I’m meditating on this from 1Peter 3:8-12 – I need God to direct my actions & my words. Tomorrow, I’m meeting with some leaders from the UNR campus ministries re: how to/when to/whether to address the next go-round of chaos brought to UNR via the screamers bringing the “good news” that God Hates! And that awaiting them is condemnation & burn-ination…

Finally, all of you should be of one mind, full of sympathy toward each other, loving one another with tender hearts & humble minds. Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate when people say unkind things about you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God wants you to do, and He will bless you for it. For the Scriptures say:

If you want a happy life and good days,
keep your tongue from speaking evil
and keep your lips from telling lies.
Turn away from evil and do good.
Work hard at living in peace with others.
The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right,
and His ears are open to their prayers.
But the Lord turns His face against those who do evil.

On Monday, I received a note from the IRS letting me know that I have a tax bill of about $117.22 – its our underpayment for 2005. This isn’t great news, as every $117.22 comes in handy around our house – still, I feel better having to ante up a little ($10/month?) than to grossly overpay my taxes throughout the year, & then get excited when the IRS “lets” me have my money back at the start of the next year…

On Tuesday, I received a check in the mail from the Doctor’s office where I had my knee surgery back in September 2000. Seems that 5+ years ago, I overpaid them for the surgery & rehab I went through – so they sent me a check for $131.50. I am not a math whiz (like Brintus) but I can see that $131.50 > $117.22

Cool stuff – I shared this story with the boys last night – Pasty Gangsta’s take: “This is further proof that Jesus loves you, dad.” Yes. Yes it is. Thank you for that.

I have been running about 3-4 times/week in preparation for the May 2006 Reno marathon – I’ve actually come to grips with the physical demand for running the marathon. (Technically, its a race, but I will not be ‘racing’ but rather ‘running’ against myself – racing is what you do around the bases in baseball, not in a 26.2 mile marathon…) The 5 minutes run, 1 minute walk method has been revolutionary in turning me into a person that actually can get out & run for more than 2 miles at a time. Good stuff.

More demanding than the physical part of this has been the mental challenge of knowing that the weekly “long run” will require me to be on the run for 2 hours – & that is increasing. Its amazing to me to go through the battle each week as I prepare to go where no Louie has gone before…

I am finding parallels to my spiritual journey in this as well – its much easier for me to do something I’ve done before; in this case, run for 30 minutes; I have lots of prior experience with this sort of exercising, & really enjoy it. The long runs, however, are ‘no man’s land” for me – new territory that I get to try out my heretofor untested endurance to see if I’ve got what it takes to continue on long past my previous experiences. God is teaching me reliance on Him for my sustenance & stamina in my spiritual journey as well – to get beyond the things I’ve experienced before, & to truly have faith in Him, to trust that He will be my portion, my provider, the One on whom I can depend when I get beyond myself. Kinda fun, & scary at the same time.

Why the title? Well, the other day, when it was truly cold (15 or so) I was out for 45 minute run (I’m measuring my runs in time, not distance, which is the subject of another, future blog.) As I tore along at my snail’s pace, I heard a little guys voice, crying out. Yelling at me. “Run Forest. Run.” I ignored him… He continued, “Run, Forest. Hey moron! Forest Gump! Why are you running?”

I just smiled.

My minor is Speech/Communications; because of this, I have to (get to?) take lots of public speaking classes, & also GIVE speeches as well. Right now, I’m sitting in my COM 213 awaiting the opportunity to give my first speech of the semester. The topic is an article that I’ve recently read; specifically my response to it. There’s only 3-4 minutes for me to talk, which is a lot less than I’m used to.

I don’t feel like being here. Sometimes it feels like I’m just putting in time; I get through by thinking about how this is just a small part of the school experience that I have been a part of for the last 20 years in pursuit of a college degree… otherwise, I might wig &/or never go to class. oh, its my turn.

ARTICLE REVIEWED

A dog’s life..

When has your sci-fi addiction gone too far? When you spend $150K trying to convert your apartment to look like the Starship Voyager… Everyone knows that Picard’s Enterprise would have been a better choice…
FULL STORY – STAR TREK VOYAGER FAN

BREAKING NEWS VIA ESPN.GO.COM

When the NFL unveiled its MVPs from the previous 39 Super Bowls, only three living members skipped the ceremony.

Former 49ers quarterback Joe Montana and former Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw decided to stay home, while former Dolphins MVP Jake Scott was traveling in Australia.

Montana, the league’s only three-time Super Bowl MVP, and Bradshaw reportedly turned down the invitation over money.

Both denied the reports.

In a phone interview with “Quite Frankly” host Stephen A. Smith on Monday night, Montana vehemently denied forgoing the ceremony over money and reiterated that his absence was due to his preference to see his son’s basketball game.

Montana told ESPN last week that he wasn’t going to attend the Super Bowl because his son had an important basketball game he wanted to attend. Bradshaw, according to the Chronicle, told league officials he wanted to be with his family.

Montana said money was never an issue and that he would not have attended the Super Bowl ceremony even if the appearance fee had been greater than the $100,000 he was reported to have requested.

FULL STORY: It Aint So, Joe

An assistant to an Ottawa (Ontario) City Councilman, performing uncharacteristically responsive constituent service, went to a Public Library restroom to see why evidence of a recent diarrhea explosion was not being cleaned up. He decided to perform the casework himself.

This made the cleaning company “look bad,” so they immediately protested that the assistant was union-busting.

FULL STORY

Here are some truly incredible answers to questions asked of the Pittsburg Steelers today at the all important, can’t live without it, MEDIA DAY. This annual event falls on the Tues-deee before the Super Bowl & is always the source of much entertainment & joy for me… I guess inanity is guaranteed if you put a microphone in front of a football player (without his helmet on I might add,) & ask them questions until they pass out…

The Top 10 –
(1) Troy Polamalu: “I do not have a split personality.”

(2) Ike Taylor: “There will be a tomorrow.” (Excellent!)

(3) Hines Ward: “Winning the Super Bowl would help me get solidified.”

(4) Hines Ward again: “After losing Plaxico Burress, we proved a lot of naysayers wrong.” (Take that, naysayers!)

(5) Ben Roethlisberger: Ben mentioned that we are fighting a war in Iraq. As soon as he said this, about 25 guys wrote it down. Roethlisberger also stated that Sunday’s Super Bowl would be much bigger than any game he played at Miami of Ohio; about 30 guys wrote that down.

(6) James Farrior: “Go talk to Jerry Porter.”

(7) Joey Porter: “The 3-4 is more complicated for opponents than the 4-3, because the 3-4 makes it harder to count the number of guys in the box. In the 4-3, you know there are four down linemen.” (True.)

(8) Willie Parker: “Every day of your life, you need to do something to your body. You need to sit in a cold tub of water, or whatever.” (I suspect this might have made more sense within proper context. However, Parker also admitted he elected to play football at the University of North Carolina because he loved Michael Jordan, which seems insane.)

(9) Punter Chris Gardocki was asked whether he thinks about having his punts blocked; this is because he’s never had a punt blocked (in 221 career games). He says you can’t think about having your punts blocked, because that will cause you to have more punts blocked.

(10) Joey Porter, back for more: “Football is the best way to heal any situation.” This slightly contradicts the world view of Polamalu, who casually mentioned, “The nature of a man who has a competitive spirit will be to inevitably live a life which involves that man overcoming obstacles. But the sport of football is too physically and emotionally difficult to play simply for money or success. Personally, I have been inspired by God.”

I aren’t turning into Snoop; it’s just that I dropped my Philosophy course today, & picked up a History of North America course, one that picks up in 1919…