A Surpassing Spirit and a New Weight Rack

Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.  Daniel 6:3

The word behind excellent means something that surpasses or more.  Daniel had a spirit that surpassed the spirits of the people around him.  What does this mean?  Based upon the context, Daniel was an honest man who was faithful with the responsibility that Darius gave to him.  I imagine that he was also approachable, kind, and certainly discerning.  

Daniel's spirit is a good example for me.  How about you?  Are we trustworthy, discerning, approachable, and humble people?  Or, are we bitter, antagonistic, self-centered, and short-sighted?  It's easy to have a spirit that is filled with all of the wrong things, isn't it?  If our faith is in Christ as our only Savior, we have His Spirit.  We just need to yield to it.

The workplaces, churches, homes, and society are all filled with people who don't have a good spirit.  Let's be different.  Let's be like Daniel.

I added 40s, 35s, and 30s to my dumbbell collection, so it was time for a new rack.  The rack arrived today.  It fits well into the space.

This is a before picture.

This is after.

Just to be clear, the pink sweater on the right side of the picture is Sandra's, not mine!

The Most Beautiful Time of the Year

This is the prettiest time of year.  This is the time of year for reserving weekends to take walks in the beautiful autumn landscape.  That's what we did today.  After a leisurely morning, we headed off to Panera Bread for lunch.  Afterwards, we made our way to a park that we haven't visited for some time.  The park had a Toddler Trail with activities for kids about every 20'.  Since I'm married to a big kid, we took the trail, and my 49-year-old toddler did her best to engage me in all of the activities ... every 20' 😏.

The trails throughout this park are lovely.  Since our last visit, they added a 1.0 mile loop through some grasslands.  The nature trail is about 1.3 miles, so putting the two together makes for a great walk.  The leaves are in full color here in Bowling Green, KY, and they are amazing.  Our Creator God certainly made some awesome things.

Just before lunch, we stopped at Meijer and found these LED lights that are installed easily into existing light sockets.  WOW!!! What a difference!  Our garage space is no longer too dark 🌞.  Working out in the winter time will now be a much brighter experience!!  They were on the clearance rack for 50% off, so that makes the whole thing even better.

For the last two days, I've been meditating on this verse ...

"Wait on the LORD, and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it."  

                                                                                                            Psalm 39:1

In Jesus Christ, I'm forgiven; I'm safe; I'm victorious, and someday, I'll be with Him in His eternal Kingdom.  Will you?  I don't need to be agitated and worried about life with all of its uncertainties and disappointments.  I just need to wait on God.  I need to serve Him faithfully.  Someday soon, the wicked will no longer be in control.  

The Fiery Hammer and the Useless Dreams

"The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD.

Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?"

                                                                                         Jeremiah 23:28, 29

I've always been fascinated by these words.  God spoke these words to His prophet Jeremiah almost 2500 years ago.  Jeremiah was dealing with people who valued their dreams over God's Word.  Did they have dreams about the future?  Maybe, but it didn't make any difference.  The false prophets were telling the people that Jerusalem wouldn't be destroyed, and they convinced the people that Jeremiah couldn't be trusted.  God's Word was clear, unmovable, and inerrant, but the "dreams" of those religious people were fallible and untrustworthy.  In the end, Jerusalem was levelled, just like God promised would happen, and all the dreams of the prophets came to nothing.

This reminds me of what's happening in our society.  I talk to people and I hear about their "thoughts" and "dreams" that they have on truth and religious matters, but personal thoughts and dreams aren't the things upon which we can build a foundation.  Only God's Word stands.  Be careful about putting stock in anyone's dreams or thoughts.  The Bible is the only information that you can trust.  Be especially careful when someone tells you of a dream that is in direct contradiction of biblical truth.  If they truly had a dream like that, it didn't come from God!

I like the way the Lord simply said, "Have your dreams, and the one who has My Word, let him keep proclaiming it faithfully!"  God's word is the wheat, and our human dreams and opinions are the chaff.  Only the wheat will survive.  Only the wheat will nourish.  Only the wheat is worth keeping.

In the coming day of judgment, God's Word will burn through the false and break in pieces the opposition, and every "dream" upon which so many people place so much value, at the expense of loving and obeying the Bible, will be completely forgotten.

Discovering a Nearby Waterfall

You can't live in an area and never visit the local landscape, so today we decided to check out the local waterfall.  It was a great one-time-and-done adventure.  It's quite small, but the terrain was a nice distraction from the concrete and buildings of bustling Bowling Green.

Yeah, the falls was more like a trickle.  The hillside sprung a small leak 😛, but it was still a nice walk through the woods.

After lunch, we added some matting to the gym space in our garage.  My coated dumbbells were sticking to the sealer on our concrete floor, so we resolved the issue by cutting an old workout mat and fitting it to the space.  The mat also prevents the other rolled up mats from sticking to the floor.  It works great!!

Having our own equipment and space has saved us thousands of dollars in gym membership fees; plus, it's nice to have privacy and avoid the excessive skin exposure that you normally find in a gym 😏.

In study today, I was encouraged by God's provision for Daniel as he took a stand in his heart against the influences of Babylon.  The Lord is more than ready to help someone who wants to hold on to God in faith.

"But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.  Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs."

                                                                                                Daniel 1:8, 9

Adventures at the Shedd Aquarium

On our way to a wedding in Wisconsin, we decided to stop at the Shedd Aquarium on the east side of Chicago.  Once we emerged alive from the abominable traffic and arrived at the aquarium, the day was great.  The temp was a perfect 75F.

We enjoyed every display inside the aquarium.  If you stop and look at everything, the entire aquarium takes about 3-4 hours.  Sandra's favorite was, of course, the otters.  She's a big otter fan.  We doubled back to them for a second look, needless to say.  I didn't get any pics of the otters, but here are some pics of the 2 story aquarium.

The aquarium is located inside of a very large green space that stretches for well over 9 miles along the coast of Lake Michigan.  A greenway encompassed the isthmus on which the aquarium was located, so we walked it of course.  The entire day was a great adventure, but we are both grateful for the fact that we don't live in Chicago!!

"O LORD, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.  So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts."  

                                                                                                     Psalm 104:24, 25

Awake and Sing

"Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead."

Isaiah 26:19

Undoubtedly, this is one of my favorite verses concerning the promise of a righteous resurrection.  In the middle of severe times and heavy burdens, Isaiah looked ahead, in faith, to the resurrection day of the righteous who are in Jesus the Messiah. 

Recently, friends of ours have said goodbye to someone they love.  By God's grace, those who left were redeemed by the blood of Christ, and for those of us who also are resting in Jesus' righteousness, we will see them again.  This is more certain than all the temporary things that seem so certain but are not.

"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, 

And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?"

John 5:25, 26

A New Addition to the Family

OK, so this may sound weird, but I'm very excited about a new set of coated dumbbells. They don't damage flooring. They're easier on the hands. I found these on sale through Amazon. Normally, these would be about $1.50/pound, but I got them for less than a dollar per pound. That's very good for this style. 

Now, I have the next step up from the 25 pounders. Bet you can't guess what the workout this morning was ... Strength training!

"For the king trusteth in the LORD, and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved."

Psalm 21:7

I love this verse. God's mercy is what keeps me day by day. We had a guest speaker in the service yesterday. He shared a testimony about witnessing to a relative. I've been needing to do the same thing, so today, the Lord helped me to do that. I'm grateful for people who encourage me to do right. Such is just one more example of God's sustaining mercy!

First of More Cool Mornings to Come

"The eyes of all wait upon Thee; and Thou givest them their meat in due season."  Psalm 145:15

We are completely dependent upon the Lord for everything.  I'm grateful for the cool breezes that He sends our way, especially after months of heat and humidity.

Fall isn't here yet, but the cool morning and dryer air today tells me it's not far away 🍂🍁

Sandra and I were able to open up the garage and do our workouts with a refreshing and cool breeze blowing through the space.

Today was leg-day. 

3 sets of each move for 12 repetitions

Walking Lunges with Dumbbells

Romanian Dead-lift

Box Jumps

Bulgarian Split Squat (8/side)

Goblet Squats

On the last set of Goblet Squats, I did a jump squat every other squat move.  I used a 25-pound weight.

A New Favorite

 I had to take a business trip to Florence, KY (near Cincinnati) recently.  The plan was to have lunch at Tropical Smoothie Cafe, but as I was walking toward the restaurant, I noticed Bibibop Asian Grill.  Hmm??  What's that about?  I decided to check it out.

Basically, it's like a Chipotle, only with Asian food.  They have fresh ingredients, and you can get healthier options like broccoli, kimchi, and sweet potato noodles.  I went for the purple rice, broccoli, kimchi, Korean BBQ, purple cabbage, and black beans.  It was very good.  I found a new favorite while travelling 😉

Too much sodium intake is always a challenge when eating away from home.  I'm sure this place isn't low sodium, but it's better than McDonald's!!

A Favorite Cereal

I enjoy a good cereal to fill in the missing calories when I'm having a breakfast smoothie.  The problem is, most standard cereals are packed with added sugar.  For instance, Cocoa Puffs and Honey Nut Cheerios both have 12g (3 sugar cubes) per 1 cup of cereal, and I suspect that is on the low end if you examined some of the other cereals that are available.  

Sandra and I also eat gluten-free, so finding a healthy cereal can be a challenge.  Recently, we came across Seven Sundays brand cereal.

With real ingredients like sunflower protein, dates, etc., this GF cereal is both tasty and fairly healthy.  It has 1g of added sugar and 5g total (dates make up the other 4g).  Fiber is 3g/serving.  Not bad, and protein is at 5g/serving.  It's only 170 calories per cup, so it makes a perfect filler for a breakfast that needs "just a bit more."  It's also a great snack.  I like the cocoa flavor best, but the cinnamon is nothing to turn your nose up at.  

We try to get 25-30g of protein per meal and 5g of fiber per meal, so little wins like this cereal help!

Perfect Morning to Run

 The thermometer hovered around 62F this morning.  That's good running weather for August if you ask me!  After numerous mornings of "feels like" 85F, I was lovin' my cool morning run 🏃

I did 3 miles this morning, but my tracker didn't pick up the whole thing, so it showed up as 2.76 miles.  

This verse stood out to me as I read my Bible the other morning ...

"He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man: he that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich."  

Proverbs 21:17

Living above one's means and "having it all now" are common themes in today's society.  People can't stand to miss a pleasure or forego a luxury.  Credit card companies are loving the money made from all the debt that's being racked up on credit cards.

Have you heard the saying, "He has money because he doesn't blow money"?  This verse reminds us all to be content and to live within our means.  I don't need to have a new pleasure every day.  I don't need what my neighbor has.  So many people are running around acting rich and "buying" things, but it's so superficial because they can't afford what they are buying and they don't even own it truly.  

Live simply, expect less, give much.  God is good, and He supplies my every need.