Four Weeks Out: The Final Countdown

So here we go. My final month of training has officially kicked off. Here are today's stats: 

One run. 

One workout. 

One mile at a time.

Now I want to know: What goal are you pursuing right now?

I Ate Too Much. Now What?

Getting lean (or leanish) is pretty simple. This doesn't mean it's easy but that it doesn't require any complicated techniques. It simply requires the consistent repetition of some very straightforward basics. Staying lean, however, is where things can get a bit more complicated. This is true whether you are an average Joe or a competitive bodybuilder, a swimmer, a football player, or a surfer like me. 

You either need to burn more calories through activity or consume fewer calories. What you need to figure out through trial and error is how lean you have to eat in order to feel full while consuming roughly the number of calories that enable you to maintain your weight. For most of us that means unprocessed foods with a little room for indulgences now and then. These "indulgences" matter. Life is just more enjoyable with them than without them. There are times when all of us will eat to excess. I do this whenever I am with family. Offer me a piece of homemade pecan pie? Gladly! 

Now the question becomes, What do I do now? What we often do is more cardio because that's what will burn off the calories the quickest. Another option is to put these extra calories to good use by getting in a few extra sets at the gym. Might as well use all those carbs for some muscle building. Either way, it's essential to remember that one meal or even one day of overeating will not affect your overall progress. What matters is what you do consistently over time. 

The best way to reset is not with restrictions but by resuming your normal eating, walking, and lifting habits as soon as possible. 

Don't Overthink Your Beginning Grammar

Overthinking isn't simply thinking too much but thinking about things in a disproportionate manner. You spend longer than you should on things that shouldn't require as much mental energy. Let's say you want to teach yourself New Testament Greek and you're faced with lots of choices about the textbook you want to use. The fact is, there are a lot of beginning grammars that will get you to where you want to go, provided you apply yourself. These textbooks represent the plethora of right choices, some better than others perhaps, but you're still going to get to your goal regardless of the grammar you use. 

You see, it's less about what you choose and more about how you apply yourself to that choice. We live in a world with just an infinite amount of options, many of them good ones. I never want to give the impression that I think my textbook or my method of teaching Greek is the best. For me it is, but maybe not for others. I'm just a small crouton on a big salad. 

Just make an informed decision and then go for it!

When You're Racing, Don't Forget This Rule

Never overtake the pacer. 

Unless the porta potty is calling!     

Priceless

Tee looking out for a young Bengals' fan. 

This may become the picture of the year. 

Where the City Meets the Surf: Strolling Through the Heart of Waikiki

While you're on Oahu, strolling down Kalakaua Ave. in Waikiki is a great way to spend your day. Whether or not you have your surfboard with you. 😉

The Call of the Alps

Can't wait to climb the Mettelhorn next summer in Zermatt, Lord willing. 20K roundtrip. Not too steep. 1,880 meter elevation gain.  (That's just over 6,000 feet.) Views of the surrounding area in every direction. This includes the Matterhorn. 

As usual, I plan to stay at the Hotel Bahnhof. 

You're 60 seconds from the Zermatt train station. Some rooms come with a Matterhorn view. Plus the hotel is super affordable. 

Don't want to eat out? A shared kitchen facility has everything you need. 

Will I be strong enough for one more alpine ascent? I hope so!

What's on your bucket list for 2027? 

The Magic of Less: Why Readers Love What You Leave Out

In case you don't know, I'm still writing. I'm finishing up two books, after which I plan to revise two of my other books. 

You may have noticed that my books are getting shorter and shorter. That's not accidental. There's a major difference between a good book and a great book, in my opinion. Good books come and go, but rare indeed are those that stay fixed in our minds. As a student at Biola and Talbot, I will never forget certain required textbooks: Frazer's Behind the Ranges, Trueblood's The Idea of a College, and Allen's Missionary Methods: Saint Paul's Or Ours? to name but three. Often the great books are not those that are longest or most arduous. They are the ones that speak with relevance and get to the point. 

It's easy for those of us who write to substitute length for strength. A woman who had listened to the great Welsh preacher John Owen was once asked about his sermons. She said, "Well, sometimes he's so long setting the table, I have lost my appetite for the meal." 

Two of the most recent beginning Greek grammars are about 600 pages. Yes, I said beginning grammars. I loved how Jesus spoke. He cut it straight. He used plain language. Occasionally he used humor. You didn't have to be trained as a rabbit to understand what he had to say. Jesus's Sermon on the Mount is a great example. There's not a wasted word here. And the depth? Oh my, the depth. R. C. Sproul once said that a great preacher is like an iceberg. You may see only 10 percent, but underneath you sense the 90 percent. Simplicity gets attention. No, I'm not talking about being simple AND simplistic. There's enough of that kind of writing out there today. I'm talking about writing that is both simple and deep. 

I hope I don't forget this as I enter the last phase of my writing career. I hope I can still maximize information density while minimizing the clutter. I have found that being concise takes a lot more skill than being verbose. That's because it doesn't have fluff or unnecessary details. Concise books are also incredibly fun to write. It doesn't bog down while retaining all the great hallmarks of a good book. I want to write books that anybody can read and be genuinely interested in. Which means writing concisely even when no one else does.

The Week in Review

Here's my step counter progress for the week. 

Wednesday and Saturday were the longer runs. The best part? Every step counts! Got in the usual gym sessions as well. Today is a true rest day. 

One step at a time, one day at a time! 

Biblical Inerrancy Still Matters Today

There are three great doctrines that drive me as a Greek teacher. I was taught these foundational doctrines when I was a student at Talbot back in the 1970s. They have since become watersheds for me. 

The first is revelation. The second is inspiration. And the third is illumination. 

Revelation is God revealing his truth to man. Inspiration takes the next step. Inspiration is man's receiving and recording this divine truth in accurate form. If revelation is God making his truth known to us, inspiration is our recording truth so that it becomes graphē -- sacred Scripture. Finally, illumination is our understanding and application of divine truth to everyday life. 

Revelation and inspiration have ceased. Illumination hasn't. It goes on and on. Our need as believers is not to find some new source of revelation. God is no longer giving revelation. He has, in fact, given us his word in written form as the Bible. And the Bible is totally without error. No one today has the ability to speak God's truth without error. This includes the most well-meaning teachers. They will make mistakes. But in the Bible we have the sure word of God. We have God's truth stated in written form. It is able to be read and studied and pondered and applied. 

This is why, Greek student, you are studying the biblical languages. If there is anything that marks contemporary New Testament scholarship it is its murkiness. In fact, that is the word Peter uses in 2 Pet. 1:19 to describe the lack of clarity that characterized the false teachers and skeptical scoffers of his day. Peter counters them by directing his readers back to the "prophetic word" of God that was confirmed by his own eyewitness experience of the earthly Savior. In place of this prophetic word, the false teachers offered nothing but auchmēros -- an adjective meaning dark gloominess or murkiness. When applied metaphorically, the term evokes an image of truth that has been obscured by deceit and corruption. Only the light of Scripture pierces such gloom.

Certain New Testament scholars today deny the historicity of biblical events, contending that their approach to "genre" supports their gloomy conclusions. They argue that the biblical doctrine of inerrancy needs a facelift that would include the dehistoricization of texts. The unfortunate result is not merely the violation of Scripture but the implementation of unproven categories that negate the historicity of biblical narratives that clearly present themselves as factual. If the Gospels are redemptive history (and they are), they are still real history. 

We either believe the claims of Jesus or we don't. What he said about the Scriptures is either false or true. If you think that holding to biblical inerrancy is optional, don't call yourself an evangelical. You are either for him or against him. I know that is brutally frank, but that's the truth. There is no neutrality. 

One Month Until Race Day? What Was I Thinking?

My next 50K is on Dec. 5. Exactly four weeks out! 

This is the time when your biggest training weeks happen. Long runs. Time on feet. Getting a feel for how well race day will go. Finding your pace. Race fueling strategy. This was my view today:

And here were today's miles and steps:

Nothing too dramatic over the next four weeks. Just keep showing up and putting in the work. This is what the race day course will look like: 

Farmville to Rice and back: 16 miles.
Farmville to Prospect and back: 16 miles. 

This race looks awesome! It will be here before we know it! 

Forget Bulking: Why the Brad Pitt Lean Body Is Every Man's Real Goal

If you're new to my blog, I'm not a bodybuilder. My goals are actually pretty simple. I want to be fit for everyday life and stay healthy long term. I would also like to have a physique that looks strong and sharp without looking awkward or overdeveloped. Obviously, genetics plays a big role here. But you can target specific muscles by choosing the right exercises. 

Most of you men reading this blog post want a body that looks and feels good. You probably want to lose some body fat, have a bit of muscle, see some abs, and maybe not be too embarrassed when you go shirtless on the beach. 

People call this look an aesthetic physique. At this point, your clothes start fitting differently, your face looks narrower, and for the first time the mirror actually reflects all the hard work you've been putting in. To get here doesn't require some crazy diet or going to the gym 6 times a week. It's actually way simpler than you think. 

It starts with being more mindful about the food you put into your body. The key here is simply making sure that most of what you eat is real food. Then we want to build muscle as we go. Building an aesthetic physique means being intentional about where you build those muscles. We want broad shoulders, a V-tapered back, and a chest and arms that fill out our shirt. You're not training to become a bodybuilder or a powerlifter. You're after a lean, athletic build. When I started lifting 5 years ago I never wanted to get shredded. 

All I wanted was a lean, healthy, athletic physique, wider shoulders, a decent chest and arms, and some visible abs. If that's your goal as well, you don't have to do 2-hour workouts 6 days a week. You just need to focus your effort on very specific muscle groups. A routine that works well for this is a simple 3-day per week full body workout. These workouts take less than an hour and produce some amazing results. Again, we're not talking "massive" but "lean." When you think of Brad Pitt in Fight Club, he wasn't massive at all. 

The reason Pitt looked so impressive was because he was lean with some muscle. You see, without losing that excess fat, an aesthetic physique is impossible. 

So getting lean is a non-negotiable. 

Now, this is going to take several years of really solid, consistent effort. You can't shortcut the process. This is why I always come back to the basics: incline bench presses, lat pulldowns, dumbbell biceps curls, lateral shoulder raises, and pullups. Here are some curls I did today: 

That's basically it guys. My magic drug for aging well is called building muscle. The goal is a body that feels capable and strong, not just one that looks strong. 

A lean physique is not just for super athletes. It's for all of us.

Keep in mind that there are options for different fitness levels, gym training, and home workouts, so you can make it work for your life. 

At this point in my life, I don't train just for aesthetics. I train because I want to keep getting stronger, build more muscle, and be more able to do "life" as I age. 

P.S. I've never met a guy with a good physique who couldn't do a pullup. If I could only do one exercise for the rest of my life, it would be the pullup. A few years ago when I finally decided to get a handle on my health and fitness, I couldn't do a single one. So I started with lat pull downs, like the ones I did today at the gym:

Then I progressed to band-assisted pullups. Eventually, the Lord granted me my first non-assisted pullup. Friend, you are capable of things you can't imagine now. Please, please, please keep working until you can do this:

You don't always get to see yourself changing while you are actually changing. The pullup allows you to do just that. No exercise is more simple -- or more brutally honest -- than the pullup. Your first pullup isn't just a fitness milestone. It's proof that your body is becoming stronger as a system. 

Have a wonderful evening! 

Farmland: Once It's Gone, It's Gone

When Becky and I moved from Southern California to North Carolina in 1998, we purchased a ranch near the Tar River and brought the horses and goats with us. It wasn't long before we felt that we had outgrown that property and began looking into buying a farm. That process was more difficult than we had anticipated. Very few intact farm properties were on the market. Generational farms were being turned into subdivisions and shopping malls. Many farmers had built an operation on land that was worth substantially more to a developer than it could ever generate from farming. In many instances, their children moved away or simply decided that they didn't want the financial uncertainties and physical demands of farming. 

Let's a say a developer offered you several million dollars. Would you sell to another farmer for a fraction of its developmental value? A 130-acre piece of farmland that sells for, say, 1.5 million could easily create 100 potential building lots. The fact is, we live in a society where land is worth more when you stop farming than when you continue. Becky and I watched over and over again as another farm was bought only to be subdivided into housing tracts. One farm after the other. One field after the other.

I want to be clear that I'm not picking on farmers who did this. I understand that some families have to sell their farms to developers. In our case, we found a beautiful farm in Virginia near the Carolina border with an 1811 farm house that would be a perfect restoration project. None of the four children was in a position to take it over. The elderly owners, however, had decided to sell their farm intact to someone interested in agriculture. 

We bought that farm with the goal of perpetuating the legacy they had built through generations. For two and a half decades we've worked the land. We've toiled through good seasons and bad, relying on the Lord to meet the needs of our family. That utter dependence on God is one of the reasons I love farming so much. Farming is not an easy life. It tests you in every possible way. But it's a life that farmers cherish. 

They're not making farmland anymore. Land once developed is lost forever. Yes, I understand that people need to live in homes with limited acreage. But not everything needs to be developed just because it can be. Once it's gone, it's gone. 

Our farm and environs. 

Wunderbar: Stop Comparing and Start Enjoying Living in Germany

I've met a number of people who said they didn't enjoy living in Germany. I'm not surprised to hear that they wanted to go back to the U.S. But I'm surprised to hear that they didn't like living in Europe. If you plan to live in Germany, I would travel and really explore German history and culture. It's a truly beautiful and amazing country. I lived there for 3 months. Make friends. Go out. Explore what's there. Enjoy your second country and make the best of it. You will never call it your "Heimat" but it is your home for now. And if you ever need a break from Germany, another country isn't far away (think: Switzerland!). 

Meet "Dug"

My daughter just sent me this pic of my grandson Ira. 

What do you call a boy with a shovel? Dug. (Doug). 😀

The Power of Walking: The Most Underrated Fat Loss Tool

Most people overcomplicate fat loss. I walk. Walking is the very best exercise for fat loss. It lowers stress. It improves your cardiovascular system. It turns on your brain. All while burning calories. Here are my steps from today. 

Start WHERE YOU ARE. 

Build GRADUALLY.

Keep SHOWING UP. 

Young Farmers Are Our Future

If you enjoy farming with your dad or your son, you will never take it for granted. 

I am blessed to have had 26 harvests with my son. 

I now look at his sons and see young men with dust on their cheeks and dirt on their pants. I'm so proud I could burst. This is nothing short of a blessing from the Lord. Watching them work for something and then hold it in their hands -- Oh. My. Word. It feels like I'm standing on holy ground. Their mom and dad are teaching them so much more than hard work. They work with love -- love of their family, and love of their farm. They have been taught most of all love of their Lord. It's hard to put into words how amazing it is to see fine young men who love the Lord and live it out like that. Even if they go into other careers, they will grow up remembering these fields, these harvests, and the hard work their mom and dad put into providing for them. 

Remembering Where You Came From

Probably the most interesting breath I ever took was in Kapiolani Hospital at 1319 Punahou Street in Honolulu. It was my first breath on earth. 

This past summer, 74 years later, I returned to the land of my birth for another challenge to my lungs and body -- surfing Waikiki. No matter how beautiful another place may be, nothing compares to the feeling of being home. 

The people, the island breeze, the local lifestyle and food, the familiar surroundings -- you simply can't put these things into words. 

I haven't lived full-time in Hawaii since 1971 but I'm not ashamed to admit that I still miss it all these years later. When you grow up in Hawaii, leaving can feel like you're leaving something special. 

Hawaii will always be home to me. 

Looking back, I realize how far I've come, and how much I have to be thankful for. 

God has blessed me with a beautiful family, amazing friends, a satisfying career, and a life filled with blessings beyond what I could have ever imagined. But it all started at Kapiolani Hospital. I'll never forget where I came from, because those roots helped make me the person I am today. 

Never forget your roots. 

Appreciate your past. 

Always remember where you came from.  

Hogwash!

In a sermon I watched recently, the speaker said that our word "exercise" comes from the Greek word for "authority" -- exousia. The sad truth is that when you know the biblical languages, you can make them say stuff they never meant. The Greeks had a word for this: Hogwash. True, I'd consider such faux pas petty faults, periodic failures if you will. But if we persist in them, we run the risk of undermining people's confidence in the accuracy of our preaching. Got a good seminary education that included the biblical languages? Great. Now get over it. Stop impressing people with your knowledge of Greek. People aren't even faintly interested in the "aorist passive imperative." They want to know two things: This is what the text is saying, and this is what the text is calling us to do. 

Why Our Metabolism Slows Down with Age

Guys, stop blaming the fact that you're overweight on your metabolism. You're giving up accountability, which is critical to making changes in your physique. Let's say I'm getting old and fat. It's not because my metabolism is broken. Your metabolism doesn't slow down just because you're getting older. Your metabolism slows down because you're getting weaker. What matters is not our chronological age. What matters is our biological age. 

Now, I will cut you a bit of slack if you're over 60. After 60, our metabolism slows down at about 7% a year. But between 20 and 60 it barely moves. Either way, if you're putting on weight as you age, it's due to what you're eating and drinking and how much (or little) you move. That fact is, we lose muscle and gain fat as we age if we don't do something about it. 

Chances are that you're moving around less than you should. There's a clear correlation between fat loss and activity. I'm not even talking about the gym here. I'm talking about simply walking more. Think of one thing you can do to get more movement into your day. After a while, you'll notice that your clothes are fitting differently. 

The shape of your body is changing for the better. If it isn't, your age isn't stopping you. The comfort is. 

We're all addicted to instantaneous gratification. Everything's instant. So we assume that fitness is the same way. Well, money can be borrowed but muscle can't. You have to invest in your health because it's going to dramatically improve your life. The Scriptures don't command us to go to the gym. But they do tell us that our bodies are temples entrusted to us for our stewardship. Fitness isn't just about striving for outward results. It's about honoring God with what we've been given. 

Bottom line? In order to get what you've never had, you're going to have to do what you've never done. And most guys, even Christian guys, won't.

Will you? 

Building Muscle While Losing Fat

Hey guys. I'm sitting at my desk taking a break from writing and thought I'd maybe take a few minutes and break down for you how you can build muscle and lose fat at the same time, especially if you are a natural bodybuilder. The technical term for this is "body recomposition," and I'm here to tell you that it works. You can absolutely add muscle and lose fat at the same time. Muscle is hidden by body fat. That's why when people lose, say, 40 pounds of fat, they look like they've added muscle. It starts to give the illusion that your muscles are bigger. However, it's not necessarily that your muscles are bigger. It's that they're more visible. So when we're trying to recomp, one of the most important ingredients is stimulus. 

I'll explain to you what I've done to grow muscle and lose fat. I'm 74 years old. That's right. I was born in 1952. I've been lifting weights seriously for about 5 years now. And what God has enabled me to do over the past 5 years consistently is to add tiny amounts of muscle to my frame. I'm actually very happy today with my physique. 

I'm probably around 15 percent body fat. I'm 6'4 and I currently weigh about 188 pounds. That's down from 240 pounds when I started weight training. Some days I might weigh 185 pounds. Other days I might weigh 192 pounds. Whatever it is, my point is that I've spent the greater part of the past 5 years adding muscle. And I continue to push myself in the gym because that's how muscle building is done. So the most important thing is to stimulate our muscles to grow. No stimulation, no growth. 

I've also spent this time adding nutrients to support my training and taking recovery days. This ensures we're not losing muscle while we're dieting. In fact, you don't want to lose weight too quickly. If you're a man and are at 25% body fat or under, you should be able to lose about 1% of your body weight per week. That's basically what I did. I know this sounds excruciatingly slow but it really does work. 

The final thing I want to say is that lifting, good nutrition, and recovery are wonderfully enhanced by low-intensity steady-state cardio, and I'm talking, of course, about getting in a minimum of 6,000 steps per day. At this point in my life, I'm training for a 32-mile race, so I'm pushing myself to get in more steps than I normally do. But most of us can easily get in 6,000-10,000 steps per day if we prioritize that. Remember: muscle is very resilient. It's really difficult to lose it. What builds muscle keeps muscle. So be sure that you're enjoying the process. I do. I look forward to my times in the gym or on the trails each and every day. And I keep challenging myself along the way. I'm pursuing health and fitness so I can better care for the people in my life, serve God faithfully, and bring glory to Jesus every step of the way. 

I truly believe that if you're doing your training right and your nutrition is dialed in and you schedule in recovery time and you get in your daily steps, you can actually see a huge change in strength and muscle going up while your weight goes down. Spend time on your knees before God and then put your hands on the weights! 

Wisdom Tempers Knowledge

Many of you know that Becky and I spent the summer of 1978 in Germany serving at the German Bible Institute in Seeheim. 

This just happened to be the first of a number of mission trips we made together in 37 years of marriage. 

Now, when you enter the gates of the Bible school, you're greeted by a sign that says, "In him [that is, in Christ] are hidden all the secrets of wisdom and knowledge." I keep coming back to that sign. The longer I live, the less impressed I am with knowledge. When Paul adds "wisdom" to "knowledge" here, he seems to be emphasizing a point. He's telling us that all of our knowledge is profitable only when we put it into action. Knowledge alone falls flat or knowledge alone puffs us up with pride. I always have to smile when I see freshly minted doctoral students adding "Ph.D." to their email signature or carefully arranging their diplomas on their office wall. One day they'll outgrow that. Frankly, I'm not the least bit impressed with you just because you have a doctorate. I've known many a fool, even in my own field, who possessed impeccable academic credentials. Some would not even claim to be believers in Christ. 

I think we all want more than knowledge. We want to be wise. Why? Because wisdom tempers knowledge. It seasons it with grace. It gives it meaning and practicality. I know of nothing more beautiful than a brilliant scholar who wears his considerable learning lightly. An old Scottish proverb says it well: "Greek, Hebrew, and Latin all have their proper place. But it's not at the head of the cross where Pilate put them, but at the foot of the cross in humble service to Christ." Pride was unbecoming in the first century church and it is unbecoming in the 21st century church. Knowledge makes us arrogant, but love edifies. If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know. Again, knowledge per se is the not the issue, as long as my wisdom begins to match my knowledge.

To all my Greek students I say: In nine weeks of Greek class, you've listened so well. We've learned a lot, but that's only knowledge. Now it's time for wisdom. Now it's time to act upon what we're learning. Now it's time to prayerfully think through things for ourselves. 

Knowledge comes from the Bible. Wisdom comes from God. If you wish to have God's wisdom, it begins with a close walk with him.

Today's Training Run

Here's today's 50K training. Got in another relaxed long run. Why not push it to a full 17 miles? 

Nothing fast, nothing flashy. No higher than zone 3. 

Did I love it? Absolutely! 

Press On: Why Men over 60 Need the Bench Press

It was back to the gym today. What fun! The dumbbell bench press is one of my favorite exercises. It's fundamental for developing your chest while also engaging the triceps and shoulders. Squeeze the dumbbells like you're trying to crush them. Then use controlled reps, proper technique, and progressive overload to build both strength and size.

I also performed some basic arm exercises today. 

Why do men in their 60s and 70s lift weights? Because life requires us to do things. Like lifting your carry-on into the overhead bin. Or picking up a grandchild. Or pushing a wheelbarrow. Or getting up off the floor after playing with your kids' toddlers. Strength training isn't only about weights and ranges and reps. It's about real life. 

Speaking of real life, my heartfelt thanks to all of you who reached out to me yesterday with your tender words of encouragement. I appreciate you being in support so much. When we lose a spouse, God carries us not by removing the pain immediately but by sustaining us through his presence, his promises, and his people. Should you ever have to experience the death of a spouse, let me assure you: 

You will never get over your loss. But you will get past it. 

Fight the good fight, my friend. Keep the faith. Finish the race. And do it with a smile, every single day.

It's Winding Down!

Here's my "drive" to work this evening haha. Love it!

We've finally finished baling one of our larger fields. 

Rain later this week, but we may be able to cut a final field or two next week. Then it will be time for the kids to close up shop for a while. Farmers do lots of things during the winter months, not least spend a lot of time fixing things! 

Thank You, God

Lovely lunch today at my son's farm with its antebellum home and dozens of animals. 

Nate and Jess are raising seven sons who can fix things, build things, and figure things out. I believe their love and respect for crops and animals will grow with them as they grow.  

They're raising boys who understand that respect is earned, kindness is a choice, and accountability is responsibility. 

Today I was grateful for a little time to slow down, catch my breath, and remember what matters most. I don't take any of it for granted. Thank you, God, for your goodness, for this family, and for every blessing along the way. 

Suffering + Submission = Christlikeness

Rom. 8:28 says that we know that God causes all things to work together for good. Paul is not saying that all things are good. He is saying that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. That's another way of saying that Christlikeness always involves pain. God's purpose for his children is to be made like Christ. And that purpose is working its way out as he performs his will in and through us. As he transforms us into Christ's image, he allows us to suffer. The most intense time of suffering may be ahead of us. Others of us have already been through it. Losing Becky was the most intense suffering I've gone through in my adult life. But that was to be expected. God's goal is to turn us into gold. It will involve pain and it will involve change. I'm reminded of the prophet's words that the Lord has his way in the whirlwind and the storm. In some mysterious way, he works through our suffering. Our job is to humbly submit to his plan. 

This is one reason I spend every morning in God's word. I am wholly dependent on God to get me through not only the day but the next weeks and months and years. Anyone who has suffered realizes they're not able to handle life as you once thought you could. Pain reduces us to trust in God. It happened to Paul, who asked three times for relief and the Lord kept saying no. Paul needed to learn the hard way that "my grace is sufficient for you" and "my power is perfected in your weakness." And Paul's response? "Most gladly will I boast about my weaknesses so that God's power may dwell in me." This is all about claiming the grace to admit that I am weak and that, apart from suffering, there's a strength I wouldn't otherwise have. 

Today, even as I still experience some measure of grief over my loss, I thank God for delivering me from the valley of despair and for giving me the ability, in humility and gratitude, to thank him for stripping away all the facade of my self-sufficiency. I believe I can truly say with Paul, "I have cheerfully made up my mind to be proud of my weaknesses, because this means a deeper experience of the power of Christ" (Phillips).  

The Young Hand in the Soil: A Grandfather's Legacy in the Fields

My grandson operated the baler today. 

He loves it. Best operator we've got. It's great to have the next generation wanting to farm. 

Finishing Out a Wonderful Day

The kids' new farm swing. 

Back to baling.

Getting up the last bale -- long after dark.

There is so much to celebrate in life. 

A Requiem for Her, Peace for Me: Finding My Voice in the Music of Mourning

Hey all! Just back from enjoying some delicious Ethiopian food down in Cary. Little did I know when I woke up this morning that the service at Duke Chapel today would not have its traditional sermon. Instead, the All Saints' Day service would feature the world premier of a new requiem called From Death, the Rising: A Requiem. And what a performance it was! It was sung by the Duke Chapel Choir and the Mallarme Chamber Players. The singing was emotive and powerful, the soloists were sublime, and the text of this requiem spoke to us all. The words of From Death, the Rising: A Requiem came from the pen of Susan Palo Cherwien at the request of music composer Robert Buckley Farlee. 

Again, to have the Lord surprise me with a requiem one day before we commemorate Becky's homegoing 14 years ago was a wonderful serendipity. Ironically, Susan Palo Cherwien herself died from metastatic uterine cancer, the very same disease that took Becky's life. During the performance I closed my eyes with a deep sense of peace and thought about the day when I will meet my Savior face to face, and Becky as well. There is something very special about so many musicians coming together with one shared purpose. Boatloads of comfort imparted through this performance! It's as though the composers had put their arms around those devastated by loss and gently whispered, "Blessed are those who mourn." 

What a blessed day.  

My Nightly Prayer

For all my children and grandchildren.

Remembering Becky through Great Christian Music

Tomorrow I will be attending the services at Duke Chapel in Durham for my yearly fix of great organ music. Just think. Thousands of pipes. Four keyboards. A single instrument. A pipe organ is a musical miracle -- wood and metal tuned to do one thing: make the mechanics disappear into the music. The organ will feature two of Bach's classic organ pieces: Prelude in G Major, and Fugue in G Major.

Tomorrow is "All Saints Day." I can't wait to sing the opening hymn "For All the Saints," written by Anglican bishop William Walsham How with music composed by the great English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. The opening verse of the hymn honors the "great cloud of witnesses" -- my precious Becky included -- who lived and died in faith, paving the way for future generations. The climax of the hymn portrays the second coming of Christ, culminating in an eternal chorus of praise to the Trinity. 

Can't wait! 

Beyond Your Lifetime: The Invisible Hand Shaping Your Great-Grandchildren

I snapped this picture on Aug. 9, 2026 just before I began my morning run at Kailua Beach Park. 

The ironwood trees on Kailua Beach have been here for many generations. Someone planted them a very long time ago and now they provide shade to us all. The trees we plant today in our kids' and grandkids' lives will do the same for people generations from now. 

"Country DoorDash"

What is "Country DoorDash"? When a country wife brings her farmer hubby some dinner while he's out on the tractor. Not everyone is cut out to be a farmer, but whose who are -- God bless all of you!