Adam

It was hard.  I'll admit it.  Here I am, pulling up to the stoplight and there he is.  Adam - well I didn't know his name yet, but God knew.  God knew that I would take that particular path to get to dinner that night.  God knew that I would be out of granola bars.  Sometimes I think God had more to do with it then just "knowing" - but anyways.  So there I am, debating in my head whether to roll my windows up, lock the doors, and speed off - or....to stick my head out and ask the dude if he was hungry.  I don't know if this is the right excuse for what I did but "God made me do it" :) 

So I get us a 5-pack of chili dogs (with onions - yum) and am definately a little out of my element sitting down with the guy.  Before I can even ask to pray for the meal he folds his hands, bows his head, and we say a common table prayer together along with a prayer for his healing as it was obvious he had injured himself recently wearing a neck brace and all.  And then the story.  It all comes out, from girlfriend problems, to how hard it is to get a place to stay because places won't take him in with his injury, to how he hurt himself falling on the bus - he had a bad leg and the bus driver started going before he was seated :(

I ask all you readers to please help me in praying for healing for Adam.

I pray that I see him again, and that when I do he is better and that I can bless him with something a little healthier then chili dogs :)

The oppurtunities to help are there, all around us, it is really on us to take the oppurtunity.  Remember - it is not all about great things, but rather small things with great love.

Running with the grunion

If you've never been grunion running then it is time (March - August)...

Yes, you may make the trip and not get to see them but it's always fun being on the beach anyways...

Go to this page for the calendar and more info...

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/gruschd.asp

Note: The times given for each date reflect the probable two-hour interval during which a spawning run may occur. The second hour is usually better. The best runs normally occur on the second and third nights of the four-night period.

Personal Relationship

One of the big questions I asked when first coming to NewSong was "What does it mean to have a personal relationship with God?" I have learned over the years that although I may have always "believed" in the Christian God - it was never truly "my belief". Because I was born and raised in the church - the Lutheran Church to be precise - it was easy for me to just kind of "go with it". It was my parents church, most of my friend's church, where I went to school, etc. Coming to college and moving away from all of that lead me to really "make it my own". This road lead to some doubt and questioning but in the end has lead me to really grow spiritually - embracing the faith that not only my parents hold dear - but more importantly really living it out among a new much more secular community of roommates, friends, and coworkers.

Life is Good

So I've recently discovered my new favorite brand of apparel - yes it is silly, but the guy's name is Jake. He also has a dog named Rocket - and yes I also want a dog and to name him rocket. I grew up with an Aussie Shepard  (Cory) and my buddy Edgar dog sits for this amazing Aussie named Alta so you can guess what kind of dog I'm getting...Anyways, here's one of the prints (on right) - you can check out the rest of their stuff here: http://www.lifeisgood.com/

The other Jake

I am teaching myself to play guitar and using thing guy for inspiration.  Yes, he is playing a ukelele but who knows even that could come some day...

Riding Centuries when you turn a Century

I was flipping through the "Southern Californian Bicyclist" earlier today - most of the paper is "roadie-focused" but I did find an article on "Fixing the Cycling Widow Syndrome". It was actually an excerpt from a book called "Bike for Life: How to Ride to 100" by a local Irviner, Roy M. Wallack.

It opens with a bit of dark humor detailing a T-shirt:

Front side: "My wife said if I do one more ultra cycling event she'll leave me."
Back side: "God, I'll miss her."

Although possibly a bit extreme, the joke describes emotions that are felt by many a cyclist's significant other. Feelings of jealousy, neglection, and possibly even disgust could come from the loved one of a cyclist who may not be "showing the love". In the article Roy quotes "Gottman, world renowned for his work on marital stability and divorce prediction, found that successful couples have three things in common:

1. They know a lot about each other - their opinions, their needs, their perspective;
2. The maintain respect/admiration for each other;
3. They maintain a high ratio of "emotional deposits" (thoughtful acts) to "emotional withdrawals" (self-centered acts). In fact, Gottman says, the highest predictor of a failed relationship is a low ratio

...Gottman found that the real number is at least 5 to 1."

Roy goes on to quote a sports psychologist, Charlie Brown (love the name) saying "Conflicts themselves are okay, a part of life. No two people agree on everything. The key to relationship bliss, however, is not making a big deal out of them."

For more info on the book check out his website at http://www.bikeforlifebook.com.

Doubt and Belief

As a human there are certain things that we "believe in". We might believe that the world is a sphere even though we might have never been all the way around it. Science among other things will tell us this - but unless we see something with our own eyes there is typically some element of doubt. As is in Christianity. There is a lot of proof and history behind Jesus and much else that is described in the Bible. In fact many people devote there lives to "proving" that which the Bible talks about. Since I am not one of these what you might call "theologians" I tend to focus on "core" beliefs and just living that out.

Question and Answer - Are Catholics Christian?

The question of whether Catholics are Christian is almost a bit funny to me. Not only have I heard non-Catholics describing the different denominations (sects, groups, etc) as 1. Catholic and 2. Christian. But I have even heard Catholics themselves many times referring to non-Catholics as simply "Christian" implying that they view themselves as not also being Christian. Again, this is almost funny - but I have to hold my laughter because it is quite serious.

So to set it straight once and for all - Catholics are Christian - period. Now that's not to say that they believe the same things as non-Catholics - what it means is that at least we all (Catholics & Non-Catholics - commonly referred to as Protestants) have the same core belief that Jesus died on the cross that our sins would be forgiven and that we would have eternal life. At least in my opinion that should be the main focus, but more on that in my next post :)

PotatoLand

Last week I adventured to PotatoLand (aka Boise, Idaho) where I implemented ACOM's EZContentManager product at some "Virtual Academy". Luckily I got to spend some off time sightseeing the local towns stuff and got to do some nice hiking up by the "Camelbak" trail as well as the infamous "Riverwalk" which is quite nice. Wish I'd had a tube! Even more I wish I had my mountain bike as I heard later that Boise was the fastest growing mountain bike area in like the universe :) Cool stuff....

Chumba Wumba

Since Ted didn't get in that last group pic - here's him at work on the beach connecting to his manufacturing in Taiwan via Skype-this guy loves his toys :)

So many babies!

Tonight at 9:57 pm my friend and "Ficher" Justin has become a father to this little guy: Javin Arlo Ugerio. Awww....Looks just like his dad :)

Whatever way you get your Jesus on...

A very wise man (we'll just call him the Mysterious Mr. A for now...) once gave me some very wise words: "Whatever way you get your Jesus on" and I have come to understand and even use this in my everyday life. Basically, I interpret this to mean that whatever type of Christian you are, that is cool. The only thing I have to add there is: as long as you are 'alive'. What all this means is that it doesn't matter what denomination you come from: Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Baptist - as long as you have that "relationship" with Christ, believing that He is Lord and died on the cross for your sins then everything else seems to fit into place. Now many may ask, what about church, baptism, communion, yada yada yada, those things are VERY important also. But I truly believe (as quoted from Jesus)...the faith of a little child....is what we should all have. Now that means to me not only that we have to believe "without seeing", but also perhaps that we shouldn't be so worried about not only what I call "the details" but also "how everyone else is doing it". Now again I must say it is VERY important to know and live by these "details" like the laws, the sacraments, etc. but simply that if we focus more on the true core of the religion, that we might - just might - realize that we are all really getting at the same thing...that is, that by God's grace, we are saved, and that we are to live by His Word, and be fisher's of men. What this means to me is that we should really stop looking at all our differences (as Christians) and preaching to each other, when we really need to get OUT THERE and preach to the world. Now different types of preaching may certainly work better for different people, and that makes sense since there are so many types of denominations. Now that doesn't mean we shouldn't all be UNIFIED. I'm not saying that we should all be Catholic, Lutheran, etc. but rather that we should all be respective, acceptive, and understanding of each other. This means that not only do we have to respect those that practice in a different way, but also to accept them in to God's holy body of THE CHURCH, and in order to do this, we must finally understand how we each do that and why it is important. Perhaps in my next few blogs I'll try to focus on each of these individually and explain why they have become so important to me. God bless you all!

It's a boy!

That's right, Anthony and Joy just gave birth to their new baby boy yesterday afternoon, Dominick. So cute! I want one!

The Goose

I can't wait to go back to Gooseberry Mesa, Utah. It is a most excellent ride. This is a pic from the "South Rim" I believe that is only a 5 minute ride from camp. God is good.

San Juan

Travis, Will, Weyland and I did San Juan this past weekend and boy was it good times. I ate it hard in some rooty section going down to the meadows past cocktail rock (picture to left) and messed up my wrist, but it's all good now.  Check out more info here: http://www.geoladders.com/show_route.php?route=129

Texas

So I went to Texas for an onsite implementation at Texas A&M - did the full tour with College Station, Dallas, Amarillo, Corpus Christi, and a few others - highlights were hiking out to Lighthouse Peak in http://www.palodurocanyon.com/ and getting to see my nephew Isaiah and meet his wife and his new baby girl which is also my new grand neice - phew! - picture to be soon attached :)

Horse Surfing

So Travis and I were driving out to San Juan to ride this last Saturday morning and we saw some cows on the side of the road and I decided to patent my latest idea of horse/cow surfing. All you'll need is a saddle with some foot straps built in, and there you go!

All you can eat Sushi!

I haven't been there yet, but I just heard of a great sushi place in Fullerton that has all you can eat sushi for $20 on Thursday nights from 8:30-11. Check them out online here: http://www.rockinrestaurants.com/chomp/sushi.htm

Merry CHRISTmas Everyone!

To everyone that is reading this, I hope you all have a very Merry CHRISTmas and to not forget the real reason for the season! Not Santa, elves, reindeer, trees, eggnog, lights, snow...but the best gift of all....baby Jesus!

Rock On

All in. It’s about all I can hear from the holdem game that my coworkers play next to me. I decided to take down a few things before I forget. So yesterday was a good day. A very good day. So I got up early (8) since I slept early the night before and went for a run. I ran on the beach to downtown. I saw a nice church so I went in. It must’ve been Catholic with all the lovely Mary memorials. It was a very nice church however and I probably spent a half an hour just observing the various art, including stained glass, architecture, and people. I find it so intriguing to go from the busy downtown atmosphere with crazy taxis, super salesmen, and bars still being cleaned from the night before to such a quiet, peaceful, “spiritual” place all by just walking through the front doors of the church. What a wonderful place. So after that I got hyper and ran around the corner to find a hill of ultimate proportions. I ran up it. I then found myself in a place that I would imagine that not many white people have found themselves before. It was the real Puerto Vallarta. No more of the touristy crap. Roads and staircases that let to nothing. Cats and dogs that were actually thin, unlike the common fatty pets that Americans have. I don’t think they had seen white man before either though because they wouldn’t let me get too close. Chickens that would run through the streets. Stream crossings. Children having fun playing, even though they didn’t have toys to play with. Just plain fun. Good times. A few homeys gave me funny looks but I just smiled and waved and then ran a bit faster . Anywho, so I got back to the hotel just in time to call Gerren’s room and be told that they were leaving for a place called Jurupa in 15 minutes. I said okay, packed my bags and off we went. So we took a taxi down to old town where we took a water taxi south for half an hour. We ended up seeing some whales on the way down which was an unexpected treat. Upon arrival we were given the choice to walk around or just go chill on the beach. We had three hours. Guess what I did. Wrong. I did neither. Well I actually did walk about 100 feet up to the waterfall which is where the other 3 (Gerren, Jeff, and Justin) turned back to chill on the beach. The hills called me again. And I’m so glad that I heard their call. I actually had to do some rockclimbing up the side of the waterfall and then I found some trail at the top. Along the way I found some cave full of butterflies that was pretty cool. So I walked along the trail a bit only to find some very tan white gentleman with no shirt on and a waterbottle tucked into his shorts. I decided to take the unbeaten trail again at that point and made my way along the rocks through the stream. I somehow found myself back on the trail after a few and then again ran into the man. Mike was his name. I have since coined him mountain man Mike. Although he didn’t really live in the mountains. In all actuality he (currently) was living in a tent down on the beach, where he had been residing for a few months already. He just decided to listen to the hills that day as well. And I’m so glad he did. So I found him picking mandarin oranges off a tree and he offered me some and I ate and it was good. The beginning of a beautiful friendship. Too bad it only lasted for a few hours. I’ll probably see him around though . So we walked and talked up the stream to a mini waterfall. I learned of his adventures and he learned of mine. I must admit that he had quite a few more in his lifetime, but then again, he was 62. I got a few years to go. On our way down we found ourselves on the wrong side of the barb-wire but I’m glad we did because we able to meet a native, Dan Whitley (I think) who has been “renting” this cabin-type structure for a few years now. There was another gentleman there who had just gotten there and was going to “sublease” some land there to pitch his tent for a few. He was playing the flute (which I later found out was Native American) and Dan was playing some drums that he made (which I later found out was how he made money: woodworking, and playing the drums at Mimi’s café (no not part of the chain) down in the village. They (the 3 of them, including Mike) were some of the most peaceful people I have ever met. We talked for half an hour or so about our adventures and the adventures of others, including the “Peace Pilgrim.” Dan left us with a few fresh mandarin oranges off his tree, and we were off. We hiked down a bit, until we got past the point where I remembered coming up. Not long, and we found ourselves on a super eroded trail which Mike told me was called the Shit Creek Trail. So there we were. Going down shit creek, without a paddle. (slapping knee) And then. The beach. He showed me his tent. We shook. He left me with a saying that I had heard him say a few times in the past hour. “Rock on.”