Two roads...

 

 

 

 

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled"

 

-Robert Frost

 

 

This past weekend I went to Blacksburg to get away for a little bit.  It was a fun, relaxing, enjoyable time with family and friends.  On Saturday morning we decided that we wanted to go hike the trail that leads to the Cascade Falls which is a local waterfall that is very popular.  It is about a 30 minute drive from Blacksburg.

 

Upon arrival at the park where the waterfall is located, you find the trail head.  At the trail head you are met with two options.  There is an high road trail which is a very wide open trail with few rocks and an easy climb and descent to the waterfall.  Then there is the low road which is along the water that leads to falls. The low road is full of slippery rocks, mud, and rock stairs that make you constantly go up and down.  It is a much more intense trail but the same distance as the high road.  Both trails are 2 miles long.

 

So a decision had to be made, do we take the high road, the easier trail, or do we take the low road, the harder trail.  We decided that we would make that decision when we got to where the trails split.  So off we went on our adventure.  It was only about a tenth of a mile before we had to make our decision.  We decided to take the low road so we crossed the bridge that lead across the creek to the low road trail.  Immediately we were met with an obstacle which were some downed trees which seemed to have fallen the night before.  They were huge trees that had broken in half. 

 

This was an opportunity to turn around and take the high trail, but we chose to climb over the trees and continue down the low road.  The low road was hard and very slick.  Many times I came close to falling.  There was a lot of mud and wet rocks.  The neat thing was at it was right on the water as we walked it and there were so many opportunities to take pictures along the way.  We would stop and take pictures and then move on.  About an hour and 10 minutes into our walk we thought surly we were close to the falls.  We saw a bridge leading back across the creek so we thought that right around the corner was the falls.  When we reached the other side of the bridge, we were met with a sign that said, "Congratulations you are half way there!" 

 

I was in shock.  I couldn't believe it.  I thought surly we were done!  Nope, we had another mile to go! 

 

We finally made it to the falls after 2 hours of walking.  It was hard but at the same time we never would of seen the sights and sounds of walking along the creek. 

 

(Moment of clarification when I say creek this thing had rapids and huge rocks but wasn't as wide as your typical river so it was hard to call it a river.) 

 

Once we had enjoyed the falls we decided to take the high road home and made it back to the parking lot in less that an hour.  It was so easy and well defined.  People were actually running the trail for exercise.  It was definitely easier.

 

I think that is the road that most of us travel is the high road.  The easy road where we can see what is up ahead of us.  The road that we know is safe and free of obstacles.  The road that is well defined and the most traveled.  Unfortunately I think we miss out too often on the sights and sounds of the lower, harder, less traveled road.  The adventure and excitement that fills us as we turn a corner or see something we have never seen before.  Yes that road is hard, yes it is long but the sense of accomplishment or excitement when you finish taking the less traveled road is a far better feeling than when you just take the easy way out.  When you are faced with two roads in life, I suggest that every now and then you take the one less traveled.  The low road that leads to wonder and excitement. 

 

I do suggest that you wear boots though because that road can be pretty muddy and rocky but the sights and sounds make up for it!

David vs. Goliath

Football is here!  I am so excited.  It seems like such a long wait every year as we wait for football season to come back.  I was very disappointed last year as my Hokies did not have a good season.  The season was so bad that there was turn over in the coaching staff as new offensive coaches have been added to help jump start the Virginia Tech offense.  The sad thing is that again our defense is going to be really good but we are looking at a season full of offensive struggles.  Who knows what will happen.

Our first game of the season is this Saturday night at 5:30 pm on ESPN.  We are taking on the college football powerhouse known as Alabama!  They are a team that is complete in every way.  Their running game, defense, passing game, and special teams are all solid.  They are a football juggernaut.  It is very scary to be going into the first football game of the season against such a powerful opponent.

This first game reminds me a lot of David vs. Goliath.  Now I know that this story is often used to describe matchups in sports where one team is far superior to the other but I am hoping that the outcome of this game is like the story of David vs. Goliath.  Virginia Tech is in a time of rebuilding they are looking for a new identity and have a lot of young football players that will take the field on Saturday.  Alabama is coming off a thrashing of Notre Dame and looks to be as intimidating as every.  The hope is that VT can get mentally and physically prepared for this matchup. 

David had so much confidence when he faced Goliath, he knew what would work for him and he used his strengths.  He didn't put on heavy armor and carry a sword to face this giant of a man.  He chose only a sling shot and a rock and decided to use what worked best for him and something that he probably practiced over and over again a million times.  He stepped into that field of battle and flung the rock that took down the giant.  He knew what he needed to do and used his expertise and abilities to do.

Virginia Tech needs to rely on what works for them.  They need to use the plays they have practiced and use their own game plan.  If they want a chance to beat Alabama they will need to use what works for them and not get caught up in trying to play the way that Bama plays.  With strong defense and baby steps on offense, Tech does have an excellent shot at beating Bama. 

I don't know the outcome of the game and it is no where near as important as the bible story of David and Goliath but I hope that the Hokies show up, hang with them, and maybe be able to throw that rock in the fourth quarter that wins the game!  A Hokie fan can dream can't he?

Unsubscribe

How come no matter how many times I try to unsubscribe from email lists I still get emails?  I have tried four or five times to unsubscribe from the Michael's list as well as a couple of random youth group curriculum lists that I don't even know how I got on the lists.  They continuously send me mail even if I don't want it.  I am not particularly crafty so 25% off of knitting needles and yarn don't really appeal to me.  Some of the curriculums that are offered are really not based on theology that I would like to teach my youth.  It is very frustrating when your inbox is continuously filled with emails that you don't want or care about.

It has made me think about life in general.  There are so many things that happen in life that we can't change or alter no matter how hard we try.  Everyday things pop up that determine what our day is going to look like and no amount of planning will change the outcome.  We just have to roll with the punches or make the best of a bad situation or any other pun that comes up with how we deal with the current situation.

It's like our life inboxes are filled with the spam of everyday life.  We can't delete it, we can't unsubscribe from life when something bad happens.  We have to make the most of the situation.  We have to make sure that we are aware of bad things that happen and be joyous when good things happen.  If we don't react and reply to things that get in the way of what we had planned then we ultimate hurt ourselves.  If you were to unsubscribe from life because of the spam of everyday life then you would not be living, in fact you would find yourself hold up in your house doing nothing all day long. 

We can not unsubscribe from life, in fact, we need to subscribe to life.  We need to accept the good, the bad, and the ugly that happens everyday.  It may not always be fun, sometimes it may even be dirty but it is life.  Subscribe to life.  Accept the daily challenges and surprises with a positive and forward thinking.  Understand that everything will not go as planned but if it did why would it be called living?  Open up your life inbox and read through every life email that comes your way.  You may be surprised at what you will find.

Oh and if you want to know about a "Fall Makeover for your Porch," let me know, I will forward my Michael's email to you! 

The Batteries are Dead...

Today while I was using my computer my wireless mouse stopped working.  I couldn't figure out what was wrong with it.  I shook it and tried to reconnect by pushing the button on the bottom.  I finally took it apart and replaced the batteries.  When I put it back together it worked great.  The batteries in my mouse were dead.

I was thinking about that today and I think a lot of us are running on dead or drained batteries. We work so hard and some many hours and a day.  Slowly those days become weeks and those weeks become years.  It is a never ending cycle.  With each day our bodies get warn down.  We don't take as good of care of them as we need too and so we become tired and overworked. Now I know that we all take vacations where we go somewhere with our families or friends, but how much of a break is that really?  We need to talk a day of me to recharge the batteries.

Think about it, when was the last time that you just took a day to be you?  I don't mean with the kids or your parents, or even your friends.  When did you just take a me day everything you did was all about you and what you wanted to do?  We get stuck in a cycle where we are constantly going.  When this happens our batteries start to run down.  The harder we work at school, our job, in our daily lives, the more juice our batteries lose. 

We need to just stop and take some time for ourselves. I know that it is not easy to do with everything that you have to do.  The thing is that if we don't stop to remember who we are, we will lose ourselves.  When we lose ourselves are batteries die.  That is the hardest part I think of having a family, a job, a career, friends, and life in general.  Everything molds us and changes us sometimes in ways that we don't want to be changed.  We forget what we truly stand for and we allow others to make decisions for us.

I know that we love our families and they mean the world to us but you need a day of me.  You need a day where you can remember who me is!  I think it is time for you to recharge the batteries.  Take a day of me and maybe your mouse will work better the next time you are in the office!

6000...

Thank you so much for reading my blog.  A huge shout out to all of you that do.  I was really excited today because I crossed over 6000 posts of mine read over the lifetime of the blog.  I am just thankful that there are people that like to read it!

Thanks again!



We've Got Tonight...

Here we are and I know its late... 

I know your plans don't include me...

Still here we are, both of us lonely longing for shelter from all that we've seen. 

So many troubles, out in the world today. 

It's so hard to keep it all straight.

Why should we worry? 

Nobody else cares.

Look at the stars so far away. 

We've got tonight, who needs tomorrow?

Why don't you stay? 

Deep in my soul I've been so lonely, all of my hopes fading away.

I long for love and I will keep searching.

So there it is I've said it all now.

 Here we are what do you say?

We've got tonight, who needs tomorrow? 

Why don't you stay?

I know your plans don't include me.

Still here we are both of us lonely.

We've got tonight. Who needs tomorrow? 

Let's make it last, let's find a way.



Make the most of every night with your friends, family, and loved ones.  Don't worry about tomorrow.  You've got tonight, who needs tomorrow?

Don't put off something you can do today till tomorrow, tomorrow may never come!

(Song lyrics are part of the song of: We've Got Tonight sung by Philip Phillips)

The Sweet Rewards!

When I decided to start trying to make a lifestyle change, I wanted to have something new that would be a constant reminder of why I am working so hard to be healthier.  I decided that I was going to buy something that would come in 1 pound containers or bags so that everyone of them I bought would represent me losing 1 pound of weight! 

Today I was walking through the grocery store trying to decide what to buy and I came across the sugar isle.  Food lion brown sugar costs $.99 which is perfect if I am going to lose a lot of weight and need to purchase something to represent each pound.  So as you can see I purchased 4 pounds of sugar because I lost 4 pounds last week!  It was very exciting!  Losing weight like that gets you excited and pumped to keep trying.  It is when you plateau that is frustrating, but we will worry about that when I get there.

I think sugar also helps to represent a lot of the reason that I am the way that I am.  Sugary foods and sweets I am sure have been the reason behind 2/3s of my weight.  I shall no longer rely food to make me feel good! 

I do plan to donate all the sugar to North Raleigh Ministries when I have reached my goal weight!