coming for most of the race but I didn't know ahead of time if she'd make it or not).  So needless to say, since I was mainly doing this for myself, and I'm not very self-motivated, there were times I thought about just not even showing up. The Lord was good and allowed me to meet some nice people that morning and even though my swim was pretty week, I survived and had plenty of energy to complete the bike and run in a time that helped make up for the poor swim.  I stuck around for awards this time because I knew the race was small and I figured I at least stood a chance at placing in age group.  I'm glad I stayed because I placed 2nd which was really exciting. What amazed me most was how prepared my body was for what I put it through. There was no soreness or tiredness afterwards, I even was able to ride another 20 miles on Sunday with a friend, do spin class Tuesday morning and bike to work today!  It was a good feeling to know that the hard work I had been doing this past year has paid off.  I remember having that thought this week and God reminded me that the same is true for His word.  The more I read and memorize it, the more prepared I am for tough circumstances.  I can feel that same sense of accomplishment when it comes to life and 'spiritual exercise' - 1 Tim 4:7.

Something I've really been struggling with lately is loving people who are hard to love. I don't have many enemies, but there are people who make it really difficult and what kind of Christian am I if I don't show them Christ's love?  I'm guessing I'd be the kind of Christian who easily forgets what I would be with His free grace and forgiveness... I'd be even more horrible than I am now... and that's pretty horrible!