Crossinator

Marathon Training Update

2008-07-14T12:16:00.002-04:00

Week 6 of training is in the bag. Here is a quick recap but be sure to check out the full post. This has been kind of an up and down week physically. Alternating between tired and sluggish and almost euphoric - sometimes in the same day! Keep reading to find out all the details. Another wedding this weekend forced some major changes to occur at the end of the week. There wasn't going to be any

Breathing the Breath

2008-07-06T13:23:00.001-04:00

Matt Redman's Breathing the Breath We have nothing to give That didn't first come from Your hands We have nothing to offer You Which You did not provide Every good, perfect gift comes from Your kind and gracious heart And all we do is give back to You What always has been Yours Lord, we're breathing the breath That You gave us to breath To worship You, to worship You And we're singing these

Book Review: A Dangerous Faith

2008-07-02T05:33:00.000-04:00

Dangerous Faith: Growing in God and Service to the World written by Christian leader Joel Vestal is an excellent recounting of the many ways God is moving around the world in dangerous and tough places. Vestal, director of ServLife International, has pulled stories from his vast experiences overseas and weaved in vital truths from the Word of God. His official bio reads: Joel Vestal has

Marathoning 4 Change

2008-06-30T04:03:00.000-04:00

I am planning to run my first marathon this fall. I plan to run the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon on October 5. In honor of my time overseas and my passion for the world to experience Christ's love and the ability to eat three square meals a day I am dedicating this race, journey, and experience to raising support for World Vision's work around the world. I have actually been training now for

Octogenarian Facebook Drama

2008-06-27T05:08:00.000-04:00

http://view.break.com/512971 - Watch more free videos HT Beth's Blog

Worse than Darfur?

2008-06-25T03:33:00.000-04:00

The BBC is reporting that the forgotten crisis in Somalia may actually be worse than the crisis in Darfur. Mark Bowden, the UN's humanitarian co-ordinator for the region, says the food crisis is dramatically worsening. Somalia faces a worse situation than Darfur, Mr Bowden says. Contributing to the crisis are fighting between rival militias, successive droughts, sharply rising food prices and

Deliverance...

2008-06-23T08:05:00.000-04:00

No not the movie, Deliverance. Nor deliverance from evil, but that's close. Deliverance from testing, trial, and temptation. That was the theme of Sunday's sermon. Jeff Cowmeadow of Calvary Church has been going through the book of Matthew, hitting pretty much every verse as he goes along. He has spent several weeks focusing on the Lord's Prayer. He has provided some unique view points

If You Can Use Anything

2008-06-22T14:43:00.002-04:00

This song has a variety of meanings but is a powerful call to let go and let God use you throughout each day to bring His love and mercy. If You can use anything, Lord, You can use me. If You can use anything, Lord, You can use me. Take my hands, Lord and my feet. Touch my heart, Lord, speak through me. If You can use anything, Lord, You can use me.This is actually the chorus to the song Use Me

Prosperity and Charity

2008-06-19T04:20:00.000-04:00

We've had many conversations about how much we as Christians should rely on savings accounts, retirement accounts, and similar investment strategies. Here are two perspectives from Purpose for Everyday Living: Finding God in Everyday Life: Day 146 - Keeping Prosperity in Perspective If riches increase, do not set your heart on them. - Pslam 62:10 NKJV In the demanding world in which we live,

Race Review: Karate Kickin' Cancer 5K

2008-06-18T04:14:00.000-04:00

I raced again for some unknown reason. Actually I thought it would be a good way to enjoy a group run and support a good cause - cancer research. This was a very-low key race and I got 4th overall. You can read the full review here. Here is a short snippet: The turn around was a water stop and a clown standing in the middle of the road. The guy in front of me took water, so I opted not to -

Saturday Fun

2008-06-17T04:58:00.000-04:00

Saturday was the epitome of summer fun!! After my 5K we lounged around for awhile before deciding to bike 7 miles to the Como Zoo, wandering around until closing time and then riding to the Stone Arch Bridge Arts Festival. Sadly the festival was closed but we continued our meandering bike journey and discovered some new islands along the Mississippi River before enjoying Chipotle on Nicollet

Minnesota Bike Festival

2008-06-16T04:37:00.000-04:00

This past weekend was the Minnesota Bike Festival which had several different cycling competitions throughout the metro-area. One of the major events was a criterium course in downtown Minneapolis. This 4 stage of the festival was aptly called the Minneapolis Downtown Classic. We watched with friends Kristofer and Amy and had a great Friday evening. Here are a few pics from the night - all

Sara Groves - I Saw What I Saw

2008-06-13T09:23:00.001-04:00

Race Review: USATF-MN 5000m Championships

2008-06-11T02:17:00.000-04:00

For the full review please visit Team Cross Runs. Here is a short excerpt: One highlight of the meet was that Carrie Tollefson competed in the 1500 trying to get her Olympic "A" standard. Back to my race! I went in with no expectations having done no speed work in a long time and having done a 10-miler the day before. I knew I was going to get lapped several times since my PR is 18 and change.

Racism Still Prevelant

2008-06-08T03:45:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to Barack Obama for finally clinching the Democratic primary. Let the fun of the general election cycle begin!! I'm sure this fall's Olympics will provide a needed respite from the political talk. Throughout the primary season it has been interesting to watch Obama electrify crowds and become the first black presidential candidate. Throughout the last six months I've had

Humor Alert

2008-06-04T22:55:00.003-04:00

This is a funny forward that I haven't seen yet so I cleaned it up and made it postable! THE RULES OF RURAL OHIO ARE AS FOLLOWS Listen up City Slickers! Pull your droopy pants up. You look like an idiot.Turn your cap right, your head isn't crooked.Let's get this straight; it's called a 'dirt road.' I drive a pickup truck because I want to. No matter how slow you drive, you're going to get dust

Minneapolis Update

2008-06-04T01:10:00.003-04:00

I am finally sitting down to write a much overdue update about our life in Minneapolis! I guess the absence of an update means we have been busy but that isn't a really good excuse. I can't really use the weather either since it just now getting consistently gorgeous outside. Today it is currently 80 with lots of bright sunshine! It is hard to know where to begin to try and cover about 5

High School Graduation

2008-06-02T08:49:00.000-04:00

We had the opportunity to travel back to Ohio and Indiana over Memorial Day weekend to see our families and celebrate as one of my sister's graduated from high school. We also celebrated with my cousin who graduated valedictorian from the same class! It was a fun filled weekend that wasn't long enough to really enjoy lots of time with our families or any friends. Here are a few random pictures

Exercise Balls for Education

2008-05-30T09:55:00.000-04:00

A Minneapolis school used grant money to purchase exercise balls for the entire classroom to use. Used both as a desk chair and form of exercise they have become a critical part of the daily routine. During my visit, several students told me that sitting on the balls while they work helps them concentrate. During the recent Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) exams, students begged Hartman

Candidates Come Together for Darfur

2008-05-28T18:20:00.002-04:00

The Genocide Intervention Network released this video today featuring all 3 Presidential Candidates talking about the horrible, continuing genocide in Darfur. It is a pretty short video, but it makes a great statement about the need to change our policy towards Darfur. Go here http://www.askthecandidates.org/ to take action!

More about St Croix

2008-05-20T18:18:00.000-04:00

I started writing about this adventure awhile back but got really busy and didn't get a chance to finish it, so hopefully I will now! We spent sometime getting the camera working again before heading off to Maple Island which was actually mostly underwater. I'm not really sure if there was much to see there but there was the bridge and lots of water! We then drove back out to Big Eddy which

Twittered

2008-05-19T14:52:00.001-04:00

I finally gave in to the idea of Twittering. We'll see what happens! You can follow my tweets here or signup for the RSS here. Not sure why you should get Twitter, this article convinced me. My tweets are also available on the sidebar of both blogs and in my Facebook account. This is just one more social networking piece so we'll see how long it lasts or if I get addicted! Update: I'm

Worst to Best

2008-05-16T10:21:00.000-04:00

As Bike to Work week draws to a close I found two newspaper articles quite intriguing. The first comes from the Star Tribune which says that Minneapolis is ranked second in the nation for the number of bike commuters. While the other comes from the Indy Star which says that Indianapolis is ranked second from last in bike commuters! Quite the contrast. Part of the reason is that Indy just

Race Day: TC 1 Mile

2008-05-14T14:39:00.000-04:00

I had the pleasure of racing in a urban mile road race in downtown Minneapolis this past week. It was fabulous. I only missed a $10,000 prize by 1:27!! Check it out at Team Cross Runs. An excerpt: Thursday was a beautiful day but as it got closer to evening it looked like it might rain and the temperatures dropped. Walking from the car to packet pickup I was chilly in my t-shirt and shorts

RTO Scams

2008-05-12T12:58:00.000-04:00

I always knew Rent-to-Own places were too good to be true and scams. Sadly they take advantage of poor people more than anyone else. There are probably lots of reasons why those living in poverty are more susceptible to these scams than others, but I think at one point or another we are all desperate enough to try and do anything to feel pride in ourselves and our material goods. Take all of