A Ton of Sweat

The summer season for running is teaching me several things about myself, both in running and life.

First, I can sweat a lot! I had no idea I could get that much liquid to come out of my skin. Not sure what my massive sweating is teaching me about running or life, just an observation.

Second, really good times are harder to come by in the heat of SW Florida during the summer. It was pretty easy improving my times through the winter and spring. But not so easy now. Much more difficult in the tropical heat. Sometimes life also brings the heat, and our pace has to slow a little and we may even get frustrated because we don't see improvement. God has been teaching me a lot this past year about how I handle difficult situations (heat) and how I am able to grow through them.

Third, I can't prove this yet, but, I think in being faithful to keep running in the heat of summer I am going to see some awesome improvements in my times when the cooler weather gets here. You see, we build stamina and strength during the heat or tough times. In fact, we will always experience more spiritual growth in the heat then in the cool times. Keep running (physically and spiritually), no matter what season of life you are in!

Fourth, I sure am looking forward to a little cooler weather. My selfish desire for cooler weather for running is no different than my desire to move as quickly through the difficult times as well. But maybe God is reminding me not to get in hurry, but to remain contented wherever I find myself. Can I find contentment in every season of life? Remember, God is good - ALL the time!

How are you handling the heat of summer and the heat of life? Keep running and don't worry about the sweat - it's all part of the growth process.

Best Run Yet...

I've had a good week running and was ready to push it a little today with my morning run. Well, as some of you know, I've been trying to break the 24 minute mark for 3 miles and get my average mile time under 8 minutes. Well, I finally did it. I ran 3 miles in 23:42! Yeah!

Next 5K race is August 11. Steven - are you ready????

Life Update

I've been delinquent in my postings this week, and for that, I apologize. Here's a quick update on life.

I will be attending the funeral of an awesome man of God in a few minutes and his death has reminded me of how temporal our lives on earth really are. I want to make the most of every minute the Lord has entrusted to me. On this note, I would highly recommend the book Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper. I am just finishing up the book and WOW - very, very challenging.

Disappointments can be confirmations. I have had several disappointing things happen so far this week, but in those situations, I was able to see God at work. This is really cool when things don't go as we thought they should, but we can trust God is in charge and has something even cooler planned. Thank you God.

I am so grateful for the awesome team of people God has surrounded me with here at McGregor. It is so cool to have these kind of relationships with the people you spend so much time with.

And finally, I can't wait until the weekend to spend as much time possible with the bride of my youth! I am so blessed!!!!

FYI: I'm up to 18 "friends" now on Facebook and have even reconnected with people I haven't heard from in years!

You Need A Reader...Now!

I'm still finding a lot of people who regularly read blogs and are still jumping around from blog to blog, trying to keep up (Gerald). There is an easier way...a reader. The following is copied from Webware and will walk you through getting your own Google Reader loaded and running for you. Don't waster another minute - download Google Reader today.

What is Google Reader and why should you use it?

Google Reader is a free, Web-based reader for RSS feeds. You can find feeds on nearly every Web site. RSS feeds offer a simplified view of Web content down to just text, pictures and videos--minus the site's style and formatting, which can sometimes hinder or befuddle casual reading.

Google reader lets you subscribe to these feeds as easily as typing them into your browser's address bar, and lets you read them like you're browsing through e-mail. There are many online RSS readers available, but Google is one of the best. It's easy to get a grip on Google Reader basics, but there are several tips and tricks that can make it extremely productive.

Setup: Finding RSS Feeds

As mentioned earlier, nearly every site has an RSS feed, and you can usually find it by scrolling around and hunting for the little RSS logo (a little orange box with three white waves). What makes Google Reader particularly useful is that it can take any old Web site URL and find the RSS feed on its own. If you don't quite remember the name of the site, or the exact URL, Google Reader has a built in directory you can search by keyword. There's also a neat feature called "bundles" that has over a dozen themed groups of preselected feeds you can subscribe to at once. Adding one of these bundles organizes the newly subscribed feeds into a handy folder.

Organizing
Once you get going with Google Reader, you'll likely have a bunch of sites that need organizing into groups. The easiest tool to handle this is folders. To begin this process, just click on manage subscriptions in the lower left-hand corner of Google Reader's main page. This will take you to an options menu where you can create and delete folders and feeds, as well as quickly categorize the feeds you have into folders.

To swap folders quickly, use the drop-down menus.

A New Era in the Bricker Household

I been talking about getting an espresso maker for years, and yesterday...it finally became a reality.

For those of you who know me, know I don't rush into making any major purchases. But the time was right. I had done my research (a couple of years worth), I had saved my money and I found what I thought was an incredible deal on a really great machine.

Unpacking it yesterday afternoon and setting it up was fun. I might have even been a little giddy. I had my first coffee drinks coming out of it in about 30 minutes. And last night I really got to test it out with our company for after dinner coffee drinks. Vanilla Lattes were very good and the Mochas were ok. Just a little while ago I made Macy and myself each a Vanilla Latte. Awesome. I am amazed..they taste just like Starbucks!

My new machine is a Saeco V'spresso Espresso. Here's a picture of it...

I'm So Excited!!!

Fort Myers is finally getting a Smoothie King!

Yesterday as I was driving to Lee Memorial for a hospital visits it happened. I saw the "coming soon" sign in the window announcing the coming of a Smoothie King. I don't think I can express in words the joy I felt upon seeing this sign. I can hear you asking "what's the big deal about Smoothie King?" Answer: These are the best smoothies money can buy.

Since moving to Fort Myers 7 and a half years ago, one of the things I have missed the most is the lack of any Smoothie Kings in our area. Sure, there are other smoothies stores. All imitators when it comes to smoothies. Smoothie King reigns supreme.

Where is it going to be located? In the new building on the corner of Fowler and Colonial that also houses Starbuck and Quiznos.

Facebook Update: I'm up to 7 friends!!!!

Welcome to My Legoworld

My nephew Kaleb loves Legos. He's been building his own Legoworld on our kitchen table for over a month now. (I'm still amazed his aunt Macy let's him keep it there.) Kaleb is very creative and is able to create this little world all in his head and then build it on our kitchen table.

I grew up playing with Legos. My brother and I would spend hours playing and constructing with the little blocks. We didn't have any pre-done kits with instruction like they do today, just different types of blocks. It forced us to be creative. Legos and Lincoln Logs. Ahhh, the joys of childhood.

Well, Kaleb spent the night last night and these are some pictures from his very own Legoworld
creation.

Be my friend...

I have been an observer of the social web networking phenomenon for quite a while, but now I'm finally entering it as a participant. I now have my own Facebook page.

That's right. Not wanting to be the last person in the world to get a Facebook page, I jumped in. Go here to view my profile. If you have a Facebook account, please invite me to be your friend (sounds pathetic, doesn't it?). So far I have only one friend (thanks Dawn for being my first friend!).

So, what's the big deal with Facebook and other social networking sites like MySpace. My take: they let people connect. Imagine that, technology making it possible for people to connect with one another. People really do want to have meaningful relationships, regardless of their age.

Consider the 30 million registered Facebook users. And that number pales in comparison to the 100 million+ Myspace users worldwide. Unbelievable!

So, will you get a Facebook account and be my friend?

Thought I Had It

It's been a while since I tried to buy anything on Ebay.

I love coffee and lots of different types of coffee drinks. For a while now I have been saving up to buy an automatic espresso coffee maker. I figure that it will save me money in the long run to make all my own lattes and espressos. Well, earlier this week, I spotted a Saeco Espresso Maker on Ebay that looked really nice. I did my research and thought this might just be the deal I'm been waiting for. The auction ended Friday night and, unfortunately, the bidding went past the amount of cash in my hand. Oh well, I'll keep saving and keeping looking.

Remember, life's too short to drink bad coffee.

Living Apart...

Next to last day for Camp. Actually, for me its the last day. I'll be leaving camp tonight after the worship service and heading for home. It has been an awesome week for the all the kiddos. But let me say of word of appreciation to all the adults that gave up a week of their life to be here with the kids and make this an awesome experience. I have been so impressed with the their love for the children and a desire to get involved with them on a personal level. (That's some of them in the pic above.) Thanks camp counselors.

I have personally been challenged in the prep for my messages each night. I have been challenging the kids to "live apart form the rest." As we follow Christ, we will live differently than those who have not committed to follow Christ. This is not easy for kids, nor is easy for me. Pray for tonight's service as I challenge the kids to make a commitment of their life to "live apart from the rest."

I sure miss Macy. It has not been the same this year without having her up here with me. We really are a team. See you tonight baby, late!

Camp is On!

Great start last night to camp. Gerald did an awesome job getting the kids engaged in worship and I had fun setting up the week's theme for Camp X-Isle. The theme is about being willing to set apart from the rest as a follower of Christ. Great subject to be teaching 3rd thru 5th graders!

After our service the kids had fun with some really gross "food item" games and then a swim in the pool to wash everything off. Thank goodness for pools at camps to keep kids clean (not smelling too bad).

I love the first day of camp. All the energy and excitement. (One parent told me his son couldn't sleep two nights before they left for camp because he was so excited.) The boys still smell relatively clean and most people still have their name tags. It all begins to change today.

For me - I'm already missing my wife like crazy. Normally she comes up with me for camp, but was unable to this year. Did I say I'm already missing her.

Running this morning was different. They actually have hills up here in central Florida. My 3 miles seemed a lot longer.

Sunday PM Reflections

It been a great day...

• I had the privilege of baptizing my friend Landon Thomas this morning in one of the AM services.
• Got to meet several new couples this morning in our Bible study class. Love meeting new people who are interested in getting plugged into a group.
  
• Heard an awesome message from Pastor David Miller. Way to tackle the tough stuff and make it practical to everybody listening.
  
• Got a short but powerful nap in.
• Enjoyed Blue Bell Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream in a Waffle Cone - twice today. Ooooooh sweeeet! (It's our new Sunday dessert tradition.)
• Loved the concert tonight with This Hope. The boys can flat sing!
• Got to hold 9 week old Colin James Jackson!

Thank you God for another awesome Sunday. Got to go now and pack for camp.

Busy Saturday

I spent several hours today getting my talks ready for Camp X-isle, our Children's camp that starts Monday up in Groveland, Florida. I have the awesome opportunity to be able to speak each night during the worship services and I can't wait! Dawn O'Neal and her team do an awesome job putting the entire camp together for the children, from the crazy activities to the small group Bible studies, they do it all. It's gonna be a blast and I looking forward to God doing some awesome things.

In addition to preparing for camp, I also attended a wedding today. Why is it guys don't generally get too excited about going to weddings? Well, this was a really nice wedding (Russell kept it brief) and congrats to Steven and Merri Beth on their new life together. The strange thing, Macy and I actually went in two cars. Why? Because she loves the whole wedding experience, including staying until almost the last person has left the reception. I left right after the ceremony. She got home 2 hours later and had a blast. Know your differences.

I also had an awesome run this morning. I did my 3 mile run in 24:37 giving me an average of 8:12 per mile. Getting closer to the 8:00 mile average.

Watched some of the Wimbledon ladies final, finished my SS Lesson for tomorrow morning, and watched the Yankees play. Wow, it's been a busy Saturday! And I can't wait for tomorrow!

Opening Pandora's Box

It's usually not a good thing to open Pandora's box, but in this case it's a great thing.

I've been using Pandora, a music listening site now for several months and I love it. Question: Why would I want to listen to music from a web site? Answer: It allows me to listen to many songs I do not own, but are in the same genres of music I enjoy. The really cool thing about Pandora is how simple and yet how effective it is. You enter your music preferences, and Pandora goes and plays you the songs you want to hear. As it gets to know you, it tailors the playlist as a kind of deejay customized to your world of music preferences. I have listened to tons of great music from jazz to praise and worship and lots in between. Pandora’s also been around for a while so it’s nicely mature in its ability to deliver a satisfying experience. And the final cool thing about Pandora - it's free!

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Summer Running

Well, it's all changed now. Running in July in SW Florida is not quite as fun as it was back in the spring.

This morning I wanted to work on my pacing. Running is all about pacing (so is life). My next goal is to run 3 miles in 24 minutes. So this morning I was planning on running the first two miles at the 8 mile a minute pace to get a feel for this and then slow up on the third mile. Well, I ran the first two miles exactly 8 minutes flat each (yeah!). But instead of slowing up on the third mile, I almost shut down. I'm not sure what it was, but I just couldn't keep running the entire third mile and ended up walking almost half of it. I'm blaming the humidity. I'm still sweating! At least I won't feel guilty eating those hot dogs and hamburgers later today at out 4th of July celebration.

Happy Independence Day!

Simply the Web

What makes a really great church web site?

I had this discussion over lunch with someone on our staff today. And you know, this is really a very interesting question, because your answer, in part, is going to be determined on who you think the site is for. Do you want to focus it on the person you have yet to reach (marketing and outreach) or do you want it designed for your membership (communication and resources)? Or, can you accomplish both?

I don't have the answer, but I'm looking forward to the discussion in the days ahead as McGregor looks at totally redoing our web site. I do think that "simple" has to be a high value today in any effective site. We can learn a little something from Apple and their incredible success at doing things "simple." I also think you can target both of the above groups by simplifying your home page and allowing easy access for members and guests to get the information and resources they need.

I also think there is a need to provide for "community" within a church's site. Again, not sure exactly how this would play out, but it is definitely one of the hottest trends on the web today. (Think MySpace and Facebook.) I think there are tons of possibilities here.

What would you like to be able to do with your church's web site? Let me know. I would love to hear your ideas.