Luke’s Notebook

What a fun weekend!

Saturday morning, I took Caleb, Peter, and David out to breakfast at a nearby McDonald’s. They spent most of the time running around in the Play Place, and they even convinced me to climb around there with them. It’s a little difficult to move around when you’re six feet tall, but thankfully I didn’t get stuck while up there.

Yesterday afternoon, I logged my sixth YMCA visit of the week. That’s two straight weeks with six workouts. It’s got to be a personal record for me! Anyway, I did some more running on the treadmill, and I ran a mile in 5:42. That is, by far, the fastest I have ever managed to do it.

One reason I’m so fascinated with this is the fact that, historically, I have never been much of a runner. I’m the same guy who, back in my baseball days, would be needled by the coach, with him saying, “Get that piano off your back” as I was running. I wasn’t really fast!

Now, I know some people could probably run a mile in five minutes without any trouble, but this is just a personal accomplishment for me. I know it’s not setting any world records, but I’m just encouraged to know that it’s indicative of progress.

While at the Y, I listened to the third of the Passion ‘07 podcasts. Louie Giglio was interviewing Chris Tomlin, and I just had a great time listening to their conversation and hearing them share what the heart of Passion is, why they do what they do.

On to Sunday. Aside from watching some very exciting college basketball games (in which we saw Southern Illinois University route Virginia Tech, sending SIU to the Sweet Sixteen), I went with Paul, John, Mark, and Jude to a driving range in Belleville, where we bought a couple buckets of golf balls and teed off.

We had a lot of fun! Aside from a couple of swings of the club in our back yard some 12 or 15 years ago (one resulting in a neighbor’s broken windshield), I have hardly even touched a golf club. It was neat to hit some around.

After the golfing, Paul, Jude, and I went to our volleyball game in Belleville. We won two of three games, which was a welcome change after our team had lost its first six games. One other thing of note — while there, Jude and I decided to see if we could dunk a volleyball on a basketball hoop. To our surprise, we both managed to jump high enough! I guess that’s just more proof that the working out is helping, because that’s a couple inches higher than I could normally jump.

“Have it your way.” “You deserve it.” “Purely you.” “Whatever you want.” “It’s all about you.”

These messages are just being shouted at us from every direction: We need, we deserve, we require. Look at any commercial, and you’ll likely find out that you’re being terribly deprived of something, be it a hamburger, a new car, a computer, jewelry, a perfect job.

This theme has been around for about a month now, ever since I was spending time in Orlando. I couldn’t quite place my finger on it, but something was bothering me about the whole area. I realized that what really struck me was how pleasure-oriented that area was, how there were so many different ways to satisfy your every urge, whatever it may be.

In fact, I wrote this on 02/17/07:

It’s like there are so many places catering to your wants, your desires, your life. It’s so much to take in, and it just doesn’t feel quite right. Everything is so self-centered or self-focused, and it’s really sad to see. I know that I don’t have that many needs, and it’s just kind of uncomfortable to see this area just saturated with entertainment, as if we need to have all of these different things to satisfy us. It’s kind of weird.

That was in my “private” journal, and that was after spending a couple of days in Orlando. Now, don’t get me wrong for a second and think that I didn’t have a blast there. I had a wonderful time at Sea World and Disney World, but those were my honest observations at the time.

Interestingly enough, I was listening to Bill O’Reilly on the radio a couple of weeks ago. I never listen to him — in fact, I probably last caught his radio show several years ago — but when I tuned in, I was struck by what he said.

O’Reilly was commenting on how narcissistic this culture has become, in the way that we all seem to be looking out for Number One, pursuing whatever it is that we think will make us happy or will bring fulfillment.

This whole concept is so easy to buy into, especially since we tend to be self-serving and self-centered to begin with. Quite frankly, I think we can so easily become just so spoiled in this culture. I don’t think we can even comprehend how blessed we are, how many privileges we have in everyday life.

I believe that what made America great in the first place — what we are benefiting form now — is people who were selfless and humble; people who honestly believed that the guy next door was as important, if not more important, than he, himself. People would deny themselves left and right for the greater good, be it their family, their community, their country.

These days, though, we’re taught to satisfy every single urge the second it pops up. We become so acutely aware of our own issues, our own concerns, and our own imperfections that we have a hard time forgetting ourselves and focusing on somebody else. We are too busy looking out for ourselves that we neglect our neighbor.

To me, this seems like a dangerous trend. We are not going to be very unified if everybody has their eyes fixed on their own lives. There’s so much strength in unity, and it’s hard to go at it alone. Not only that, I don’t think it’s healthy to be so self-focused. It’s a bad habit to get into, because so many times in the real world you need to choose between yourself and someone or something else. We have got to train ourselves to know that we are not the most important thing on this planet. Our wants and our needs are two very different lists.

I really wonder what would happen if we went back to the Golden Rule, to obeying what Jesus said about loving others as we would love ourselves. Just imagine that! If we would just forget ourselves and be looking out for others, imagine what strength there would be, what unity.

How about that? I made it in six minutes today, which is an average speed of 10 miles per hour. I can definitely feel my endurance being built up. That’s really encouraging.

Yet again, I find myself at the end of the night with not much time to write. I listened to the second of the Passion ‘07 podcasts, and it was another really great one. (By the way, you can find the podcasts at http://www.268generation.com.) Louie Giglio was talking with author/speaker John Piper, and I just really got a lot from it, and a lot of it was a similar theme to w hat I have been thinking about. So I’ll really need to box out a time to type out some of my thoughts before they escape me.

Until then, happy St. Patrick’s Day, everybody!

I hit a mile in 6:09! Just 10 seconds shorter, and I’ll break into five-plus minutes. What a cool feeling that would be!

You know, life has been really interesting lately. I know most of my entries have been about various YMCA visits, but I really do have quite a bit on my mind, and I’ll hopefully manage to sit down and write some of it out soon. There’s nothing terribly important; just a few different things that have been on my heart.

In other news, today the NCAA basketball tournament began. This is one of my favorite times of the year, because it is just so exciting to watch the games! I’d take college hoops over the NBA any day. Tomorrow, our local teams — Illinois and Southern Illinois — will be playing their first games. I hope they can go deep into the tourney!

We had another beautiful day here, and after lunch Dad and a bunch of us went out to the ball field to play some softball with the chubs. I focused mainly on playing catch with Peter and David. They seemed to have a really good time, and Peter actually was catching the ball pretty well!

This afternoon, I went to the YMCA again. Made it for three days straight this week, and I’m hoping to go there the next three days, as well. I figure I’ve got to see some good results if I can keep up something like this. By the way, I timed myself on the treadmill again, and I hit one mile in 6:17. It’s going to be hard to beat six minutes, but I think I can do it if I keep practicing.

While running, I was listening to a podcast of Louie Giglio talking about the Passion conferences. I really loved listening to it, but I was kind of bummed at the end when he announced that there wouldn’t be a Passion ‘08 event. They last had one in Atlanta on January 1-4 of this year, and evidently that’s the last of that kind of event.

It sounds like they might try to have a Passion tour in the near future, but not a one-time get-together like they have been holding for the past 11 years. I have never been to a Passion conference, but the more I’ve learned about them, the more I have really wanted to attend one.

So it’s kind of sad to learn that the conferences will be no more, but maybe I would be able to catch them while on the tour. Also, next Friday Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, and Louie Giglio are going to be in St. Charles for a concert, and I would really love to go there. The tickets are like $20-$30 apiece, and there are still some available. I think it’d be an awesome night of worship! So I’m praying about what to do.

Did it in 6:24! And it was a gorgeous day.

I’m a little bit worried. My knee is — well, it has been hurting quite a bit the past week, and I don’t know exactly what that means. What’s kind of strange is that it doesn’t really seem to affect my running at all. For instance, this evening at the YMCA, I ran on the treadmill again and actually managed to hit a mile in 6:34. Throughout that entire time, my knee felt great. It’s when I stop using it that it seems to hurt.

What puzzles me is that during the day, I’ll almost be limping as I walk around. Not that my knee hurts that terribly much; it’s more like my knee is stiff, and it’s harder to extend it out fully. Also, it almost feels like it is a little bit swollen on the inside part of it.

So where exactly is it hurting? Well, it’s my right knee, and it’s on the front left side, right below the kneecap. It is sensitive to the touch, and it also seems to hurt a lot of I kneel.

I’m not real sure what the problem is, but I guess either way it wouldn’t hurt to give it some more time. It could be that, with all of my running recently, I’ve waken up a new set of muscles, and that they’re just not quite accustomed to all of the added use. One sign that I think is kind of encouraging is the fact that the knee seems to actually be at its best when I’m running.

For anyone reading this — if you would, please keep me in your prayers. I want to be wise about this, and I don’t want to ignore something that could be a potential problem. At the same time, I don’t want to rush into anything, either. But either way, I could use God’s healing touch and His direction.

For now, I think I’ll just give this some more time and see where I find myself in a few weeks.

We had a beautiful Sunday here in Illinois. The weather was in the 60s, and it was just lovely outside! The family took advantage of it, as most of us went out to the softball field with Dad, where we had a brief practice. Softball season starts in about a month, so it was nice to bring out the gloves, bats, and balls. I’m looking forward to playing softball three nights a week.

This evening, I played six volleyball games. I’m playing on two different teams in two different leagues at the same place in Belleville. It just so happens that none of the scheduled games conflict with each other, so I’m able to play with Paul and Jude on their team, and then I get to play on my old team, with Aunt Jane, and Greta, Uncle Rob, and Uncle Joe. It’s really neat to be playing with so many family members!

A little bit of news on my knee. The past few days, my right knee has really been hurting. It’s the same knee that I hurt while playing softball last summer, but it’s actually hurting in a different spot — kind of the front left area of my knee. Anyway, it has been hurting a lot, and it’s been really stiff lately. It hasn’t stopped me from running or anything, but when I’m not using it, it seems to be the worst.

I’m not exactly sure what the best plan is, but I think I’m going to try to work through it — at least for now. It’s only been hurting for several days now, and I have been using it an awful lot lately. I think I’ll just give it some time, and I’m praying that it will be healed up as I go along, and that I won’t have to curtail my exercising.

Phew. I managed to hit the Y again today. Six days straight — something this guy isn’t used to. Phew.

Spring forward, everybody!

Went to the Y yet again, although I only managed to do running this time — no weight work. I went with Jude as he took Wizzy, Caleb, and Peter to swim lessons, and after running a lot, watching the chubs swim in the pool, and briefly chatting with a friend, we were all out of time. Oh, well. I still managed to get in about a half-hour of intense cardio work, including running another mile on the treadmill. I managed to best yesterday’s time by two seconds, as I reached the one-mile mark at 6:44 today. I was very beat, though, and after that I felt kind of woozy for the next 15 minutes or so. But I managed to shave a couple seconds off, so that’s kind of neat!