Nationals for the Elite

Every year you can count on all the best riders to be at this race. At least for the Elite men. Cause if you win this race you get a Pro deal for the next year. It is pretty much expected. So you got guys from every where in the US except from Hawaii, and Alaska. You have guys who have raced Pro there whole life and want to try and go back to Pro or just want to see if they still have it. The Best of the Best are always there. For some reason I thought I had a chance this year, I really did. 20 pounds lighter than all of last year and stronger than ever before. 170 other riders may have thought the same thing, at least that's how many went to the line today in the hard rain that was expected for a week's time. I looked at the forecast everyday for the whole week before wishing it was going to be dry. I would have done so much better if it would have been dry. Every turn slowed me down being a bigger guy than 90 percent of the field. I still think when you sign up for a race they should have how much you weigh beside your age. It sure would make me feel better. I would have found it hard to believe if anyone that finished was more than 190 pounds even if they were 6'4. So today I stayed in the front to middle a lot today. With 33 laps to go Becky said I moved up to the front half of the field and stayed there. It is pretty easy to see yellow even in a down pour she said. Well God really kept me safe today, He gave me the wisdom to stay on the inside of every turn and the speed I should go in every turn. I read a couple of racers blogs and they said that everybody wrecked. Well that seemed to be true all day every lap. I know that not every one wrecked. I was one that was very blessed not to go down. My ex teammates hit the road hard and some of them broke bones or didn't hit the pavement and got 6 stitches. Sorry to see Hekman in the 2nd to last corner go down, he ended up with a broken heel. I pray he will recover better than last year, which when he does not even a Pro will hang onto his wheel. So in the last 15 laps I am really setting myself up for a great result like I thought could happen. I was in the top 10 relaxing from lap 10 to 5. With 4 to go I noticed I may not have it and with two to go I thought I could do it cause with 3 to go it hurt bad. But with one lap to go I knew I would have to wait another year to have a chance. All through the last 5 laps Paul was on the front pushing the pace for Kirk. Paul brought back a break of 5 riders and I bet he did it by himself, it wouldn't surprise me. So after the race I was OK with losing 240 bucks total for the whole trip cause it could have been the hospital for me and more money to repair my bike or whatever. I pray that all the riders will heal up and race again soon and bring it next year cause I hope to there and be ready, really ready. God willing.

Softball before Nationals

Softball game 3 days before Nationals was kind of not what I planned but I told them I would play. We ended up winning big! The team we played had only lost one game I thought I heard one teammate say. We ended up beating them early and we had fun doing it too. % innings not 3 because we could have in three innings if we would have scored 4 more runs. Well the other team decided to score and not give up. they scored 4 runs and then we put them away in the 5th. I still have not hit the ball too good since my home run. Great fellowship and a great game, thank you Lord for no more black eyes.

2nd day of Elk Grove

This was the masters 30+, again not the best of the best were in the race today. Everybody must be saving it for the Nationals. Why? who knows? This was a great weekend for anyone that showed up and didn't wreck. I raced out of the money the first day but in the money the 2nd day. That happened to lots of other guys as well. But some like Jason Snow took money both days. This race was going to be another good one and I was hoping to make some money today if it was something the Lord wanted to happen. If I didn't make any money to cover our costs then I was done for the year, no Nationals o anything else out of Ohio. Well the Lord made it perfect. I told Becky if I didn't make $300 for the day then no more racing till I lose another 20 pounds. I was on the front at the start of the race. So I took off and wanted to see what they would do. 3 others made it to me but the field didn't let anything go as of the first 4 miles of the race. Primes again today and I tried to go for them with nothing working again. Then a break got lose and it was over. I thought the pack would pull them in but not enough horse power in the 100+ field. I tried on my own for 4miles and came within 10 meters of them and blew up with 4 laps to go and the field was charging hard. Once they caught me they sat up. What? Why? The three that were in the break didn't have any teammates in the field that could do anything so I couldn't understand it. Later I found out Jason Snow was in the field and he finished behind me so why didn't anyone work with me? Well I find out at the end. The Lord had given me some miraculous power that day. Once I got caught by the field and wasn't about to make the same mistake 2 days in a row. I made sure I could make my way to the front if I needed to. So with 2 laps left I was in the top 5 and with one to go was on the front when no one else would pull. I would just get on the front and slow down and let riders jump me and get on a chasers wheel and back to the front again. Priority Health helped me out for half a lap on the last lap. He led it out for his teammate I hope? Cause he pulled for a long way and I never saw him again. With no turns left and 600 hundred meters to go I am on the front once again. I slowed up just enough to let some riders go by and got beside them still in the wind. Then two rude riders cut me off back to back sending me flying into Harry Clark playing bummer bikes at 32 + mph. and at 400 meters I told myself just go don't wreck. I think it was God telling me to just go who cares if anyone passes you better than the hospital. I couldn't argue with that so I went. As I see the 200 meter sign I am thinking no way never going to happen. Then I see the 150 meter sign, then the 100 meter, 50 meters no way! After the finish I was so beat I couldn't catch my breathe for over 5 mins. I had never felt so beat in my life. I guess I should have felt that way cause as Harry Clark also confirmed we sprinted for over 400 meters. I looked closer at the results the day after and the guy who almost came around me other than Harry was a 50 year old, who also beat Jason Snow and some other great riders as well. That 50 year old must have been on my wheel the whole time until the last 50 meters, and I have never heard his name before. So I ended up winning the field sprint and taking 4th since the field didn't want to catch them. I am not saying they can't keep up with the young riders because I have got beat by them before but that is riders that have raced on a Pro team there whole life or have been in the Tour De France and are still beating up on younger riders. That is the great thing about this sport, once you got it you are good for years after. Kind of weird how the Lord works, we prayed for no wrecks and some money to pay for the trip if it was His will and He blessed us again.

Biggest race ever?

Well I thought Elk Grove was going to be my biggest race ever but it turned out to be slower than I imagined. I thought that the pace was going to be so hard I would have trouble keeping up. Well God blessed me so much that day. He kept me safe from all the wrecks and I went for 3 primes during the race. I learned a lot from this race as well. You have to stay on the front or near the front if you want to place. I thought I would have plenty of energy left at the end of the race to do what I wanted. With two laps to go I thought I would have no problems moving up to the front. All day, at least for me, I was on the front when I wanted other than the last two laps when it counted. It could have been the heat setting in on me, but I felt great at the end of the race. Puffer after his 10 place finish told me he was sick for two days after the race, probable from the heat. After the race I felt great but knowing I had so much more left in me. So anyway with two laps to go I was mid pack and started to move up but not like I wanted. I was in the top 30 at one point then made so wrong choices and I was back 60 deep it seemed. Then on the last lap I tried to get up front but only could muster 29th with so much disappointment. I will take it cause a big wreck happened right beside me and no one else came around me to the finish.

Tim Jackson

This post is well over due, sorry Timmy. Last year when I raced for A&F Tim gave us all frames, MASI frames. They were awesome and most of my family loved the colors and design of the MASI. Well I broke it in Oct. sometime and shipped it back to Mr. Tim Jackson the best MASI MAN out there. I said I really want to keep the frame if it is broke and can't be fixed.He said he might have one frame laying around somewhere. He shipped me a brand new frame and it was all black or as I call it Black Beauty. I decked it out with All yellow trim, what other color did you think I would use? Now I look like those Canadian Bummble Bees back in the 80's beating up the 7 eleven boys. I wish, but it looks sweet. It rides awesome in the crits and road races and in the hard rain in road races and crits. So thanks to Tim Jackson I am so happy to ride the MASI. Buy one today it races better than my Trek Madone.

What Do I Do?

Race time is coming up this weekend, this will be my biggest race ever. This is one of those races that if you finish it, you have done good. It is also the type of race that if you aren't bleeding after the race you really did good. If you happen to get lucky and win some money for the weekend that's great. If you happen to get top 3 and share your testimony with others... priceless.

To be honest I am in the best shape of my life and I still have at least 15 pounds to lose but think that I should be able to keep up with the big boys now. Time will tell and I hope that if I do great this weekend then I will be able to sign up for the next 5 weekends.

Well I hope to have all of the above, but I mainly just want to be safe and healthy. It seems like almost every time I go to Chicago I am on the stool a lot which isn't good for racing. You know what? whatever God's will is, it will be done and I pray that He will be glorified. I just want to have fun and let the holy spirit take over sort of like cruise control on the car. If I have a pricless moment this weekend it will help me to make next years choice real easy or then again maybe not. When I pray to God He will say "yes", "no" or "wait". I really don't like waiting. But hey I have lost 20 extra pounds and it has only taken me 6 years and I am doing fine with it. Liven large having such a great year with family and friends thanks to God. Everything has come from God and I don't deserve any of it. Give God thanks for your life today. GodSpeed, Grimmy

Grandparents

Grandpaerents are so smart, they teach you everything the right way. At least both of my grandparents have taught me so much the right way. What I am saying is sometimes Grandparents would say to do this or get this. I would have no clue what they wanted me to do or get. They did it as though I knew what they wanted or what to get. I felt stupid asking "what" or "you want me to get what" or "do what". Man did I feel stupid a lot. They never let me think so though. I was there best worker or gofer. They treated me as if I knew exactly what they needed. Grandparents are the best, they spoil the living daylights out of you. Not only that but play time can be fun. They have the biggest Easter egg hunts or the best Water ski tricks, so much fun.



You remember things of when you were younger I'm sure. What about how much food they make or how good it smells. I am writing this post so you can think or remember what your grandparents were like. Also for you to pray for mine. When grandparents get sick you feel sick. I pray for my grandmothers to be strong during these ruff times. You see both of my grandparents are really in need of prayer. Also my Mom and Dad need your prayers as well. My grandpa Mari has had two major surgeries and Grandpa Grimm has an infection in his body from 100 galstones(sp) the Doctors said they have never seen so many. They did surgery right away and he is in intensive care. So much goes through my mind throughout the day and I just try real hard to pray to God to calm myself down and keep busy with something else.

Thanks for the prayers. Becky Caylin and I are going to Chicago this weekend so please pray for our safety and mine during the races.

Perfect Day for Zoar

It was cool and rainy, perfect day for Zoar Road Race. When was the last time you rode in the rain? I have done it a lot since I ride my bike to work, and I love it. So much better than not being able to breathe at 90+ degrees. Thank you Lord for an awesome day. By the way I didn't have a flat today and my Dad was right again. Dad's are always right. The tire had 3 too many races if you ask me. I didn't have a flat so Dad can still use that tire on the trainer. The race started out pretty slow which was good for me. Up the hills we went, and I felt like I could go so much faster. So on the next lap I took off up the last climb and I blew up. I didn't have enough to do it. So then I sat in for a lap. Felt fine going up the climbs and we let Dan and Brain roll off the front. Then Mike Gorman went with them so I didn't work at all. Instead I attacked them trying to get away but I couldn't. I hope I am stronger this weekend at Elk Grove. Mike got dropped and we were only 15 sec at one point. It seemed like no one wanted to work with the little chase group gaps we had. Everyone must have been tired as well. The finish was very surprising to me. Tris came around everyone so I got on his wheel. He took me to the front and I went hard for a little bit then slowed way down and waited till the past the 200 meter sign and sprinted as hard as I could. I took the sprint by inches. Legs felt good sprinting but will need to be a lot better this weekend. Stark velo did an awesome job. Also Bike authority gave the first cat 3 $100 at the store. I love racing in the rain for a road race.

Shiner

There is a first in so many things. Well today I got my first shiner playing softball. In all the years of contact sports I never had a black eye until now. It must be a sign of old age. We were warming up before the game talking away and I lazily put my glove to the ground and my other hand at my side. Next thing I know POP right in my eye. It must have hit a rock cause it shot up so fast. This ball was thrown into the ground from first and not hard at all either. Well I got picked on the rest of the night by the other guys. I have to admit I was nervous about playing third after that. I had one get by me by their strong hitter and it kicked up real hard too. All I could do was get the glove on it but it never stopped.

Devil's Triangle

OCC club ride time and it is a tuff one. We are always going up or down, very little flat sections. It was hot tonight and I needed a good warm up for Zoar RR. It was great to see everyone again. Lots of fun and I thought I did to much tonight so I slowed up on the way home. The last lap I avg 20 mph and I went easy the last lap compared to the first two. I asked Dad what time it was when I passed him and then got the time when we all finished. Great course to ride on, just one turn is hard to see traffic so you got to slow up a bit. My wheel made a loud noise so I hope to get that fixed.

Great friends

Friends are great to have. God, family, and friends, almost forgot.....cycling. I prayed before the race and all I want is to be safe, no crashes. Well today at the Buckeye Crit I was crash free again, don't worry my time is coming. I just hope it won't be soon. My family came to support me again today. My family is the best. So are my friends, I have had so many people say "go Jeremy" or "go GodSpeed" during these races this year. It has been great. Thank you! Well I got to see friends I haven't in such a long time and it was good to talk to them. I pray for all of my friends every morning to work. I pray for there safety and health. God is so good.

This race was going to be a good one. The course was perfect and it had some nice fast turns in it. I loved this course, thanks Chris. Well Kirk was at the race today and we worked good together. I felt like I had the hardest part of the course to pull through, but it was short as well. It is so hard to tell if I am getting better or just getting lucky in these races. Today I felt like I was strong enough. After Kirk and I lapped everyone but Jim, Kirk attacked with 2 laps left. I couldn't get to Kirk's wheel he had a great jump. It was hard trying to catch Kirk but I learned a lot in trying. Fun race for 2nd place.

Thanks Dave T. for your post on your website maybe Kirk won't see it.

Sorry John

Went to church this morning and John really had a great message. The main lesson that I learned from it today was maybe you should let God do the walking instead of you doing it on your own. I had to go forward and tell everyone how much God has been working in my life. I am having the best year with God, family, and friends. God has given me so much this year and has given me gifts as a surprise.

Two weekends ago God gave me some awesome results at a bike race and gifts to go with it. The main thing that I didn't share with the church family was that I got to share my testimony with hundreds of people after the bike races both days. After going up there and others told me I did a good job God has the holy spirit do the talking through you and what you want to say may not be said for others to hear. I do want to say sorry to John Mulpas cause after his lesson on giving everything to the Lord I go forward and tell them God gave me this awesome watch. I have been giving almost everything to the Lord and I know that if I continue to give more to the Lord He will continue to bless me(us, everyone).

I will tell people what this watch means to me. How this watch wasn't supposed to be given to me because they only had three and all of a sudden they have four. I hope that the church family understands that if you give yourself to God fully then He has great rewards for you. This watch I have is God's watch and I am using it to glorify Him. Maybe I am wrong what do you think?

Amish Ride

Finally a day to ride by myself other than back and forth to work. It always feels like I am out where no one can come within miles of me. So much freedom out in the Amish backyards. I got out to ride for 2.5 hrs and rode hard for at least 1:50 mins. I rode up those hills like they weren't even there. Twenty pounds lighter than all of last year has helped me do great this year. All the thanks goes to God cause I couldn't do it on my own. I know He has changed my life and others around me. He has kept me busy with family priorities and disciplined me to ride to work every day. So all thanks and glory go to Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior.

Chapel #3

Well it was sad to have the last Chapel race come to an end. It was a beautiful day. Caylin rides her bike more than I do at these races. Well this week was a different story I tried hard to get away and couldn't do it at all. I wanted Mike and I to go together but they wouldn't let us Orrville boys go anywhere. Then Rish and Stephan took off with me in tow. We worked the rest of the race and the chase group was on our heels. The Lord provided me with another victory. Thank you Jesus.



The best part of the night was eating my Chick-fil-A on the way home in the dark. I was to busy talking to everyone after the races. They sure are the best people to help out for a bike race. Thanks again to all that helped out to make this a safe event. See ya next year.

Tour De Burg

Last year this was my 2nd best race of the year and I loved this course. So from the start I made things happen quick. I was hoping to get something going early and it did. I rested a lot in this race after the first 10 mins but kept the pace high enough to help lap the field. I had another shot at winning this race but I couldn't pull off the double V. I made a mistake in the end of the race and should have taken off early but I waited and I may not have won it anyway but I felt great all day and should have put the pressure on the whole race. There was so many people there supporting this race and I just was so happy to be on the podium again with Caylin. Thanks to so many taking pics of me and cheering me on. I have a large support group out there.

I pray that God will be glorified because of my efforts and actions that took place this weekend. I pray that I am a good witness for Jesus Christ but I know that I am not perfect and I hope others will share with me my faults because I know I have them but am not seeing clearly enough right now. Please share with me if you have the time I will not be offended.

Troy

Troy is a great town with one awesome course! Today was Caylin's first bike race, July 21st 2007. The horn scared her put she finished by going real slow the whole way. As long as she finished that was ok with me. Then she even put her hands up before the line. Man she knows how to make her daddy proud. She also got a medal after her race.

Well last year for me I was upset that I didn't make the break so I had better plans this year. At least I could only hope it was God's will. Teaxas Roadhouse had 12 strong today and with on two maybe three A&F guys it was going to be all Roadhouse. One roadhouse rider got away then another jumped and I was in the front 15 so I went with him with another roadhouse on my wheel. So three roadhouse and me are up the road working hard to stay away. Well it worked cause we were pulling away and then one of the roadhouse riders got dropped as another roadhouse rider joined us. I think this break started in the first 10 mins of the race.

Any way I didn't go for any primes I just worked hard hoping they would help me get a great placing. As three other roadhouse riders were closing in on us I thought they would attack me for sure. Well they did and I was able to make them hurt enough that I dropped one of them because he helped his teammate get back up to me. So there are still two roadhouse and myself with three roadhouse coming on strong. I had no choice but to work and it made it easy for Kirk and Kevin to beat me. I will take third though.

I was very happy to get third with the riders they had today. As a matter of fact the most important part of the day was sharing my testimony with hundreds of people today. Also having Caylin up on the podium. I know the flyer said they were only giving out 3 watches. Well Kevin gave me the choice of which watch I wanted and I told him red matched his uniform and so he gave me the blue one. I think I saw Kirk with a yellow watch though. Yellow would have been so sweet since that has always been the best color for me.

I can't say enough about the whole day. I just give God all the praise for the great things he has done. I felt like I was hated in this race and it turned out to be very rewarding for God my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My family was there from Miamisburg as well. Billy and Nicki thanks for coming out and cheering.

Chapel #2

This race was in the hard rain and the best Womens Pro racer was in our field. Brooke Miller, from Tipco pro cycling team. She started it off very fast for some of the guys that they got dropped she was in our break of 7 riders when the Hard rain hit the pavement. She thought she had a flat and could not catch back on. I was told she rode 3 hrs before doing this race so I was very impressed. I also thought I had a flat tire too and ran off the road twice. I got used to the wet pavement enough to take first for the 3rd race in a row. I had a big race coming up the same weekend so I didn't want to go hard at all that day. Others deserved it more than I did today. I didn't deserve any of the prize money but I took it anyway and gave back 20 in hopes that it would help out.

Harvesyburg Race 2007

Well it was another hot day but no where near last year. It rained on my dad's race and he did great that day. He took his Zipp 404 wheels off of his bike and gave them to me like they were mine. They are the best wheels ever. Nothing compares to these and I don't think any one can change that. I started the race slow and worked up a couple of hard efforts. Won a couple of primes and lost a close one to Jim Matson. I won a beer jersey again this year if any one wants it name your price and I will use the money for what I think would be a great expense. I gave last years jersey to Hekman maybe someone will give it to him after they buy it off of me. I haven't seen the festival tickets yet but they are going to Scott Moro if I get them.

So Brian and I make a two man break and are gone away from the rest and never to be caught. I won again 2 in a row. Thank you Lord. God is so good. This time I got to take Caylin up on the podium with me thanks to team Dayton. Team Dayton put on this great event thanks a bunch.

Church please forgive me

I am going to be honest with this post. I went to church before my Harveysburg race July 15th but can't remember a thing about the lesson. Hope someone can help me out. My blog's should be updated sooner so I can remember important things like Church. It is not funny at all! I can remember cycling from years ago but not Church. You know I have a problem when that happens. God should be first in my life and not cycling. I do however remember that day in church talking to some friends about new treatment for my friend. I have alot of prayer concerns on my mind and they are hard to keep track of but every morning I ride my bike to work I have continueous(sp) prayer with my Lord and savior Jesus Christ. The way home can be very hard to do so I am always looking over my shoulder just before I almost get hit several times. I am thinking about putting something at the side of my bike just so cars get over in the other lane to pass.

Chapel

One of my best friends Jim Flesher put this race together at the Chapel for 2007. He started these races in 2005. This year he put on the races for free. He paid us back in full for the whole series. You could even ride with the B group if you were an A rider for 10 bucks as well. Then he put all the money back into your race for a chance to get it all back.

This first race was hard. Great day and sunny with no rain. I tried to get away but couldn't do it. I ended up winning my first race of the year at my favorite race of the year. Jim and I always get together and pray when we see each other. It is just meant to happen, I feel like I can tell Jim anything he is such a great guy and a Heavenly Brother to me. I also got to see his Dad and Mom and I was so happy to see them. Jim's family has been such a blessing in my life. Vicki worked hard at the races too, Jim's wife. Vicki is the best and so nice. Thank you for helping out Vicki.

Hagerstown

Went to Hagerstown to see family and while I was in town they had a race, perfect! Well my Grandpa and Grandma got to see me race and I wanted to win so bad. I didn't cheat although the officials were tuff on my mom and wife about my Dads tubular wheel that flated.

Yep they almost took me out of the race. This rear tubular tire only had 200 racing miles on it and 200 more training at a 16 mph pace. Here is why they almost DQ me. As the race started 200 yards up the road riders got tangled up and went down right in front of me. I locked up the rear tire and avoided the wreck. Thank you Lord! Then half way through the race on the hardest turn on the course the tire blew. Right in the apex of the turn at 20 mph. Guys freaked out behind me thinking I was going to go down. I thought I was going to because I have never had a flat tubular before. If this would have been a clencher tire I would have gone down with no ?'s asked or I would have jumped the crub in the turn if I was lucky not to go down instantly which would have happened. Thank the Lord again, man God is so good.

Any way the women official looked at the tire and told my mom and wife that it was a old tire. What ever, she had no clue! We even looked at it after the race and you can tell it had more tread on it than a new pair of shoes, well maybe not that much. I cut the tire open and looked at it closely.

Back to the race, I didn't go for a prime all day and I played like I was hurting all day. After all know one knows me and it is a game. Our avg speed was less than my first road race in the cat 5's and this was a crit course totally flat and in the elite cat. I went with a break late in the race and six of us were out there and I thought I knew one of the riders. I looked up his name and he won the CSC elite race that year and I was going to stay on his wheel in the end. So I did and we left a rider dangle in front of us. I was hoping this guy would have a kick fast enough to get closer to the other guy but he had nothing. So I got 2nd place by maybe a half a foot and ten yards past the finish line I had 3 bike lengths. Thank the Lord I didn't go down that day and also thank the Lord I made a $150 dollar mistake, cause I sure did learn from that one.

Rhythm

Well in softball I got back into the rhythm I once had when I played 80 some games a year at the elite softball level. Yes softball has a pro level and they hit Homeruns every time they get to the plate. Those guys look like they are doing drugs too. I am sick of these sports having cheats. Especially cycling, yep we are bigger news now than ever. People using there own blood for transfusions how smart, but still cheats. To have more blood in there system helps them perform better. Cycling needs to crack down on these guys and have a zero tolerence for this stuff. Well back to softball were in our church league we may have a few cheats with bats to use but I hope not. The bat I used to hit my 320 foot Homerun was over 7 years old. That bat was used more than any bat I know back then and is used more now since we are hitting them out. Our guys on our church team are hitting the ball good and will be ready for playoffs even though our record doesn't show it. We lost by a close score and I missed one game thinking it was on another day, but I also had a race that night and last night as well. I hope my rhythm will still be there missing 2 games, I may have to go to the cages to stay on with my Homerun streak. Great times with church brothers.

Grandview 2nd race

Well this race has a hill in it and is very hard. I didn't know if I would be able to keep up with anyone going up the hill 38 times but I managed with 38 miracles from God. I was 195 pounds and the rest of them are less than that. I tried to keep up with them the first 5 laps and it was sooo hard but did it. As soon as the pace slowed down I went and know on else seemed to care. I was too slow and they caught me and attacked me of course. At least it seemed like it. A big group of 11 made the front group and I was stuck with the rest of the field. A couple of us worked together but couldn't quite pull them back. I was able to get 23rd on the day which I was more than happy with, plus I learned so much from this race. Thanks again to God, my family, and friends for all there support.

My Father

God is great! He has blessed me so much and I thank Him for everything. In Sunday School class at church our lessons have been on how to win others to Christ and the lesson today was on Father figures. It was horrible to see how fathers can be so cruel to there own children. I am so blessed to have 2 fathers in my life. My heavenly Father, and my birth Father. There was a questionnaire we filled out and my Dad was so close in everything a real Father should be like our Heavenly Father. The main differences are communicating with God compared to my Dad. I am finding out that my Heavenly Father gives me all the communicating I need, I just need to listen to him better. I broke down crying in class today when I shared personal things with them. I love my church family.

Grandview

Ohio Cup crunch time! Grandview was a flat four corner crit that was awesome! Becky Caylin and I got there late due to my bathroom breaks. I didn't feel great today but glad I did the race. Anyway Caylin was crying so I tried to comfort her before the race and the next thing I knew it was time to race. No time to warm up just get on the bike and go. I heard some one say 80 riders tried to race that day but only 25 finished. The pace was fast from the get go and a break already went. By the time I felt like chasing after it, it was too late. I was hoping for another break and it happened. Only Kirk, Paul and I worked the break hard and we caught the others just as they were lapping the field. After that I had nothing left and managed to get 9th with Nate in 8th tying me for the Ohio Cup standings.

Run Ruled

In softball we run ruled a team something like 13 to 1. I don't remember cause I was thinking about my races coming up for the weekend. I went 0-2 and took my self out of the game. So glad we won.

Westlake

My first race at westlake was hard! It always is. Tris Mike and I took off from the start and lasted for 24 miles. Tris did most of the work and I just wanted to ride an easy pace. After that I stayed in the field till the last couple of laps and we had a break of 7 or 8 riders. Dave like always, beat me in the sprint. Great to see all the guys there. A few to mention: Tony Smith, he raced with my Dad and I remember watching Tony in a race at Akron, Ohio. Jules or Julio, he remembered me when I was 3 foot tall. Alot of great memories, it was awesome to see those guys again.

Seeker, Pretender, or In-the-Rut Disciple

Seeker, Pretender, or In-the-Rut Disciple
by A.W. Tozer

. . . People in the rut never know when the last leaves are falling for them. Why are people in the rut? There are several possibilities. They may never have been truly converted at all, and this is one of our great problems now. We have a dozen ways of getting people into the kingdom of God, when the Lord said there was only one. They leak in, ooze in, come in by osmosis and get in by marriage--just get in by any kind of way. But there is only one true way. When people find that after being in the church for years they are not making much progress, they ought to examine themselves and wonder whether they have been truly converted. True conversion means radical repentance, a changed life, conscious forgiveness of sin and a spiritual rebirth. Genuinely converted people, as the old Methodists said, had a radical repentance, which eventuated in a changed life. Then there came a consciousness of forgiveness of sins and a spiritual rebirth. People in the rut may never have had that at all. . . . People in the circular grave, who are getting older without getting holier, may have been abandoned to the devil because of two things--some fleshly sins (1 Corinthians 5) or grave irreverence at the communion table (1 Corinthians 11). Protestants are altogether too much inclined to take things for granted. We laugh at those on the other side of the ecclesiastical fence because they bow and scrape and kowtow in the presence of the church. But we lack reverence--not because we are free in the gospel, but because God is absent, and we have no sense of His presence. We sometimes come to the communion table in a moral and spiritual state totally unfit for receiving communion, and yet we take it. Paul said, "We are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world."

Prayer
Lord, I want to do Your will. I want to get out of the rut and follow You. In Your name and power I rise up!

Scripture
Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.— Matthew 7:21

Thought
It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the sincere seeker, the "church member" pretender and the in-the-rut disciple. But God surely knows and the Spirit will reveal to us our own personal state. Or do we already know?

Church Today

I feel like I am not doing a good enough job telling you or getting you to understand the free gift God gives to us everyday. This morning in Sunday School class a video helped me to understand why. This short video story went something like this:


There are times in your lives when you hear, see, or sense something that is not pure. One mistake can change someones lifetime. I have made mistakes will you give me a second chance? I am sorry for what I did and was wrong, will you forgive me. Will you forgive whatever someone else did to you, I am sorry for what they did to you, please forgive them.


This story was about a prostitute and she had a bad day selling her body to others. She was in trouble for not making enough money for her boss. He was yelling at her and telling her she was worthless, you get the picture. Cops showed up and she took off running while her boss turned his back on her. She made it inside a two story dark building and fell asleep for the night. She woke up to hear people singing and praising the Lord. Then she heard the preacher preach that day. This message was told to us Christians. Christians with a mask on our face at church work or at home. Some people are nice at work but when they get home it is a totally different story.


Sometimes I catch myself treating my wife or daughter the wrong way. The people I love the most, I hurt the most. We need to leave the windows open more at our house. I need to treat my family with more love every day.



Well this preacher was telling the story from the bible that related to us christians. How we have our masks on for church and at home, that we lead secert lives. The minister is right, lots of people do that you see it happen all the time. Well after the preacher was done and people were going home, she was going up to the preacher to see if he would help her find her way to be a better person. Just as she came up to the preacher another man shook the preacher's hand. It happened to be a guy that payed for services. He didn't notice her but she took notice that he had a son and a beautiful wife and was very close to the preacher. She got out of the church as fast as she could without being noticed. As she left the church she saw her boss waiting for her outside at a distance. Just then she was approached by a kind woman offering her to come to her house today and get a warm bath, fresh clothes and a warm cooked meal. She was going to decline until the kind woman saw who she was afraid of. The kind woman said you don't have to worry just then she took notice of the nice womans child hugging his father, and he was a police man. She ended up going with the family but what a miracle that is. It takes so much for one person to change there lives.

I feel I have failed at not being nice enough or offer enough to people but as this story portrays it sure does take a lot for someone to change. I am hear to let you know that what ever is troubling you or hurting you in anyway, let someone know about it they may be able to change your life forever. I am always here to read what you have to say and I don't even have to know who you are. God never changes but people do. Another thing I heard today was the word religious. It bothered me to hear web the dictionary has to say about that word. I am not slaved to God I choose to try and be more like God every day and I fail all the time. I don't like failing, it is not fun at all. God is there for me to pick me up off of the ground and put me back together again, Thanks to His Son Jesus Christ. So forgive me if I am misleading or not telling you what you want to hear, I am sorry. I am Happy all the time Thanks to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You can be too, pick up your bible today and read what God's word's say to you.

Romans:
3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under 22 the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 3:20 For no one is declared righteous before him 23 by the works of the law, 24 for through the law comes 25 the knowledge of sin.

Caylin is 3 !

Happy birthday Caylin! On June 22nd at 3:53 am Caylin turned 3 and what a great day. I just wrote that thinking about the city slickers movie when Billy Crystal gets a call from his mother every birthday in the morning waking him up to tell him what she went through and how much of a joy he is to them. I think I will do that for Caylin, just kidding.

I went to work but Becky had a great day with Caylin and when I got home she was going to sleep on the couch so I finished mowing the lawn and then got my shower and ready for family to come and enjoy. We had a blast and Becky did such a great job with getting the party ready and having just a awesome day. It is so hard to tell you how much joy it is till you go through the same thing. It is like one of those commercials, characters such and such dollars$$$, all the toys $$$$$$$$$, Caylin happy and healthy Priceless.

You see all the gifts that she is given and your heart just goes out to kids that are not able to have things that she has. My mom at christmas broke down one time and said look at all these gifts, and some kids don't even get one for there christmas. It is nice to have stuff but it is better to give than to receive. Elves N' More bike races are coming up and you have a chance to give to the needy for Christmas. Let me know if you want to help out I will get you involved. July 12th will be the first race to give to kids.

Softball or should I say Baseball?

The softball game on the 21st was long. We lost 28 to 29 in ten innings and we were the visiting team. Softball innings are done at 7 innings but the other team kept getting the same runs as us. Early on I think we were down by 7 and took the led by 9 in the top of the 7th. We had 4 bad innings of hitting out of ten but we never quit. I had 5 to 7 errors at 3rd and was on base 6 out of 6 times going 5 for 6 with one of the balls hitting the wall in left center. The fence is 278 and looks like the fence is 25 feet high but may only be 16 feet high. I told the guys it was a miracle I hit the ball that far in my old age. We have a lot of high school kids on the team and college kids as well. I am very proud of the team giving it there all. It reminded me of the USSSA softball team I was a part of in the mid 90's, we had a bunch of great baseball players and we hit it where and when we wanted too. That team was one step from going to the semi pro and pro softball leagues. So we had a great time and my Dad, Mom, Wife and daughter stayed for 2 hours to watch that game. I am still sore three days later going on four.

Louisville Race

Texas Roadhouse and Papa Johns gave away some nice primes and prize money. Check out the results and photos at www.truesport.com or at www.2wheelsports.com . My Dad, Mom, Wife and daughter went as well. The trip down went great and it was 95 degrees that day. Thanks to the breeze off of the river it was ok in the shade.

I started out in the back of the 55 + field. I moved my way up to the front for the $100 prime on lap 15 and thought I heard them call another $100 for the next lap. It was only $25 but I will take it. On lap 31 I took another $20 prime with Hayden and I going after it, I still think he won it but he told my dad I took it.

So with only a few laps left I thought Roadhouse would make a late break for the win. It was hard all the stop and go action. Hayden did a lot of chasing and I felt I needed to close gaps as well. I felt great till the last 2 laps when things came back together and Roadhouse had there man up the road. I thought about jumping and just going for it but I knew I wouldn't have enough to last to the end. With one lap to go I tried to move up more but someone else did the same and moved right in front of me causing my wheel to come into a glued contact with his wheel at 35 + mph. Thought for sure I was hitting the pavement but the Lord kept me upright and him as well. It did however push him about 5 feet away from everyone else and caused both of us to slow down quickly. So I had to try and move up without giving it my all. It didn't work great but I will take 12th place instead of crashing any day. Maybe one of these days I will just sit in the field the whole race. Some one after the race said way to race aggressively, that told me right then and there I did to much work today maybe it will pay off in some way. It is hard to be a good example of what Christ would want me to be during a race. I showed that at Brecksville Road Race and hope I do more like that and not get caught up in all the other stuff going on. Big races coming up this weekend so I will post again in July.

10th Anniversary

Yes today is Our 10th year Anniversary. We have known each other since the summer of 1992. It all started like this:

My American Legion baseball friend Jimmie Joe Howe and I came home from a long day playing in the sun. We saw this car with two girls in it. They had a headlight out. So my friend said hey we have to pull them over. I wanted to go home and he had a good reason to pull them over. I had a huge mouthful of sun flower seeds and a spit can for the shells. Jimmie was driving the car so I couldn't do much about going home. In the car with the headlight out was my wife Becky and Michelle. Michelle was driving there car and you know it Becky wanted to go home as well.

So after about an hour and a half they pulled over at McDonalds. Becky said "they just want to see what we look like, I'll get out of the car and show them". Then Becky said "Michelle we do have a headlight out". Becky gave us her phone # but wasn't to impressed with me cause I was dirty, smelly and she thought I had chew in my mouth. Plus to top it all off my so called friend said I was retarded. I had been sick with Lyme Disease for over a year now.

I memorized the phone number and called her up. Her mom let me know she was in town. I went to go find her and Becky and her friend hopped into my car and Becky sat up front with me. Becky and I talked for 2 plus hrs and her friend fell asleep in the back.

Becky stuck by my side even though I didn't feel good most of the time. She has always been there for me and I Love her so much. Thanks for loving me Becky. Love that lasts forever. Grimmy

Extremely Tired

It all started at 7:00 pm thursday night. I had softball practice before our game at 8:30 pm. We won 25 + something to zero in 3 innings.

Then I had 4 races this weekend.

To give you a better understanding how I feel now I will run you through the play by play.

You know the feeling when you start exercising for the first time in 7 years or more. Your body is not used to it at all. Well Friday after work for half a day and traveling 3 and a half hrs my body was already feeling tired, Extremely Tired. My chest hurt from softball and my legs felt sore in certain spots. I could tell by the loading and unloading the car at my brothers house before the race that it would be a long night plus my right arm still hurts since Jan. something, old age.

The race was supposed to start at 7:00 pm, It started at 7:20 something. Before we started they told us we would have 3 laps instead of 4. Made sense, the sun goes down in 1 hr and 40 min. The race started and I was going with every move off the front, everything! I didn't want to work with any of them till Mr. Martin came up to join us. That gave us all the power we needed since we had almost every big team up the road and then I messed up. As soon as I saw Paul I attacked, wrong move. That broke apart the whole break and now we have 2 roadhouse and 2 A&F riders with one GodSpeed rider, which would be me. I made the wrong choice and I payed for it all weekend. That Friday night I was in a break or the last break a total of 46 miles which was longer than any other rider that night, that's because they added a lap during the race. When our break got caught by the field before the finish I could barely hang on to the back of the field.

Next day my legs hurt already and after I warmed up they felt a little better. Today was 65 miles with a couple of rolling hills, and they looked like they were big enough to drop me all day. Well I sat in for most of the day and I attacked a couple of times but nothing big. Then after one of the Roadhouse riders were up the road they let me and Paul roll off the front. I went hard for several miles trading turns with Paul, giving it everything I had. Then we caught his teammate and I still went as hard as I could. I thought the harder I could go the more time ahead I will be at the end. Then I noticed Paul is doing all the work and I felt like I couldn't even stay on his wheel. I wanted to help them as much as I could cause after yesterday this wasn't going to come back. So I would just pull through and try not to let them know I was hurting. We got to the feed zone and that was it if I could have stayed on them up that little grade I think I would have recouped enough to just hang on in front of the rest. Thanks to my Dad and Jane for all the feeds that day especially that last lap. I was able to hang on to the field and even make a go at the finish. I almost saw riders go down twice and with 250 meters left I gave it everything I had, for only another 100 meters. I should have never taken that chance to sprint cause when you don't have anything left your going to get passed by some better riders. I got passed by them all and I finished with the field again.

I felt so much better today mentally, I didn't care what was going to happen after that race. It's a good thing I decided to do the time trial cause that went real good. Matter of fact it was a miracle I got 4th overall in the time trial. It was my 4th TT ever and I avg. 27.5 mph 4hrs after I did a 65 mile Road Race. The first 2 miles of the TT went fast I was spinning at 95 + rpm's in my 53 - 11 after the first turnand I could tell I was gaining on my opponent that started 1 min before me. I knew I beat him in the end cause I was only 10 sec behind him at the end of our TT. My legs couldn't have felt any worse than they did during the whole TT. Even though I was close to my min man I said lets go home I am done for the weekend. The rider behind me was a 19 year old Canadian on a decked out TT bike and we knew he beat me by 27 seconds. What we were going to know Sunday was he got 2nd overall. I said what we were going to know which means Dad and family with me all weekend. They told me I should at least go and find out how I did and sit in all day and see if I could get some money in the end.

I showed up and Dad came running out and said you are in 4th overall I couldn't believe it! The times were all 1 min faster so like I said before I finished a 15 : 17 they had me down as 14 : 18. So I checked every one else and they were the same way. Thank you Lord! Man the Lord has blessed me so much. So far the first 2 days I gave it more than I had both days and still came up good. The Lord has blessed me so much. Today I was still going to sit in and just go when Paul did. Well that worked till Brandon Gavic pulled the field for what seemed like eternity and I was on the front, thank goodness. The next whole lap I was on the back which was a big mistake and I knew it was going to be but I needed to rest up. I thought there are still enough strong guys here so I will stay back. Big mistake in the 72 mile race today. Nine riders made it clear that they didn't want to be caught and I came within 5 sec of doing it. We had a group of 7 and 6 of us worked it and were down 1 min 40 sec so it wasn't to bad. I felt really exhausted going into the last 2 laps and I still tried to help the others out but couldn't do much. I took the sprint for 10 place and felt like I was going to have a asthma attack. I haven't felt that way since I was 12 and don't want to feel that way again. The Lord blessed me with just enough money to cover every expense, thanks to Dad, Mom, Chris and Amanda. 4th overall and trying to make breaks happen the first 2 days and missing the winning break the last day is more than enough for me to handle. Thank you Lord for a Safe and Exhausting weekend. I pray that others will see the miracle you gave to me this past weekend.

Last couple of weeks

I have been playing softball now and enjoy it more than I thought I would. I haven't hit a home run yet but have been trying to just hit the ball. I felt bad one time when I hit it to 3rd base my 2nd time up for the year. It was one of those rocket shots one bounce and off the 3rd basemans thigh and to the outfield fence out of play. I told the guy sorry and he was ok with it. So far I am 3-5 with two doubles and no pulled muscles yet. Thank you Lord. I have now moved to 3rd base. I remember my senior year of baseball I was 5-5 with 2 hrs and 2 doubles my first 2 games, boy a lot has changed since then.

My cousins daughters came to stay with my mom for 10 days, so much fun! I even hit Carlie with a ball in our backyard ball game. I hit her right in the chin, ouch! I told her I was sorry and every time I would mention playing ball with someone else and she over heard us talking she would say " Don't let him hit you in the chin". Great girls hope to see them all soon, they grow so fast.

Caylin and family have a pool pass. Yep we have been going to the pool now and Caylin loves it. I will let you know when she puts her head in the water, if she is like mommy it may not happen.

Becky is applying for a teaching job at Kingsway Christian School. I pray Becky will get the job if it is the Lords will. I am so blessed to have her in my life she has done everything for us and it is a big job keeping me in line.

Cycling, I have been riding back and forth to work every day and have done 1 race at St. Albans. Last year at St. Albans I did any and everything I wanted and couldn't go wrong. This year I did the same for the first 5 laps collecting 2 primes. After that I was done. I couldn't hang with the big boys at all. So 5 guys lapped the field then came around to lap 3 of us who worked together the whole race. Then the 5 guys started attacking each other and I went with every attack and then took off at the end of the race caught before one lap to go and went to the back on the hill and went around all but 4 guys at the end.

Tyler asked if I had that chilli dog before the race, I said nope. Tyler said your in trouble now joking, I laughed and agreed. Last year before the race I helped with everyone setting up and had myself a chilli dog before the race. Donations can be made to the JDRF and can be found with results and photos at : www.grassrootsriding.com

Suffering Will Come

Here are somethings to ask yourself today? Am I suffering for Jesus Christ in my life? Am I bearing in my body the marks of serving the Lord Jesus? Is my flesh winning the war in the struggle against sin in my life and am I experiencing daily victory over it in my walk with Him? Suffering for Christ is going to happen, not maybe, but it will happen. The Christian should learn to rejoice and rely on God in times of suffering.

Look up and enjoy these encouraging words from Thomas Brooks.

You have afflicted me(Brooks, "A Word in Season to Suffering Saints")"I know, O Lord, that Your laws are righteous, and in faithfulness You have afflicted me." Psalm 119:75"Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey Your word." Psalm 119:67 God's corrections are our instructions, His lashes are our lessons, His scourges are our schoolmasters, His chastisements are our admonishments.By afflictions, troubles, distresses and dangers--the Lord teaches His people to look upon sin as the most loathsome thing in the world; and to look upon holinessas the most lovely thing in the world. Sin is never so bitter, and holiness is never so sweet--as when our troubles are greatest and our dangers highest.

By affliction, the Lord teaches His people to sit loose from this world, and to be prepared for eternity. By affliction, God shows His people the vanity, vexation, emptiness, weakness, and nothingness of all createdthings; and the choiceness, preciousness and sweetness of communion with Himself.It has been the lot and portion of God's dearest children, to be exercised with very great and grievous afflictions; in order . . . to the discovery of sin, to the embittering of sin, to the preventing of sin, to the purging away of sin; and to the discovery of grace, to the trial of grace, to the exercise of grace, to the increase of grace; and to the weaning of them from this world; and to the ripening of them for heaven; and to the completing of their conformity to Christ, the captain of their salvation, "who was madeperfect through sufferings," Hebrews 2:10; andto work in them more pity and compassion to those who are in misery, and who sigh and groan under their Egyptian taskmasters.

Brecksville Race's

The pavement was wet as I started warming up on the course watching Mike Gorman crush all of his opponets. Great job Mike! I had talked about doing the same thing with Dan Quinlan(sp) before our race. One person can't do it alone from the beginning in the cat 1-3 race. I think I told Dan I will have to see who shows up and if it would be the right time to attack. I was talking to S. Kadar as we got started and then within 2 seconds from our start I rolled off the front, but not hard. Then before the first turn I looked back and I saw only one rider. I smiled and took off.

Three hills later on the first lap I saw Tris Hopkens(sp). coming and two others way back. I eased off the pedals and Tris got my wheel and we were off. From what I remember (which could be wrong) He took a short pull in the flat section before the down hill and then I charged down the hill as fast as I thought I could. Then before the big climb on the first lap Tris led up the hill. The Hill is now called a bump in the road by my Dad and I am sure Don Cernanic(sp). would say the same. The Hill used to be bigger back in the days Dad's State Road races were 21 laps for a total of 85+ miles. Don was telling me they cut off the top of the Hill. Don told me this in my first year I raced in the cat 1-3 field in 2003.

As Tris led me up the hill I tried hard to help Tris out the rest of the race and it worked. Tris was so much stronger than me for sure. Tris dropped me on the Hill on the 3rd lap and I felt like that all day, just hanging on. Once we had 2:45 sec on the field I knew it would be a great ending for me. The time gaps were closing fast 2:15, 1:45, 1:15, then I looked back and told Tris I see them. We eased up so we could hold there wheels as they would fly by. Paul, Dan, Brian, Nate... hey where is Kirk. Well I saw the field when they were coming too. So that was not good to see also. So there was six of us just tooling around with Kirk Albers(sp) in the field smiling at us.

Then we come to the Hill again, I told myself I have too hang on to these guys. Well...I got dropped. Sometimes things just aren't meant to be. I didn't give up I kept going then I remembered the field should be close. Sure enough I could see them and if I could see them they could see me.
I thought I saw someone coming so I took a better look. Sure enough it was Kirk. I didn't look good enough the first time or I would have saw him 50 feet away. So when I looked the 2nd time he was 10 feet away and going 10 mph faster than me, which is like 100 when a car passes by real fast. I sprinted to blow myself up and it worked I grabbed Kirk's wheel. He pulled me for 30 sec and I said just get me to the downhill and I will pull the rest of the way. Kirk looked like he nodded his head and pulled hard. It was like the pace of Tris and I's first couple of laps, which was great for me cause now I'm not going to get caught by the field. I reasured Kirk that he could do it and that I will pull the hole flat section before the downhill.

After the last knoll before the turn to the flat section before the down hill I came around Kirk and said "here we go". I started out slow and ramped it up slowly and once I saw them I had to choose to fly by them or just be happy with what I did today. The two motorcycles made my decision easy as I passed the one motorcycle across the double yellow line. I knew Charles was on the next motorcycle so I just went behind everyone else. Kirk must have stayed behind me a little bit so he would have made the gap between the riders and the motorcycles. Kirk blew by them with fresh legs thanks to me towing him. But Thanks to Kirk for helping me out cause I would have been ate up by the field. It would have been awesome to see if Kirk could have caught them by hiself cause that would have been awesome to see and I would have had fresh legs up the hill which would have been even better. I am so glad I did get 7th cause Tris deserved 6th place, even if he did have a mechanical.

OCC Ride

Wednesday night with some rain. Pavement was wet and I am not making excuses, but my rear tire was worn to the threads. Yes I hit the pavement at 20 + mph on a training ride with OCC. On a straight road coming to a one lane bridge. I stood up to put some pressure on the pedals and quickly found myself trying to catch the rear wheel as it was side ways. Just about the time I had my foot out on the ground I slammed to the pavement. With my Team GodSpeed kit on of course. I am banged up a little but feel blessed I didn't hit the bridge or a car or another rider. Bike shifts better after a little persuasion. Hope I feel better for Sunday. Why am I going you ask? I have done this race every year since I started racing. Plus I used to go there when I was younger watching Dad race it. I was 6-12 back then. I have bad luck at this race almost all the time. The first year I broke a spoke in the cat 4 race and Zak waited for me up the hill every time, I got 2nd Zak won it, and he earned it big time. The 2nd year cat 1-3 I think I got 11th, the third year 9th, which was great I'll take those placings. Then I was sick in 05 and tried to race for 2 laps, not smart, then last year I broke my chain the first time up the hill. So I hope to better 9th place, but as always I hope to just be safe. It's fun when you get beat up in some races, well this is one of them. It will be really tuff to even finish this race with the field. I always seem to get dropped by the field on the hill so maybe I can hold on this year.

Off to work I go

Well off to work I went, 5:40 am. This time it was in the car. I rode my bike to work 14 working days in a row, that is my record so far. That has saved me 80 bucks in the last 3 weeks. If I get on the bike tonight for the club ride it will make 21 days in a row. With the Brecksville race coming up this Sunday my legs will either be real tired or really fit.

As long as I don't have a mechanical or wreck it will be fun. I will miss not going to church this Sunday but will be with our bible study group sat for some time of fellowship. We will be flying in a small plane over our houses so that will be a first for our family. Hope Caylin does good, I am sure she will.

Mondays I have been with my associate minister going over the book of James. This book is packed with detailed info. James wrote this book to urge his people to make needed changes in their lives and in their corporate relationships.

James 1st lesson: Trials and Temptations
2nd lesson: Listening and Doing
3rd lesson: Mercy and Judgement
4th lesson: Faith and Works
5th lesson: Taming The Tongue
6th lesson: Friendship With God
7th lesson: Investing in Your Future
8th lesson: Suffering and Prayer

On http://www.truthpatrol.blogspot.com/ look at the Christians vs Atheists. It takes some time to watch all of it but it is very good. I think maybe 45 mins total.
Also our church website is up and running. Take a look www.orrvillechristian.org

Hope to post something else soon...

I Love My Mom

Mothers day and my mom was in Kansas with her mom. Love Ya Mom. She was out there for Grandpa's surgery. His surgery went very well and he is at home doing good. The day my mom was going to fly back we all got word that her aunt, my great aunt died(aunt Judy). So many great memories of aunt Judy, and I pray for many more with uncle Eldon. We Love them so much they were even with us on our honeymoon. Actually we all went to the same place but didn't think we would see them for the day we were there. It was a fun day with family.

Mom's are wonderful my list can go on about how much my mom went through with me. I think there is a movie about me(Problem Child). Well my Mom has been a very great blessing in my life and I Love Her dearly.

I have learned to have a greater appreciation for mom since Caylin was born. Parenting changes your life! I am so greatful that God has blessed me to become a Father. Becky is such a great Mother to Caylin and we are so blessed.

Pray for our family during this time. We Thank you Lord for the times we shared with Aunt Judy.

2007 Cycling

Well I started racing again. I knew I would eventually. Since the last week in Feb I have in 113 more hours. The total now is 135. 96% of my riding is to work and back home, taking Caylin for a ride to the park and/or the Orrville Club rides/races. 4 percent has been in racing. I have done 4 races this year and so far no crashes.

Memories: My first Orrville Club ride(OCC) I came off of a 21 hour week and I got destroyed. We only rode for an hour and my legs hurt for 3 days after that night. Someone will get a kick out of this next story. I took Caylin to the park and we were there a long time. I had to go to the bathroom bad, real bad. So I said Caylin let's go home. She said "No Daddy, No." I said to myself ok there are only a couple of people here they don't know who I am, I'll just go. So I went, no big deal, gotta go ya gotta go. Riding to work is always great sometimes at 5 am.

Races: My first race was RATL, great to see everyone that was there. I raced real aggressive and finished 9th, very hard race. My second race was Race around the chase. Great to see everyone there as well, thanks to Dave Tingler for the video, and Shawn Adams for the help. 3rd place finish was more than great, I was just hoping to finish with the pack. Ratl was next and during warm up I broke my wipperman chain at the rivet of the connector link, what else is new. Right by my side was the winner of the cat 4 race that same day Josh Halvax, better get used to that name boys. He rides at OCC on wednesday nights. Josh gave me his chain for me to use, that saved me 20 bucks, thank you Josh. I ended up winning 20 bucks for 7th place. The 1st Ohio Cup race was at Wilkesville. I went because I thought there would be 80 guys in our race in support of the OCA, not much there. Also I went for a great meal, yes it's still all about the food. Anyway the race started and 3 rolled off the front and we all looked at each other like a deer looking into headlights. We heard they were 4mins ahead so what did we do? Nothing they wouldn't let anyone else go away from the field but it was ok for the front 3 to be out there as if they earned it. Well they did! That front 3 took 1st 2nd and 4th. Shawn Adams took 3rd with a flat tire, great job Shawn! Shawn helped Nate and I out and as we were getting closer to the front of the race I got dropped and when I caught back on, miles later it seemed, I said to Shawn and Nate let me sit on for awhile I won't contest the sprint. At the end of the race Nate let me have 5th thank you so much Nate. We split 10 bucks since ther was no money for 6th place. I guess that's why I am going back to playing softball, to much money to do cycling.

Soldier Of Christ

"Take your share of suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus." - 2 Timothy 2:3

I am a soldier in the army of my God. The Lord Jesus Christ is my Commanding Officer. The Holy Bible is my code of conduct. Faith, Prayer and the Word are my weapons of warfare. I have been taught by the Holy Spirit, trained by experience, tried by adversity and tested by fire. I am a volunteer in this army and I am enlisted for eternity. I will either retire in this army at the Lord's coming or die in this army; but I will not get out, sell out, be talked out or pushed out. I am faithful, reliable, capable and dependable. If my God needs me, I am there. If He needs me in Sunday school to teach children, work with the youth, help adults, or just sit and learn, I am there. He can use me because I am there!

I am a soldier. I am not a baby. I do not need to be pampered, petted, primed up, pumped up, picked up or pepped up. I am a soldier. No one has to call me, remind me, write me, visit me, entice me or lure me. I am a soldier. I am not a wimp. I am in place, saluting my King, obeying His orders, prasing His name and building His kingdom. No one has to send me flowers, gifts, food, cards, candy or handouts to keep me coming. I do not need to be cuddled, cradled, cared for or catered to. I am committed. I cannot have my feelings hurt bad enough to turn me aside. I cannot lose enough to cause me to quit. When Jesus called me into this army, I had nothing. If I end up with nothing, I will still come out even. I WILL WIN. My God will supply all my needs. I am more than a conqueror. I will always triumph. I can do all things through Christ. Devils cannot stop me. Battles cannot beat me. Money cannot buy me. Governments cannot silence me and hell cannot handle me! I am a soldier. Even death cannot destroy me. For when my commander calls me from this battlefield, He will promote me to a captain. I am a soldier, in the army, and I am marching, claiming victory. I will not give up. I will not turn around. I am a soldier, marching, heaven bound. Here I stand! Will you stand with me?

My God,His Child

One often forgets to praise God for the salvation that He has granted to them. Once again I am reminded this morning of how praise to God needs to be uttered from our lips as believers in Jesus Christ. To many times people forget to just praise God for saving and keeping them. I hope you will begin sensing that you need to praise God for electing you to salvation if you are in Christ.Here is a devotion this morning from CH Spurgeon. He clearly had the attitude that God elects and chooses whom He will save. It never became an issue for Spurgeon and the other great Calvinists of the past.Spurgeon's devotion for today:

"I will be their God, and they shall be my people."2 Corinthians 6:1.What a sweet title: "My people!" What a cheering revelation: "Their God!" How much of meaning is couched in those two words, "My people!" Here is speciality. The whole world is God's; the heaven, even the heaven of heavens is the Lord's, and He reigneth among the children of men; but of those whom He hath chosen, whom He hath purchased to Himself, He saith what He saith not of others--"My people" In this word there is the idea of proprietorship. In a special manner the "Lord's portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance." All the nations upon earth are His; the whole world is in His power; yet are His people, His chosen, more especially His possession; for He has done more for them than others; He has bought them with His blood; He has brought them nigh to Himself; He has set His great heart upon them; He has loved them with an everlasting love, a love which many waters cannot quench, and which the revolutions of time shall never suffice in the least degree to diminish. Dear friends, can you, by faith, see yourselves in that number? Can you look up to heaven and say, "My Lord and my God: mine by that sweet relationship which entitles me to call Thee Father; mine by that hallowed fellowship which I delight to hold with Thee when Thou art pleased to manifest Thyself unto me as Thou dost not unto the world?" Canst thou read the Book of Inspiration, and find there the indentures of thy salvation? Canst thou read thy title writ in precious blood? Canst thou, by humble faith, lay hold of Jesus' garments, and say, "My Christ"? If thou canst, then God saith of thee, and of others like thee, "My people;" for, if God be your God, and Christ your Christ, the Lord has a special, peculiar favour to you; you are the object of His choice, accepted in His beloved Son.

The Three Nails

This is a story of long ago -- of a man who owned a little store.
He said, "I was proud to have my name up over the door."
It was some two thousand years ago, as I recall,
Located in Jerusalem, across the street from Pilate's hall.

I thought I had everything anyone would need,
And folks would come from miles around, regardless of their creed.
The only thing I had I didn't think I could ever sell,
Was in the corner on a self -- three old rusty spike nails.

And then one day a big Roman soldier came through the door.
As he walked up to me it seemed he shook the floor.
I said, "Can I help you Sir?", with a voice I guess seemed frail.
He looked at me with a sneering grin and said,
"I want to buy some big, big nails."

"Three old rusty spikes is all I have." He said to me, "That will do
For the job I have, three's enough -- now how much do I owe you?"
He put the money in my hand and I was glad to make the sale.
Then I wondered and asked him,
" Sir, what can you do with just three nails?"

He said, "Did you ever hear of a man called Jesus the Nazerene?"
"You mean the one who goes about doing good?" He said,
"Yes that's the man."
"Well, today I intend to show the world that I am boss,
For with these three old rusty spikes I am going to nail Jesus
To the cross."

I stood there almost numb -- you'll never know how I felt.
I said, " Please, Sir, don't do that!", as on my knees I knelt.
He just turned and walked away, and I got up and followed him.
I said, "Please, Sir, I'll buy them back", but he just looked at me
And grinned.

But in the distance I could see the howling mob through the tears
That filled my eyes.
"Away with him!" "Crucify him!" I could hear their angry cries.
Over the top of all the noise and groans of agony,
I could hear the sound of the hammer as that big Roman soldier
Nailed Jesus to a tree.

Iowa

Went to Iowa for Easter, Easter you said, yep Easter. I have been so busy and have so much I need to write down.

Anywho... Went to Iowa for Easter to be with family. It was my Grandparents 60th wedding anniversary. My mom had us share with them about all the great times we had. One memory that will be stuck in my head forever was the time we shot off fireworks over top my Grandpa Mari's Lake of the Ozarks.

Well we had a crowd of family and friends watching it was great!

My cousin Ryan, my Brother Chris and I started shooting bottle rockets.... without the bottle.... cause what fun is that! I started sticking them in the ground trying to make them skip across the lake. It looked awesome when they blew up on top of the water or right in the water, super cool.

The Last bottle rocket.... well this last one I did... yep I admit it.

I Did It.

I lit it as it stuck in the ground so perfect ready to skip across the water... then it ...uh oh.. no.. no.. wait.. no, no, no, no ....

As the rocket was still sticking in the ground trying to launch it shook back and forth up and down side to side...

then on a direct route to my Grandpa.

POP!

It singed the hairs right off my Grandpa's leg.

After I mentioned it at the 60th anniversary party Grandpa Mari (Marion) said he still has a scar from it.

Great times, our family shared these memories for hours that night.

My Grandma, we call her Grandma P, shared with us how important it is to have a Christian marriage. We sure have learned so much from them and hope to have so many more memories with them.

It is hard to write this now but my Grandpa needs prayer today. He is in surgery for a triple bypass. Please pray for him, the Doctors and our family.

Canyon Jumpers

Canyon Jumpers Romans 5:1, 10-11John Mulpas is our Minister at OCC. http://www.johnmulpas.com/ I still kept the listening guide because I felt it was important to share with you.
Canyon Jumpers
How Can I Bridge the Gap Between Me and God?
Option #1 I can __________(indulge) myself.
Option #2 I can __________(compare) myself.
Yes I have indulged myself to many times, haven't we all?
Yes I have compared myself to others or what I used to be able to do.
Isaiah 64:6 We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a filthy rags in your sight. We all wither like a leaf; our sins carry us away like the wind.
Matthew 5 : 13-16
Salt and Light
5:13 “You are the salt 13 of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor, 14 how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people. 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. 5:15 People 15 do not light a lamp and put it under a basket 16 but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven.
The Condemnation of the Unrighteous
1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people 39 who suppress the truth by their 40 unrighteousness, 41 1:19 because what can be known about God is plain to them, 42 because God has made it plain to them. 1:20 For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people 43 are without excuse. 1:21 For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts 44 were darkened. 1:22 Although they claimed 45 to be wise, they became fools 1:23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for an image resembling mortal human beings 46 or birds or four-footed animals 47 or reptiles.1:24 Therefore God gave them over 48 in the desires of their hearts to impurity, to dishonor 49 their bodies among themselves. 50 1:25 They 51 exchanged the truth of God for a lie 52 and worshiped and served the creation 53 rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.1:26 For this reason God gave them over to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged the natural sexual relations for unnatural ones, 54 1:27 and likewise the men also abandoned natural relations with women 55 and were inflamed in their passions 56 for one another. Men 57 committed shameless acts with men and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.1:28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, 58 God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done. 59 1:29 They are filled 60 with every kind of unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, malice. They are rife with 61 envy, murder, strife, deceit, hostility. They are gossips, 1:30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, contrivers of all sorts of evil, disobedient to parents, 1:31 senseless, covenant-breakers, 62 heartless, ruthless. 1:32 Although they fully know 63 God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, 64 they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them. 65 Romans 1:18-32
The Condemnation of the Moralist
2:1 1 Therefore 2 you are without excuse, 3 whoever you are, 4 when you judge someone else. 5 For on whatever grounds 6 you judge another, you condemn yourself, because you who judge practice the same things. 2:2 Now we know that God’s judgment is in accordance with truth 7 against those who practice such things. 2:3 And do you think, 8 whoever you are, when you judge 9 those who practice such things and yet do them yourself, 10 that you will escape God’s judgment? 2:4 Or do you have contempt for the wealth of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, and yet do not know 11 that God’s kindness leads you to repentance? 2:5 But because of your stubbornness 12 and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath for yourselves in the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment is revealed! 13 2:6 He 14 will reward 15 each one according to his works: 16 2:7 eternal life to those who by perseverance in good works seek glory and honor and immortality, 2:8 but 17 wrath and anger to those who live in selfish ambition 18 and do not obey the truth but follow 19 unrighteousness. 2:9 There will be 20 affliction and distress on everyone 21 who does evil, on the Jew first and also the Greek, 22 2:10 but 23 glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek. 2:11 For there is no partiality with God. 2:12 For all who have sinned apart from the law 24 will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 2:13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous before God, but those who do the law will be declared righteous. 25 2:14 For whenever the Gentiles, 26 who do not have the law, do by nature 27 the things required by the law, 28 these who do not have the law are a law to themselves. 2:15 They 29 show that the work of the law is written 30 in their hearts, as their conscience bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or else defend 31 them, 32 2:16 on the day when God will judge 33 the secrets of human hearts, 34 according to my gospel 35 through Christ Jesus. Romans2:1-16

Option#3 I can ________(Save) myself. Yep I can do it myself I don't need anyones help.
=> Religion is spelled (D)-(O) DO.
Conduct Toward Those Outside the Church
3:1 Remind them to be subject to rulers and 1 authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work. 3:2 They must not slander 2 anyone, but be peaceable, gentle, showing complete courtesy to all people. 3:3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, misled, enslaved to various passions and desires, spending our lives in evil and envy, hateful and hating one another. 3:4 3 But “when the kindness of God our Savior and his love for mankind appeared, 3:5 he saved us not by works of righteousness that we have done but on the basis of his mercy, through the washing of the new birth and the renewing of the Holy Spirit, 3:6 whom he poured out on us in full measure 4 through Jesus Christ our Savior. 3:7 And so, 5 since we have been justified by his grace, we become heirs with the confident expectation of eternal life.” 6 Titus 3:1-7
The Illustration of Justification
4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, 1 has discovered regarding this matter? 2 4:2 For if Abraham was declared righteous 3 by the works of the law, he has something to boast about – but not before God. 4:3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited 4 to him as righteousness.” 5 4:4 Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation. 6 4:5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, 7 his faith is credited as righteousness.4:6 So even David himself speaks regarding the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:4:7 “Blessed 8 are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered;4:8 blessed is the one 9 against whom the Lord will never count 10 sin.” 114:9 Is this blessedness 12 then for 13 the circumcision 14 or also for 15 the uncircumcision? For we say, “faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.” 16 4:10 How then was it credited to him? Was he circumcised at the time, or not? No, he was not circumcised but uncircumcised! 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised, 17 so that he would become 18 the father of all those who believe but have never been circumcised, 19 that they too could have righteousness credited to them. 4:12 And he is also the father of the circumcised, 20 who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham possessed when he was still uncircumcised. 214:13 For the promise 22 to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 4:14 For if they become heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified. 23 4:15 For the law brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression 24 either. 4:16 For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, 25 with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants – not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have the faith of Abraham, 26 who is the father of us all 4:17 (as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”). 27 He is our father 28 in the presence of God whom he believed – the God who 29 makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do. 30 4:18 Against hope Abraham 31 believed 32 in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations 33 according to the pronouncement, 34 “so will your descendants be.” 35 4:19 Without being weak in faith, he considered 36 his own body as dead 37 (because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 4:20 He 38 did not waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. 4:21 He was 39 fully convinced that what God 40 promised he was also able to do. 4:22 So indeed it was credited to Abraham 41 as righteousness.4:23 But the statement it was credited to him 42 was not written only for Abraham’s 43 sake, 4:24 but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 4:25 He 44 was given over 45 because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of 46 our justification. 47 Romans 4:1-25
The Believer’s Freedom from Sin’s Domination
6:1 What shall we say then? Are we to remain in sin so that grace may increase? 6:2 Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 6:3 Or do you not know that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 6:4 Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too may live a new life. 16:5 For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his resurrection. 2 6:6 We know that 3 our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, 4 so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 6:7 (For someone who has died has been freed from sin.) 56:8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 6:9 We know 6 that since Christ has been raised from the dead, he is never going to die 7 again; death no longer has mastery over him. 6:10 For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. 6:11 So you too consider yourselves 8 dead to sin, but 9 alive to God in Christ Jesus.6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, 6:13 and do not present your members to sin as instruments 10 to be used for unrighteousness, 11 but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments 12 to be used for righteousness. 6:14 For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace.The Believer’s Enslavement to God’s Righteousness6:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Absolutely not! 6:16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves 13 as obedient slaves, 14 you are slaves of the one you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or obedience resulting in righteousness? 15 6:17 But thanks be to God that though you were slaves to sin, you obeyed 16 from the heart that pattern 17 of teaching you were entrusted to, 6:18 and having been freed from sin, you became enslaved to righteousness. 6:19 (I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh.) 18 For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. 6:20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free with regard to righteousness.6:21 So what benefit 19 did you then reap 20 from those things that you are now ashamed of? For the end of those things is death. 6:22 But now, freed 21 from sin and enslaved to God, you have your benefit 22 leading to sanctification, and the end is eternal life. 6:23 For the payoff 23 of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:1-23
=> Christianity is spelled D-O-N-E (DONE).
The Expectation of Justification
5:1 1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have 2 peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 5:2 through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice 3 in the hope of God’s glory. 5:3 Not 4 only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 5:4 and endurance, character, and character, hope. 5:5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God 5 has been poured out 6 in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.5:6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 5:7 (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) 7 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 5:9 Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous 8 by his blood, 9 we will be saved through him from God’s wrath. 10 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life? 5:11 Not 11 only this, but we also rejoice 12 in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation. Romans 5:1-11
Option#4______________(Surrender) myself.
I have experienced all of the above Options. I have indulged, compared, saved and surrenderd myself.

Sorry for all the much needed info. I felt like all of it needed to be shared.

Love the Lord God with all your Soul, Mind, and Body.

Top 10 Reasons People Leave a Church

Found this very interesting www.truthpatrol.blogspot.com

For a bigger picture of the chart click here.
Why they FleeThe latest findings from the LifeWay Research area of LifeWay Christian Resources give the top 10 reasons adults switch churches.This study builds on LifeWay Research’s 2006 study of the formerly churched, which explored the reasons adults stop going to church.

The current findings explain why people change churches and how these situations differ from those in which the individual does not resume church attendance at all.
Church switchers are defined as Protestant Americans who have attended more than one church regularly as an adult."There are two types of people who slip out through the back door of the church," said Scott McConnell, associate director of LifeWay Research. "One group is probably leaving church permanently, and the other group is going to find a new church."To understand why adults choose to change churches, 415 "non-mover" church switchers – who changed churches for reasons other than changes to their residential location – were surveyed in December 2006.

The study results indicate that overall, those who change churches for reasons other than moving are more likely fleeing their previous church rather than being drawn to another. Fifty-eight percent of study participants said the greatest impact on their decision to switch churches was "my need/desire to leave my previous church." The other 42 percent left because of the desire to join their current church.For full article click here.