In February, I turned 35.  I was fine with it, I think around age 32 I accepted that I am growing older, no need to hold on to my 20s, it wasn’t like they were that amazing or anything, they were good but it was time to move on.  And with age comes wisdom, right?  At least that is what I am told.  So, I had no problem embracing this half-way point of my 30s (here’s a weird deal, I remember when my mom turned 39, of course I thought she was so old and wise, I wonder what she thought) the one thing that was bothering me and had for awhile is that I had no regular routine of working out.  Last year saw me mainly fixing up a rental property which caused soreness and loss of weight, but mainly sweating it off, nothing consistent and nothing that was making me overall stronger.

Enter Crossfit.

I have several good friends that have been doing this exercise program(not sure I should call it that but I am a newbie, so oh well).  It is all about becoming a stronger and healthier person.  Knowing I was turning 35 caused me to finally take the plunge and go for it.  I had heard stories of it from these very encouraging and persuasive friends for literally 3 years, even though some of the stories freaked me I knew that if I were to start something, this would be it.  So on Feb first, I did.

Crossfit is perfect for me.  I show up at a set time, with a small group of people that also show up at that time.  We are led through strength training and then a workout of the day.  Sometimes the workouts will take only 3-5 minutes, depending on how fast you are able to go through the activities, but I am always gasping for air and feeling like I just pushed myself to get stronger.  There is a lot of variety so I don’t get bored and there is also someone telling me what to do and making sure I do it correctly,, it is not just about quickness or heavy lifting.  Technique is key, doing it right is better than doing it fast.  I really do love it.  Of course there are days when it is hard to motivate myself to go, but once I win that battle and show up, I’m glad I did.  For a month an a half I have been on it, I have lost some weight, but I think that is mainly due to changed eating habits, I feel much more flexible, and I noticed just a bit that I am getting a little stronger.  It’s good.  So far 35 has been good, I actually have more energy and feel better than I did when I turned 34 & 33 and probably 32 (some lazy years).

I wanted to post something from the Crossfit Foundations Journal.  A basic guideline for how I am working to live my physical life.

World-Class Fitness in 100 Words:

• Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.

• Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast.

• Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense.

• Regularly learn and play new sports.

If you are thinking to start a new workout program, I highly recommend this one.  I haven’t even mentioned the fun and community aspect of it.  All ages, types and shapes of bodies can do it and are welcomed.  It is not just for a certain group of people.  I like working out next to women in their 50s, it’s encouraging (and so far, they have kicked my butt in the workouts).

So here’s to staying on track and becoming healthy and strong in this 36th year.

me: Hey babe.
(not Adriane) Graham: I miss you.
me: Hey buddy, I miss you too.
Graham: I’m crying for you.
me: Oh buddy, I am at work right now.
Graham: I need you to come home right now.
me: I wish I could, but I will be home later today, after I finish work.
Graham: Ok. I am going to Mammy (his great grandmother that he eats breakfast with on Mondays).
me: have fun with Mammy and Nanna and Mommy.
Graham: ok
me: I love you
Graham: I love you too. Bye.

If you are a parent of a child who is just now learning how to hold a conversation on the phone, then you know how meaningful this conversation is, and to know that he misses me when I’m not there kinda just melts my heart.   Looking forward to getting home tonight.

Colorado Hike from Ryan Smith on Vimeo.

This pic was taken as the players were being introduced, probably one of the loudest moments of the night. As you can tell, he was in awe but soon after this pic was taken he began to say it was too loud and wanted to go home.  We made it past the intros and he slowly came around and fell in love with Rumble the Bison, especially when he played the drums, that was his favorite – looks like I will be buying a little Rumble doll soon.

At one point in the game, t-shirts were thrown down from the sky walk and uncle Justin fought for one as he landed near us, as soon as he got it he gave it to Graham – fighting for his nephew, that’s good.

Looking for food, we took a stroll around the stadium and ran into this robot, Graham gave him a high five. Later when he was telling mom about who he met he said in his robotic voice “i am a robot” while showing off his robot moves. Nice.

“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

God said to me “now is the time to prepare your mind, gain knowledge in Me, let that knowledge flow down to your heart and transform you, sanctify you, then I will do more through you”  Whenever God speaks, it brings in a rush of life and then a response of obedience, in a since, obedience becomes second nature because I believe Him and love to respond to His voice, all of this is second nature in the redeemed heart in me.  Anyway, the reading has been full of His mercy, to grasp it, and respond in worship to how great a God He truly is.  How His ways are so different than mine, and that isn’t just a phrase to use when I don’t understand Him, but even when I do.  He says that we WILL suffer for the Gospel, but I haven’t been full on suffering for the Gospel, so have I been full on speaking the Gospel?  I won’t go all into this but the suffering for the Gospel is something that is rocking my inner world!  I mean, we are called and suppose to live this way, it is almost like a litmus text – no suffering=no advancement of the Kingdom.  Here I am throwing this out without any good substance to back it, I have it, it is there but I may not be able to fully communicate it right now.  For a quick idea on this read 2 Timothy, see what Paul says about suffering, then read the NT, lots of it in there as well.  I am sure there will be more on this later as God is constantly teaching me this truth.  For a secondary read on this, pick up ‘Desiring God’ by Piper, read the intro and then the last chapter which is on Suffering, it will rock your inner world too.

Ok, ok, back to the post.  I am leaving tomorrow and going with this group of guys, at least most of them.  I am excited about this.  Sam Storms, our pastor at Bridgeway, is one of the speakers, so that is an honor to be there with him too.  Anyway, I hope to post over the next few days, the ways that God speaks to me while there.  I am not a big conference guy, I tend to get bored & tired and sometimes overwhelmed with all the info thrown out.  But for this one, I am going to take it slowly, resting in His presence and asking Him to speak, change and cause me again to obey Him.

(The entire time I have been writing this post, my son has been sitting beside me offering me imaginary bacon and pancakes he made, that explains why the post is not real concise, oh well, but Graham did just tell me that a bowl in the kitchen is “breakable” – nice word for a 2 year old).

I love when she writes.

“Suppose, in the encounter between doctor and child [in an abortion], the child won half of the time, and killed the doctor in self-defense—something he would have every right to do. Very few doctors would perform abortions. They perform them now only because of their absolute power over a small, fragile, helpless victim.”

—Stephen D. Schwarz, The Moral Question of Abortion (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1990), 143.

Graham’s First Song from Ryan Smith on Vimeo.

I am finding that I am back into reading, partly because I am doing an internship that requires it but partly because I am desiring the growth that comes from it.  I love truth, and how it transforms my being into being more like Jesus.  I love humble yet creative stories and authors who write in first person.  Even though I have not read too many, I want to peruse through a few solid biographies this year as well.

For my own sake and for accountability sake I am going to list some books that I am intentionally planning to read this year.  I was first approaching this as a number of books I would read this year but I don’t operate like that, that doesn’t inspire me.  What does inspire me are great proven books, ones that I can have high expectations for and watch how they meet those or exceed those expectations.  Those kind of books, are the ones I will work to read.

On with the 10 for 2010.  BTW – these are books I have either wanted to read for a long time or ones that at some point in my life I have been interested in.

Enjoy.

• When I Don’t Desire God by John Piper
• The Way of the Heart by Henri Nouwen
• Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• Let The Nations Be Glad by John Piper (re-read)
• Reflections on the Psalms by C.S. Lewis
• Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit by Francis Chan
• Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters by Timothy Keller
• Worship Matters: Leading Others to Encounter the Greatness of God by Bob Kauflin
• This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence by John Piper
• Love and War: Finding the Marriage You’ve Dreamed Of by John Eldredge
  & Staci Eldredge

I pulled up the SousChef on the Mac and went to work.  These are pretty decent cookies, more like a brownie type cookie.  It calls for an instant espresso, not sure where to find this so I did some research and discovered that I could use NesCafe instead, took me back to my Istanbul days where I didn’t really care for it and was reminded that I still don’t care for it.  If you attempt these cookies, I would leave out the instant coffee(espresso) part, unless you just must have that coffee flavor included.  Also, I would probably add a tad bit more salt or maybe use salted butter instead, ok, other than that – they are some good cookies.  They strike a solid punch of straight chocolate all over your taste buds.  You like chocolate = you like these.

Taking ‘em to a house church gathering tomorrow night.

Ingredients

Directions