Soakin' Up Life . . . at a 100 MPH!

I have started running again. Instead of running in the heat of the afternoon here in LA, I have begun running in the morning. It's a little cooler, but just as humid. Running in the morning allows me to get it out of the way and get to the rest of my day. Currently my routine is based on time not on distance. This week workouts consisted of running continuously for 40 minutes with a 60 minute run on Saturday. I don't try to run a specific distance. I just run for 20 minutes then turn around and do it again. I get as far as my body feels. If I walk, so be it. This week has consisted of two great 40-minute runs. I can't wait for Saturday's run. I've always enjoyed running. When I was in high school I won second place in our FCA Turkey Trot 2-Miler. I surprised even me. The first place guy was a state mile champion - go figure. The summer I graduated high school (1980 - huge heat wave, remember?) I ran 3 miles under 15 minutes. Of course I don't thi

(AP Photo/Sul Ross State University) Here's a great story . It's about a guy, Mike Flynt, who, at 59 years of age, will be suiting up for Sul Ross in Alpine, Texas this fall. So for all you guys that think your too old, don't tell Mike Flynt, cause you're not! Me neither! Can someone pass me the Alieve? Mike

Give up? Well. . .in case you haven't heard already. . .I'M OFFICIALLY ENGAGED! That's right folks. Last Friday night I asked my sweetie to marry me and she said, "YES!" Of course that was after she started crying. - Hint to the ladies: Answer first, cry later. Crying first kinda throws us off. We plan to get married Saturday, November 17, 2007 in small ceremony of family and friends here, in the Mobile area. So there you have it, sports fans. I'll have pics later. Mike

Today we will celebrate the life of Tammy Litton. We will - and always - praise the Lord for her salvation and the confidence we and the family have in knowing she is spending eternity in heaven. We will also rejoice in her life as a godly mother and wife. But we also hurt. We hurt for her loss. We hurt for her family. We hurt for the pain her loss brings to First Baptist North Mobile and the Litton family. Ed wrote a great post about her and the influence she had on her family. Take an opportunity to read it today (I borrowed this picture from his blog. Pastor Ed, I hope you don't mind.) As I have asked before, please pray for our church and for the Litton family as we/they say goodbye to Tammy - friend, mother, and wife. Remembering and Praying, Mike

Please pray for our Senior Pastor, Ed Litton, and his family. Yesterday his wife, Tammy, and daughter, Kayla, were involved in a tragic accident. Kayla is fine, but the accident took the life of Tammy Litton. We know that Tammy is in heaven worshiping her God, but that doesn't make the loss any easier. Ed & Tammy have three children - Josh (attends Full Sail school in Orlando), Tyler (who is about to start school at Union University in Jackson, TN), and Kayla (she is in high school) Pray for the arrangements. Pray for the loss in their lives of a co-laborer for Christ, helpmate, friend, and mother. Pray for the First Baptist North Mobile family. Ask God for strength. Ask God for grace. Ask God courage for this family. Finally, I know Ed and Tammy well enough to know that they would ask that you pray for God to be glorified through all of this. Mike

Life is about change. If you have children you know that, whether it's the first day of school or college (my nephew started college this month) you know about change. You also know about change if you notice your waistline just isn't a small as it was when you were in high school. Or when we look in the mirror we notice parts of us aren't as high as they used to be - includes hair for some guys. Again. . .life is about change. I think we could all agree on that. Well. . . . . . . .my life changed earlier this week. When I got home from Cindy's the other night I noticed my Ipod was having problems. Went to the Apple support web site. Did all they asked me to do. NOTHING! Then the nail in the coffin - the notice that if nothing they suggested worked then I was pretty much SOL. Apple suggested I make arrangements to have it serviced. HA! It's an Ipod Mini (it was replaced by the much cooler Ipod Nano ) and it's two years old - not going to happen. My

I own a 2000 Toyota Tundra pickup. Of all the vehicles I've owned it's one of my favorites - extra cab, captain's chairs, easy on my back, and big ol' V8. But I've been having trouble with the driver's side window. No problem going down, but very s. . .l. . .o. . .w going up. I've even had to help it a couple of times. Now? It won't even go up, only down. So, yesterday was the day to take it in and get it fixed. About 4:00 pm I headed out of the door to take it to Mobile. The dealer, Springhill Toyota , is about 15 miles south on I-65 (it's exit 1 on I-65). I get about 1.5 miles from the house and pull into the local Circle K to get gas and it begins to freakin' rain like crazy! But it's not only raining so hard I couldn't see the entrance to the highway only about a 200 yards up the road, gale-force winds began blowing from the east. So I get gas and head down the interstate to Mobile. . .drenched! The only thing that saved me

Kentucky Man Wraps Head in Duct Tape as Disguise for Attempted Robbery Ran across this story of a guy who used duct tape as a disguise to rob a liquor store. Now I know guys like duct tape. My brother, Dan, used it to hold a clutch cable together on a car he once owned. But, I think we've come to end of usefulness with this use. Look at his picture. He's bleeding. Somebody beat the snot out of him. Ok. . .ok. . .now just imagine what it's going to look like when he takes all that duct tape off. NOW just imagine him in jail. Good luck dude! Sorry y'all. I'm just laughing way too hard right about now. Gotta go. Mie

Finished a 30 minute run (about 3.1 miles) almost an hour ago. It's now 89 degrees with a heat index of about 98. And in the immortal words of comedian Tim Hawkins , " If it feels like 98, it IS 98! " The crazy thing about running in the extreme heat is that I LIKE it. I love to run in the heat. Maybe growing up in Texas where you run in the heat from spring to fall that made me this way. I don't know. I just know that when it's hot my muscles warm up faster, my joints don't ache, and I can maintain a nice even stride for a fairly good while. The only problem I have is warming down. You know. . .that little walk afterwards that is supposed to help cool you down. What the crap is that all about? As soon as I begin to walk it's like someone set every nerve covering every inch of my body on a blazing hot fire! OK. . .so it takes a little bit to cool down. Sit under the ol' AC and ceiling fans with a bottle of ice cold water and in no time I&#

I'm not liking Mondays very much. It seems that I don't get up when I should - mainly because I'm too tired from the weekend and when I do get up I feel like I'm behind schedule because I didn't get up earlier. Then when I do get up I just can't get going. Well, this morning's no different. Didn't want to get up when the alarm went off. When I FINALLY got up I felt like I was moving in slow motion. Can't seem to get going this morning. And it's not like I don't have stuff to do - bank, calls, emails, writing, time with God (maybe this should be first, eh?), Wal-Mart. So it's not like I have all this time with nothing to do. So. . .like I said earlier, Mondays aren't looking like my favorite day of the week so far. In fact they're running a neck-to-neck with Thursdays - it's my yard day and I don't look forward to that day very much either. How's you Monday going? Mike

Anonymous comments will no longer be accepted on this blog. If you post a comment at least have the common decency and guts to, if nothing else, sign your name at the end of the comment. Hiding behind "Anonymous" will no longer be tolerated. I had someone make a great statement on the King of Pop post, but it's difficult to dialogue about the post when "anonymous" could be anyone and everyone. Sorry Anonymous. Like I said, you made aple great point, but please don't hide behind "Anonymous" anymore. Mike

Last night was the last night in my bed. I'm selling it today. I had an estate sale and a couple wanted it, so I'm delivering it to them and collecting the money. To be honest, I could really use the money. Last night I laid there and thought about the night I shared with Karen how I felt God calling me into full-time ministry. It's where God confirmed that calling through Karen that night. I thought about the late nights I would lie there reading books - for school and seminary. Memories came to mind of how I, when I was in the corporate world, would keep a pad and pen beside that very bed to write down solutions to problems that would come to me while I slept at night. I remember late night talks with Karen in that bed - mainly because it was dark, quiet, and I'm A.D.D. so. . .no distractions made for better conversations. I remember reading to her from a book that became one of her favorites - Bruce & Stan's God is in the Small Stuff. . .And it a

"King of Pop" , that was the headline over Barry Bonds' picture tonight when I clicked on ESPN.com . So Barry did it. He has overcome one of the most difficult and respected records in Major League Baseball - 755 home runs by Hank Aaron. On Tuesday night he hit number 756 against the Washington Nationals. Way to go Barry! I have to admit that I'm not a Barry Bonds fan. I could really care less and wasn't rooting and hoping he would brake the record. I think he has no class or character. His pride and arrogance gets in the way of his incredible ability. And he's a jerk. But I do know this about him - he can stinkin' hit a ball. In my mind there will always be this haze surrounding his accomplishment due to his suspected connection to steroid use all these years. Did he use? Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. I don't know the facts, so I can't pipe in on this issue. In spite of all that, I do know that every batter that goes to the plate

If you ride a motorcycle, especially if you ride a Harley, one word stands out - STURGIS! That's right Sturgis, SD hosts the largest gathering of motorcycle riders in the world! And the 67th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is going on right now - from Aug 6-12. One day I'm will be a part of the rally. I would really like to get a bigger Harley - Electra Glide or Heritage Classic - to make the ride. My XL1200C Sportster would definitely wear me out. But rest assured I will be there one day! Mike

If you haven't see The Bourne Ultimatum - GO SEE IT! What the stink are you waiting for? This is not one to wait and see on the ol' 31-incher. You need to see it on the big screen. I love the Bourne series and even own the Supremacy video. I will own this one as well. The same guy who directed The Bourne Supremacy , Paul Greengrass, directed The Bourne Ultimatum and it's great. Matt Damon does a great job playing Jason Bourne - from the first one to this one. And the action continues from start to finish. I promise you will not be disappointed! I hate it when people give a movie away - so that's as far as I will take it. Just know this is a must see movie. Mike

Today awaits. It waits for me to get off my very tired rear end and get busy. The problem is that my very tired rear end doesn't want to get up and get busy. Sort of have a "situation" here you might say. So who wins? At this point I don't have a clue. I'm just tired and have a million (OK, so I don't have a million things to do, but I do have a lot). I got stuff like mow - no bale - the yard, clean up my office - haven't done anything with it since moving my office from church into my office at home, the two have never met before and I'm afraid WWIII is going to break out in there if I don't create some order quick-like. I've got emails to write and ministry stuff to do. There's the two writing projects I need to get busy working on. I still have furniture from my estate sale I need to get rid of and a Passat to sell. At some point I need to put carpet in the house so I can put it up for sale. Then there's sleep. I would