Reminiscing on the Fourth

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It is so important that as we go through our lives, we take the time to think about what has gotten us through to this point in our lives. Being the Fourth of July brings many emotions for many people, birthdays, anniversaries, other events that they may have participated in. As I was riding my bike today on what has probably been THE perfect day for riding this year, I was drawn back in time to memories of events that have happened.

The thoughts that I reflected on today took me back to the Fourth of July in 1989, just a few years ago. 1989 was a summer of adventure and stepping away from Monmouth to travel and perform with the Quad City Knights Drum and Bugle Corps. It was a summer away from work, away from home but it was a time where I got to learn much about myself and it was a scary time. One off the most amazing memories I had was the July 4th of that year.

That Fourth was a celebration just like many others, but this year I had the opportunity to see many celebrations. July 3rd was an evening show in Racine, WI. and the next morning on the Forth they had a Parade that we marched in. Once we completed that parade we then went to New Berlin, WI. where we participated in another Parade then another evening show. The memories were not necessarily the shows or the parades, but was the trip home. July 4th was the end of another long weekend that started for us on June 29th and ended that day, time to head home.

Never though a ride on a bus would be so memorable but it was. Leaving New Berlin, the show ended just before dusk so as we headed south we had a chance to celebrate the Fourth many times over. We witnessed a number of fireworks shows and the highlight was when we reached the pinnacle of a hill and saw four different shows going at the same time. It was an amazing perspective to a celebration that we as a country have been celebrating for so many years.

What I hope for tonight is that all stay safe, enjoy your celebrations but do what you can to make the memories that you can look back on with joy. I hope you have a wonderful and memorable Fourth of July.

Challenges and Benefits.

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Here we are, Saturday morning and looking at what promises to be a fun evening and a nice weekend.  Tonight will cap off what has been an emotional journey for many people, the Tim Chick Benefit.  The Benefit has brought many people together to help a family whose son is battling what I consider one of the most dastardly illnesses around, Cancer.  Tim was diagnosed with a brain cancer after one night of frightening events for them.  The great part of it is that the community has come together to help this family and be able to help defray some of the expenses that they have incurred with the treatments that Tim has been traveling to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN to go through.  The events of this week reminds me though of the Scripture passages that I preached on just last weekend, John 9, 1-42.

The passage that I refer to describes an event where Jesus and his disciples come up on a blind man, who had been blind from birth and Jesus performs a miracle to cure him of his blindness.  We find out through the scripture that the man was blind due to no sin by himself or his family, he was born blind.  Bad things happen to good people, just like bad people may not necessarily get the judgement they deserve.  This week for our community is a reminder of this very concept.  This week we prepared for the Benefit, we also pondered the 1st Anniversary of the death of a great teacher and friend, Tracey Williams.  Our hearts have been confused between sadness for the loss of our friend and the celebration of a life continued living.  Therefore the question, why does bad things happen to good people like our friends Tracey and Tim.  We know there are so many other good people out there as well who have had bad things happen but yet the question never gets a good answer.

The best explanation that I have been able to pull out of the scripture that I spoke on last weekend may not necessarily comfort us but will challenge us.  It will challenge us to continue to pray and to worship God because of our desire to follow him and his teachings, not just when it is comfortable for us.  The scripture illustrated to us that if we were to ask God to take away our suffering only during times of need and duress, and if he granted it, then we would get used to following him and asking him for assistance because it is comfortable and convenient and not because of our love and commitment to Him.  No matter why we suffer, Jesus has the power to help us through our sufferings.  We shouldn’t pray to him asking him why this issue would happen to us or what we did wrong, we should instead ask for strength and guidance and direction to help us deal with the issue that we are confronting.

Bad things do happen to good people, unfortunately we see that in our day to day lives.  As we continue through our lives we must continue to pray, to love and continue to live the life that God guides and directs us to.  Our daily discipline will be the biggest reward for us once we cross over into the Promised Land that God will provide.  Tim will continue his battle with Cancer, Tracey will wait patiently for us to join her on the other side, we must do what we can to honor God and prepare ourselves for that time but until then, we must continue to Love, and to enjoy the Challenges and Benefits.

Why the Vi-Life???

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Growing up I was exposed to distance running as a freshman in high school and ran Cross-Country and Track. During high school I raced in the Bix 7 run as well as many 5k and 10k runs in the area. I was in good shape and left high school at 135 lbs. Went on to Western Illinois University and got involved with the music program, Involved with the Marching Band kept me in decent shape but I did put on the “freshman 15” as they put it. Through college I pretty much maintained the weight and graduated around 150-155.

The working world did a number on me as the stress of the engineering and construction business as well as the pace of projects added stress and overtime which distracted from a decent diet and lifestyle. I was approached in December of 2012 by Doug Dennison wondering if I was interested in getting involved with this thing called The 90 Day Challenge. I was curious but didn’t immediately decide to do anything about it. During this time I came to the realization that I was floating around 200 lbs, and my oldest son was just finishing up what was probably one of his toughest physical challenges that he had been through, Army Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training. To me that meant that once he came home he would want to wrestle and show how much better of shape he was in compared to his “Old Man” dad.

I began to evaluate my condition, considering my height, my BMI would calculate out at 30.3 by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute chart with a normal BMI being around 18.5 to 24.9, I was considered obese. Even though I didn’t feel bad, other than being winded when climbing too many stairs, I still had a positive attitude towards life. I decided though that I wanted to be in a position of being a role model for my kids and be in a position that if my oldest did want to wrestle or even just work out together I would be able to perform to a standard that I would want and not look totally foolish.

I started the 90 Day Challenge by enrolling and selecting the Shape Kit, which equates to two shakes a day and comes with a number of flavor packets from Chocolate to Strawberry to Orange just to name a few. As I started I also reviewed a number of different recipes that I could find through Facebook, the guide that you can download from Body By Vi, and Pinterest and found that the ones I enjoy the most are Café Mocha to start out my mornings with which I have gotten in a rut but I still enjoy it. Butterfinger, Banana Cream Pie, Amaretto and Banana Split are some of the favorites that I use for lunchtime. I also experiment every once in a while with different ones that I find intriguing, Oh, and I cannot forget the Shamrock Shake recipe as well. Doing shakes for a few months and when the weather began to cooperate, I started cycling in the mornings before work just to add another aspect to the lifestyle change that comes with a program like this.

As I mentioned before I started out at 199 but in the first week I actually broke into the 200’s but that didn’t last long. I have completed three full challenges now and through the first one I lost 22 lbs with about 5 inches off my waist, hips and neck. The second challenge saw me lose about 6 lbs but at this time I was also cycling so the inches kept coming off even though I wasn’t as regimented in tracking those I could feel it and others could see it through my clothes. The third Challenge I added other easy exercises like pushups, situps, plank, etc. so I could develop some strength and continued to lose about 4 lbs.

My ultimate goal for this is to reach 155 lbs. which would put me in the middle of the normal BMI weight range. The lifestyle change that has occurred due to joining Body By Vi has been amazing and I am looking forward to reaching my goal. I hope that by reading this maybe you will be inspired as I was when I first heard the stories associated with those involved with The Challenge. We have had many people within our Body By Vi family who have achieved great results through the Challenge just in the time I have been involved. I would recommend that one commit to at least one cycle of the 90 Day Challenge to see what results you could achieve.

Willy and her Influence.

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I had the opportunity to preach on Palm Sunday this year the Smithshire and Kirkwood UMC’s, with a sermon titled, “The End…Or The Beginning Of The End.” Little did I know the parallels of that title and the events that unfolded in front of our eyes this week. It could be why I am having trouble sleeping tonight.

My wife and I, as well as a family and community were forced to tell a wife, a mother, a teacher and a friend “Good Bye” this week. Through the events of this week I got to know Tracey Williams, the teacher, much better than I knew her before. Previously knowing her from stories my wife told me then through the friendship of our youngest with her son, I grew to know her much better than I had. Through the events of this week, I now have to ponder what the world will be like without this lady who has inspired so many to stay positive through the difficult times.

My wife and Tracey had grown up together since Kindergarten, inseparable very similar to my youngests relationship now with her son. Tracey and my wife also had a common bond through an illness, breast cancer. My wife was very fortunate that ours was diagnosed in the very early stages so, she didn’t have to endure the battle that Tracey ended up fighting. Tracey fought hard and kept her spirits up through her fight and was in the process of defeating the cancer when a heart attack got her.

With the culmination of events this week, it leaves me to ponder on this late Saturday night/early Sunday morning the reason for Tracey’s demise. After all she was a very successful teacher in the district, even attending the high school where she taught, was the advisor to many different student organizations and was even the head of the English Department. Tracey knew what she wanted to do with her professional life even from her time as a high school Senior, where she wrote an essay about it as a Senior project.

So why does it have me so upset? It is simple. We lost a good friend, the other teachers lost a great colleague, and her husband lost a great wife. The community has lost one of its stars, whom is now looking down on us smiling, without pain and without suffering. The reality of it is that how easy life can change in an instant. One day she was in school, receiving a hug from my nephew as he was leaving class, encouraging her for the rest of her day, to just a memory and a hole in our hearts. The hole has eased but it is still a dull ache, the aching coming from the thought of what her family must be feeling at this time.

What scares me is the thought that I could be in her husbands shoes. We never know from day to day what life is going to throw at us, yet we must be prepared at all times for the worst. That was the wonder of “Willy”, a pet name that they had for Tracey. She took life head on and didn’t back down, taking the cancer on and was in the process of winning that battle too. She inspired her students, this being proven to me by the support they gave her while she was going through cancer treatments and from the obvious heartbreak and shock that they were suffering from after word of her death.

Tracey, I sit here pondering the future without you and think about what you may be doing. Maybe visiting with Mrs. Willhardt about your mutual experiences in the hallowed halls of MHS and MRHS. Just remember Tracey that even though you left us way too soon that your life story is one that will help motivate others, including myself, to continue living our lives to the fullest and to enjoy every moment that God gives us on this earth. We Love You Willy!

Hello world!

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Welcome to my Blog!  We are currently in the process of developing this site to bring you the best information regarding the topic of communication and how we as individuals need to be more concerned with it.  As one who was more an introvert rather than an extrovert in my communication style, I have learned the importance of communication and some of the methods used.