A Longing in My Heart

A friend of mine Climbed Mt St Helens yesterday and I am so glad she made it. About 10 years ago I first heard about this climb when the group of interns from our church made the climb. Over the last few weeks as she prepared I couldn’t help but dream of one day being able to make that climb.

I have been working out with a few friends in the evening for the last 7 or 8 weeks. Working out in the evening is not my favorite thing. Working out in general is not something I really want to do. I know that keeping my body in shape will help me in the long run both physically and mentally and I have been telling myself and my friends for a few years now that I should exercise. With a big bomb, a little push and lots of encouragement I was enticed to go and join the PC Posse that works out at the “Y”.

The big bomb is that in April I reinjured my right knee and after getting an MRI done the doctor told me that the tendon in my knee is ‘shredded’, not torn, but shredded like Shredded Wheat. There is also other damage to the point that there is nothing that can be done to repair the knee short of doing a full knee replacement. This news hit me like a bomb especially since my left knee is also in need of a major repair and I have seen what knee replacement recovery is like since my mother has had three of them.

My motivation for working out is not to hang out with the RC Posse , it is not about getting in shape, it is not being able to participate in an event even though all of those are definite pluses. My motivation is about being able get through my normal day to day activities. I have no desire to give up on things like a walk along the beach or a hike in the mountains. I have a hope and a longing to one day climb Mt St Helens. Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.

If Money Wasn’t an Issue

A few years ago a group of us from work were sitting in a restaurant waiting to catch the shuttle bus to the airport waiting to catch a flight home. While we were sitting there one of the guys asked the question, “What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about the money?” So around the table we went each of us telling what we would do. There was never a question that we all would still do something. There was talk about becoming a college professor, a business owner, a car designer, a historian and then it was my turn.
My response totally surprised them all, one because of the quickness that I responded, two the detail of the response and three it was totally not what they would have expected.

If money was not an issue what I would do is have a small deli in an industrial park where you had regulars. The shop would only be open from about 5am to 2pm and the menu would have a muffins, coffee cakes and a breakfast sandwich in the mornings and then in the afternoon there would be a soup of the day and a limited selection of sandwiches and possibly a special of the day – ie lasagna or bbq port sandwich. I’m not sure I would offer the foo foo coffees; I really don’t want the noise of an espresso machine. We would have coffee with free refills and tea and cocoa. On the wall would be a rack where you would bring in your own cup and would get a discount if you used it. There would be tables and chair, no booths, so that you could sit around and just talk.

I got the idea for the coffee cup wall from a small place I have visited in Albuquerque, NM., I like the idea of the tables and no booths from Barney’s Pastrami shop in Everett, and the industrial park from Ella’s in Canyon Park.

There are more and more days lately that I dream of this place and wonder how I could make it work. But for now money is still an issue and I will keep the job I have and trust God to provide my hearts desire in His time.