Do you smell ice cream?

My mother encouraged me to stand up to bullies. When I stood up to them, even if I got beat up, Mom gave me a bowl of ice cream. I cashed in twice. 

I went to Gary Emerson High School in Gary Indiana, a very rough school. Half black, half white. All mad.

I started standing up for myself in the 7th grade. I remember losing 26 times. 

In 1960 I stood up to a bully 8th grade teacher who made a cute straight A girl cry, Tina. I stood and said, Mr. Kaplan, this has got to stop. A big black kid came up, grabbed me, and took me out. Mr. Kaplan yelled Don't come back, then flunked me. That summer they changed my grade to a D and relocated the teacher. Different days then.
In 1961 in choir a bigger athletic kid was picking on my little brother. I told him to pick on somebody his own size. You're about my size, he said. Touch me and see what happens, said I. He did. I popped him in the eye, he hit me, teacher broke it up before he beat me up. I planned it that way. She took us to Principal. I got one day off, he got swats, we became friends.

After those two incidents nobody bothered me. They probably thought I was crazy. Different days.

Tim and I went to judo classes. We slapped box each other for practice. We crept up on each other to test our reactions. We became fearless.

Mom hated bullies.
She was not alone. My Aunt Velma coached my cousin Sam, when he was a little boy being beaten up by an older bigger bully. 
She cheered and coached him like a wrestling coach, until Sam fought back, got the upper hand, and fought till the other guy gave up. His little brother Stevie saw it.
I went to Olivet Nazarene College in Kankakee Illinois. Older kids gave younger kids swirlies, sticking their heads in a toilet and flushing. 
They tried to give me a swirly. They quickly changed their mind. Pain is a wonderful motivator. Pressure points from judo.
The sophomores challenged the freshman to a brawl. The freshman recruited the fearless students from Gary (one was from Michigan, another from Chesterton.)
The sophomores came charging out of Hills Hall like Viking Ravagers. The freshman all fled. Except for the fearless kids. One tussel. I was pinned by a wrestling champ. I surrendered. He didn't let me up. So I made him let me up. Pain is a wonderful motivator. Pressure points.
I worked for Ristance/Echlin/Dana/Standard Motor for almost 20 years. One of the workers was screaming at me to get out of his area. He was 6 foot 5, 245 pounds, immensely strong. 
He was just behind my back, screaming. I decided to around, put my toes to his toes, my nose to his nose, and I smiled. After a few moments of face off, he walked away, cursing and grumbling.
I smelled ice cream.
Right now, politicians are acting like bullies. One party will throw you in jail and let out the criminals. The other party backs down like panty waists.

But some are standing up. Truckers seem to be fearless. Elections are coming. Pain is a wonderful motivator against bullies.

My favorite President stood strong.

Maybe his mother gave him ice cream when he was younger.

The Truth No One Sees

Something that excites me greatly is when God reveals to me a gobsmacking Truth that no one around me can see, a Truth that is catalytic, it is a linchpin, it causes cascading, irreversible changes.
Be patient with me while I explain further. We have not seen this Truth because we have believed the lie of the enemy. We believe we are children of humanity, forged on the crucibles of reason and evolution, taught by science and history, led by experts.
We are not. We are children of the Heavenly Father, the Creator of all life, Redeemed from our deadly arrogant failures by the blood of His Son and our Savior on the Cross, where every one of Us had a hand in His death.
Let me finish, for I have not yet arrived at the gobsmacking Truth, but only taken you partially down the trail.
The Truth that has been overlooked is not only that we are children of the Heavenly Father, but His Spirit has been sent to lead us into ALL truth.
I have been quick to credit myself for my brilliance, but I clearly see now that God, through the Power of Spirit, has been showing me the melodiousness of music, the wonder of words, the nobility of knowledge, the coolness of craft. 
Go with me one more step. If this is true, that the Spirit is the Teacher, wouldn't it pay huge dividends if I carefully crafted my questions as prayers? and when I receive an insight that proves to be true, to also give God the credit? rather than pompously and arrogantly robbing God of the His just due.
Wonderful how this insight aligns with my mantra.
Be careful what you ask for.
We are like puppies, chasing dreams like moving cars, never stopping to consider: What will we do with it, when we get it?!
God is good. He's also smart. Trust Him to lead. God's got this.
Just one more thing. You and I are children of the Father, not mini gods in control of our tiny Universes. God has a Plan. My being perfect is not part of it.

Behind Every Great Man

Please allow me to say something nice about a controversial man.
Mary and I are avid NCIS fans. Lauren Holly played Gibb's boss and former lover in the series. I did not know Lauren Holly used to be Jim Carrey's wife.
Say what you will about Jim Carrey, but he does have an awesome quote: 
Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes.

A Principle Hiding in an Observation

I help Mary take care of herself.
If I do things that are convenient for me, I get more done.
If I do things that are convenient for her, I have more success.
I think there's a principle hiding in that observation.

Beautiful Words, Old Friends

A beautiful word is like an old friend with whom you can get together with for coffee anytime.
Some beautiful words were introduced by old friends, words like superfluity, plethora, gobsmacked.
My old friends will respond: WHO YOU CALLIN' OLD!?!?

Thoughts About #specificprayer

Praying specifically can give God an opportunity to reveal His Power.

While attending Nazarene Bible College, my late wife Lynne once prayed for a specific list of requirements of a home to rent in Colorado Springs area, a list that I had devised as an obstacle to moving. The house had to have 220 volt wiring for an electric clothes dryer. (It takes 2 hours to dry a sock if your dryer is hooked up to 110 volts. Some of you are not old enough to have seen a house with 110 wiring.) The house must be carpeted. (Not popular in the 70's) Must have a fenced in yard. (We had dogs.) Sufficient wall sockets. And not one dollar more in rent. ($100 a month.) Lynne's requests were isolation and in the country. Imagine my dismay when a house exactly like that popped up in the Classifieds (remember Classifieds?) the next week.

Just how much carpet was in the house? Wall to wall in every room and in the closets!! How many electric wall sockets? On. Every. Wall. Why was the rent low? A rancher way, way out in the country (look at the pic with the Dittmers hitchhiking) who worked at a carpet outlet part time was offered a free house if he would move it, which he did for $4000. He totally redid the wiring, the walls, the ceilings and the floor. Frankly, I think the Lord set me up for this miracle, but I asked for it when I kept praying that He reveal Himself to me. Be careful what you ask for.

Lutein, Zeaxanthin, and Eyesight

Scientists believe high levels of lutein and zeaxanthin in these areas may protect the eye from damage due to oxidation. Lutein and zeaxanthin are commonly found in dark-green leafy vegetables, such as spinach and kale, and are well-absorbed from egg yolk. A large egg yolk contains 252 mcg of lutein and zeaxanthin.
I found this at https://www.incredibleegg.org/eggcyclopedia/l/lutein/
Funny thing about this link. When I posted it on Facebook, the Facebook algorithm told me it was spam. I reported this to Facebook. We will see.
That fact makes me suspect that vegans are offended by this site, and may be at war with the egg industry.
I love vegan food! I love sugar! I love beer! But the truth is, some things are delightful in small quantities, but poisonous in large quantities.
Vegan food in large quantities can be poison.
For some people, the limits of veganism, sugar, and/or beer can be very small or even zero.

Short Term Memory and Low Carb Diet

2 incidents of Mary revealing her short term memory working without repetition, prompting, or writing it down. Telling her brother on the phone without prompting about the deer we saw yesterday. Also, noting the goop on a knife was from a banana she had cut up earlier.
In both cases she was relaxed and happy. Her short term memory almost never works when she under pressure, excited, and/or angry. On one hand, she has high standards. On the other, she is and loves being retired.
I have noted bunches of research that Alzheimer's, dementia, and of course Type 2 diabetes improves if carbs are restricted and protein and fat are moderate and at times generous. Within the confines of Mary's precise personal taste and fierce independence, I have endeavored to followed the Diabetic's Association's recommendation of limiting Carbs 15 Carbs a day (each Carb being 15 grams of carbohydrate each) and Mary is meeting or beating that goal daily.
According to Virta, a leading group for curing Type 2 Diabetes, a patient is in remission from Type 2 Diabetes is under 6.5 on their bA1c blood sugar count. Mary has been under that for over a year.
God is good.

Progress In Running at Age 70

Progress on running at the age of 70:
I run once a day, barring busy days, snow, ice, and cold below 20 degrees. Since I've been running on the road in winter, I measured out a distance by running slowly, (gently would be a better word) for one minute, then running back faster to my starting point. As I run faster, I breathe more quickly naturally. Breath in, two steps, breath out, two steps. At some point during this last stretch, my arms and legs get heavy, so I double time my breathing, in, step, out step. Since I am taking in more oxygen than I need, my head starts to feel light, so I increase my stride, and finish fast, or at least fast for a 70 year old man who is not a great runner.
I've been gradually moving back the the turn around point, I have also picked up speed at the end of the run. I wait longer before I have to breathe harder. My recovery is getting quicker after I run, which encourages me to keep improving by extending the run and quickening the end.
I chose this method rather jogging, because I don't hurt afterwards, and I can almost always work it into a busy schedule. The method is called High Intensity Training and was used by the greatest runner ever. Emil Zátopek was a Czechoslovak long-distance runner best known for winning three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He won gold in the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres runs, but his final medal came when he decided at the last minute to compete in the first marathon of his life. (Wikipedia)
I briefly thought about making up my own acronym, Short High intensity Training, but I didn't like how that came out. I could call it the Busy High Intensity Training (BHIT!) or perhaps more accurately, the Lazy High Intensity Training (LHIT!).
I only ran a few days in January, and a few in February. I am running more frequently in March. The days of cold snow and ice are getting fewer each month.
God is good.

Convenience Vs. Savings

Convenience vs savings:
I love convenience. When Mary and I were married, way back in the olden days of 2010, she introduced me to the Keurig Coffee Maker, and their K-Cups. It was the solution to the problems I had been fighting since I was a young man, the problems of bitter coffee.
Since I was a young man, I had solved this problem by taking leftover coffee and refrigerating it. I wish I could say I invented cold coffee, but I learned that off of my late wife's grandmother, a German immigrant. She would make a pot of coffee, serve one or two cups, and put the remainder in a recycled pickle jar and store in the refrigerator.
This would explain my peculiar behavior of taking the left over coffee at large church functions, poring it into quart jars and refrigerating it. Beth Wade Kathy Brinkley Tedrick
I also learned how to get the freshest cup by being the person who makes the pot of coffee for the third shift from Mike Wade. He would always make a fresh pot when he was ready for a cup, and as the Mr. Coffee was dripping into to the Karafe, he's place his cup under the drip point, and get the freshest coffee possible. It was also strong enough to knock your socks off.
Which brings me to shakes. We have been using Glucerna shakes for some time as a partial meal replacement for Mary. She likes having one morning and evening when she takes her pills. The chocolate flavor helps her down her daily regimen of numerous pills, but sometimes there is not enough shake to help with all the pills.
Enter Chef Mike. I started with adding a little milk to a shake poured into a large glass root beer mug, but then I added some flavored yogurt to increase the volume.
Several renditions later, I am now making a large shake in the morning, enough to help both morning and evening, and I add a powerful probiotic, Stonyfield Yogurt. We have been able to cut back on both the expensive shakes and expensive supplemental probiotics, saving over $100 per month.
Add this to the fact that Mary prefers inexpensive home cooked meals and the savings are adding up.
God is good.