Up North On My Mind

It's been two months since we've been home from Wisconsin and I still have it on my mind...

I can't remember having such a deep longing to return so quickly after coming home from our family vacation to Wisconsin. I was anxious to get up there, and I didn't want to leave...

It'll be a couple of years before we make it back up again... Hopefully I'll have the same excitement as I had this year.

The image below pretty much sums up what I picture in my mind when I think of our annual Sexton family vacation:

Yes... Up North is on my mind.

You're Blessed When...

{I don't think I've ever seen The Beatitudes written more beautifully than in The Message version of the Bible.}

You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.

You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.

You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care–full, ’ you find yourselves cared for.

You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.

You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.

~Matthew 5:3-10 (The Message)

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Strouthion and Strouthion

Stella is a cockatiel that we adopted last winter… I have to say we've become quite close over the past few months. and this morning was a perfect chance to sit on our front porch with her during my Saturday "porch time." (Her wings are clipped, so no chance of her flying away.)



When Laurie and I first moved into our house, we had five birds living with us…

• white-eyed conure
•2 cockatiels
•mourning dove (rescued several years earlier by Laurie's brother), and
•budgie

About this same time I began bird watching… I developed such a love for our feathered friends.

After our son Andrew was born, things in our house got a little crazy… we fostered an African gray for a little while until a friend adopted him, work became busier for Laurie and I, life got busier… our white-eyed conure died suddenly (which affected me more than I would admit at the time), our budgie died, Savannah was born, job change… soon we asked Laurie's brother if he could take our two cockatiels and mourning dove.

That was hard going from a house full of birds to no birds. But, we knew at that time in our lives, it was necessary. However, we still had one "little birdie" in our house… our son Andrew, his nickname at a very early age.

It was about that time that I started using the name "Strouthion" for different things online…

strouthion: a sparrow
Original Word: στρουθίον, ου, τό
Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter
Transliteration: strouthion
Phonetic Spelling: (stroo-thee'-on)
Short Definition: a small bird, sparrow
Definition: a small bird, sparrow.

We knew there would be a time when birds would come back into our lives. It started with a canary, Buttercup, when Andrew was in first grade.

And now, a few pets later, Stella joined our flock :-)

So for me it was a special time with Stella on our front porch this morning… Strouthion and strouthion.

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Reading Frenzy

Our 10-year old daughter, Savannah, has become quite the reader… it seems we almost always see her with a book in her hands.

When I was Savannah's age, I can't really remember ever having a joy for reading. So it's quite exciting to see it in BOTH of our kids :-)

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Video "Evangelist"

My son Andrew amazes me... his heart for those who do not know Jesus is SO big!!!

He's had it on his heart for awhile to create a video series that will introduce non-Christians to Jesus. The following is his first installment...

I pray he continues to burn with excitement in his desire to share Jesus with others!!! I feel so blessed and I'm so proud to call Andrew my son :-)

Mental Preparation

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you're aware that my wife Laurie and I are training for our first half marathon, the We Care Twin Cities Half Marathon taking place on Saturday, September 29.

A couple years ago I couldn't have imagined I would be preparing for a half marathon… or that I'd be running regularly. And even more so, I never could have imagined I would be enjoying running again… I haven't felt that way since high school, and even then I'm not sure I could have said I enjoyed it.

We are 57 days away from the half marathon… I'm a couple weeks behind where I should be in training due to my right achilles tendon becoming very swollen a few weeks ago. But luckily, two weeks off from running and gel heel wedges have completely healed my achilles problem :-) I'm feeling pretty good where I'm at right now, but wish I wouldn't have lost those couple of weeks.

Tomorrow I'm scheduled for an eight mile run… I can't remember when I've run eight miles, but probably not since the fall of 1983 sometime between August and October (my senior season in cross country at Monmouth High School… GO ZIPPERS!!!)

I've been in this weird "mental preparation" mood today… I keep thinking about the eight mile run tomorrow. But it's not been a bad, negative, or fearful way… More of a "getting prepared" way.

•What should I eat tonight that won't weigh me down in the morning
•How much sleep should I get
•When should I take my ibuprofen in the morning (usually takes 30-minutes to kick in)
•What time am I running
•Breakfast before? Or post run breakfast?
•Should I take a nutrition bar to make sure I'm replenishing
•How often should I drink from my water bottle to make sure it lasts 8 miles
•What's my desired pace
•Shirt or no shirt
•Are my favorite running shorts clean
•Can't forget a washcloth (my wife got me started on that one)
•Charge my phone to 100%
•Use IcyHot on my thigh right before starting
•Raisins… don't forget to eat raisins before running (my new little "gotta have it" food before I run)
•Map out mileage tonight in case iPhone GPS goes whacky again (it has a habit of adding in some some weird jagged patterns or extra loops)
•Usual running location or different one?
•Lots of stretching before; midway if I need to, also
•Shade running or full sun running? (half marathon will be almost all full sun, but Constitution Trail that Laurie and I run on is well shaded)
•Mile to mile plan … pace & time
•Form… not too upright, don't arch your back, lean forward a little, relax, watch arm swinging

Crazy, huh??? Before I went on long runs in high school I NEVER thought through anything… I just did it.
And quite honestly, I'm excited about it… a little nervous, since I haven't gone that far in almost 30 years, but… excited to know I'm doing it!!!

So, lunch is over… time to get back to work weeding and deadheading. And, I'm pretty sure I'll continue mentally preparing myself for my run tomorrow. :-)


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The Wall

Happiness

What brings you happiness?
I mean REAL happiness?

But remember, don't mistake "happiness" for "joy." Happiness is because of what happens … joy is in spite of what happens.

So … I'll ask again … what brings you happiness? Real happiness?

But, after seeing the difference between happiness and joy, does it really matter what brings happiness? It almost sounds materialistic, selfish, or greedy.

It's kind of like that age old question: "What do you want for Christmas?" i.e. "What can I give you to make you happy?"

You see, happiness depends on something physical, material, or an action. What can you give me, do for me, say to me, buy for me … to make me happy.

So … I'll ask again … what brings you happiness? Real happiness?

Or, after what you've just read, does happiness seem pretty insignificant now … temporary … short-lived … meaningless …

Sure, happiness can "fill the void" of joy … but, it's kind of like using mud to do tuck pointing in a foundation. It's not going to last … it's temporary … it's short-lived … it's insignificant … it's meaningless … it's worthless in the broader scope of time and life.

So … I'll ask again … what brings you happiness? Real happiness?


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Sunflower Smiles

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Catching Up

Seems like forever since I last posted on my blog… I could say I've just been way too busy, but in all honesty I just haven't made the time.

But, it's time I get back into a routine of regularly writing posts.

Below are pictures of the kids from our recent family vacation to Wisconsin…








It was the 48th year my family has gone to Wisconsin for vacation (it would have been the 50th, but we missed a couple years back in the 60's).

It was possibly the most perfect weather we've ever had while in Wisconsin; high 70's everyday and no rain except for our first night. A needed break from our high 90's and 100's in central Illinois.

Fishing was pretty worthless while we were there, but we made the most of it anyway. My son Andrew participated in the weekly fishing derby (for kids on the docks) and caught a record number of fish (bluegill and sunfish) in 20 minutes: 29!!!





Andrew used a "secret weapon" made by my dad… I guess it worked!

This how we spent most of time:


Yes… lots of relaxing. And when we weren't relaxing on the beach, we were relaxing in the cabin. But, we did take time to have some fun, too.


Laurie and I ran the 5K for Orphans in June… we were both very happy with our times and have seen a lot of improvement since we started running over a year ago. We are in the middle of training for the We Care Twin Cities Half Marathon taking place here in Bloomington/Normal on Sept 29… I had a little setback in training due to an achilles tendon that became aggravated at me for trying minimalist running shoes, but after a couple weeks off I'm back at it again.


We're both a little nervous about the half marathon, but excited, too. It's an awesome goal to reach for and we're looking forward to crossing the finish line and celebrating.

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Wascawy Warmf And Wabbits!!!

The Friday before Memorial Day I planted 300+ coral and salmon magellan zinnias at a client's house... These were plants that I had seeded in mid-April and was SO looking forward to be planting for them. My client LOVES coral and salmon and these zinnias are absolutely beautiful in those colors (as well as the yellow, orange, and red).

However... I should have known things weren't going to go well with them when I started to install the first group. The soil had become rock hard in the area that I was going to plant. I didn't have time to go get a tiller and work the soil, so I just started planting.

By the end of the 300+ zinnias I had a large bleeding blister on my right palm, another on my left thumb, and a third on my right index finger. It was 90 degrees, I was thirsty, I was tired, my knees hurt... They were done, I watered them in... I decided I should set the irrigation to come on every day for the next several since it was suppose to be in the 90's over Memorial Day and into the next week. I felt proud I got it done and thought ahead of the heat with extra watering.

Fast forward to Tuesday morning... I got out of my truck and walked over to the zinnias... burnt to a crisp. And the ground around the zinnias was bone dry. I walked over to the perennial beds... bone dry and new perennial plantings were drooping, others browning. I quickly walked to a series of four identical beds filled with annuals... also dry (but miraculously still looking ok).

I ran down to the irrigation controls... It was set correctly. I tried to turn it on manually... nothing happened. Then a little red light caught my eye... Beside it read "Rain Sensor." WHAT??? RAIN??? It hadn't rained a drop, but the crazy sensor had decided it had. This meant that the sensor did an override and told the irrigation system NOT to turn on.

I shut off the sensor and manually turned on the irrigation system... I drenched all of the beds, hoping I could save the dying the plants... especially the zinnias I worked so hard on just a few days before.

Well... most of the zinnias could not be saved, but I did see positive results within a couple of days of about 1/4th of the zinnias.

And then...



The rabbits hit.

I knew rabbits liked zinnias, but... really???

So, most of the remaining zinnias became snacks for the rabbits in the neighborhood.

What to do... What to do...

So, on Tuesday of this week I spent a few hours removing 300+ mostly dead and/or decapitated zinnias and installed 180 penta 'butterfly lavender shades' ... Not exactly what I was planning... and definitely not the color I was wanting to display along the road of this home. I was able to save about 15 of the zinnias and transplant them into the  perennial beds.

Also... before I planted the pentas, I worked the soil very well :-) Amazing how easily they were to plant compared to the zinnias :-)

All is well... Thank God for "Plan B."

Father And Son Time

Had an awesome three hours fishing with my son Andrew on Sunday...

We didn't catch a darn thing... but, that really didn't matter to me at all.