blogs grow...

church buildings grow too

That's Central Community's Welcome Building. When I came to Central Community, just over 20 years ago, people in the church referred to it as "the chicken coop." I'd been here a year or two before I discovered that it was never really a chicken coop. It'd just been built on a severe budget with a design aimed at simplicity... a shed... just an old chicken coop. The building would never be mistaken for a chicken coop today. Over the years it's been changed a bit at a time... the picture above was taken 5 or 6 years ago during one of the buildings many upgrades.

Ken, our Associate Pastor, the one with real knowledge about building, pointed out to me long ago that we'd have been better off just to tear the thing down and build new. He's right of course. But the process has been such fun.

It's the way I feel about my blog. It's a little welcome into my life... for whatever it's worth. Started simple and it's grown: song of the day, deal of the day, joke of the day, weather, news, links, verse of the day, photos, movies... facets of media development we never imagined just a decade ago and it continues to grow as my knowledge base expands. Occasionaly someone will ask why I spend the time on it and I think of that "chicken coop" and how much joy it's been to watch it transition into Central Community's front door.

That's where the blog's going: blogs grow. Hope you'll stick with me for the joy, the journey, the invitation into a little bit more of how God's working in our ministry, our world, our family, me. Maybe you'll start a blog of your own. If so, email a link so I can clue into your journey from time to time. God created us to do this together.

blessings,

Eric

My Daily Run

That's a satellite shot of my neighborhood. Look closely and you'll see a little blue line with arrows: my daily run. Just under 5 and a half miles, the way I can put it off one would think it's a marathon. Weather's been perfect for running; cool, clear, an invitation to get outside... still I find a way to brush my teeth, check my email, read the newspaper, even cruise all my favorite www sites before pushing this old frame out the door.

But here's the deal- I'm out doing it again, everyday.

I'm a runner. People ask me about my running when I go places. I've been running for decades. In the '60's ran like a kid- (I was a kid!) In the '70's ran mornings when there were no waves- getting in on the fitness craze. Injured my knee running a 5k in '84 and cycled the rest of the '80's. Ran my first marathon in '91 at LA, spent the next decade running a marathon a year. The new century brought a bit of a slow down. Weeks that used to be filled with 40-45 miles were now lucky to break 20. It's been a roller coaster, filled with getting back at it and falling away- old age? No excuses. Too busy... life's definitely been... but I've run through busy times before. Think it's just time to get back at it, again.

This morning I'm blogging- one more excuse not to go outside and play... to run. I'll strap on my heart rate monitor, latch my little computer- a Garmin 305 -to my shoulder to track speed, route, etc... by gps... then go out and run the same little 5 mile loop I've been running for 14 years. Hope you've got something to pull you outdoors today.

still running,

Eric