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?