We’re heading out now for the marathon! Look for more blog updates soon as Ben starts the race.
Tuesday Fun Times
Marathon day is fast approaching. I’ll actually be posting updates to Ben’s Running Blog during the race. Yup, DURING the race. Head over to that blog for details.
Some of you might be a bit curious about the photo currently appearing in the BenCam. It’s Jenelle and two friends from our Tuesday night small group. That’s Janet on the left, and Mary is on the right.
And while I’m on the subject, let me take this opportunity to explain what we do every Tuesday night when our small group gathers together. To make things more fun, I’ll use a question-and-answer format.
Why did you join this group?
Since our marriage in March 2003, Jenelle and I have been looking for more opportunities to get connected with more people our age. Most of our friends from school don’t live in the area, so we were often bored on weekends. While Jenelle and I really enjoy spending time with each other, there’s still a need to socialize and hang out with other people.
How did you meet the people in the group?
Last year, we began attending Kenosha Bible Church regularly on Sunday mornings. The church, which is fairly large, has several small groups available. We expressed interest in small groups with one of the pastors at the church, and he gave our contact information to the people in the small group. A member of the group (Janet, specifically) contacted us and gave us the details of the group (meeting times, etc.). A week or so later, we were in! 🙂
So, what exactly do you do? Read the Bible and pray?
Yes, we do spend time studying the Bible and praying, but there’s more to it than that. Here’s a typical Tuesday evening:
- We arrive and talk informally for the first 20-30 minutes, sharing recent events, checking up on each other, and just having a good time. There’s usually quite a bit of laughter. Sometimes our conversations get so involved that they spill over into the rest of the night’s events.
- We all have copies of the “Celebration Hymnal”, which contains both traditional and contemporary songs. We pick 4-5 songs from the hymnal and sing them together.
- Next, we share praises and prayer requests — not just for ourselves, but for friends and family. This week, I’ll share a prayer request — that everything goes well for all 2300+ runners in this weekend’s marathon.
- We’ll spend about five minutes in prayer. Usually about 3 of us take turns and pray out loud for the various requests we just discussed.
- We read through the Bible passage that we’ve picked for the day (we’re in the book of Luke right now) and discuss it. This is usually the most “serious” part of the evening. However, it is often preceded by a hilarious discussion of who will read what verses. Example:
“Okay, we’re reading verses 18-53, so that’s five for everyone.”
“Wait, there’s 36 verses.”
“18, 19, 20…. oh yeah, you’re right.”
“So, uh, six of us could read six verses each.”
“Yeah, or we could all read five and someone reads one extra…”
Well, it’s not hilarious when typed into a blog post. But rest assured, the small group has a special ability to make even the simplest task an interesting endeavor. 🙂 - Once we finish going through the reading, we have more informal gathering. Sometimes we’ll talk about upcoming non-Tuesday events that we’ll be doing together. Examples: Concert at Ravinia Park, Brewer game, shopping trip.
I like to think of the small group simply as some friends getting together. It’s like a party every Tuesday night. 🙂
Do you enjoy it?
Very much! It’s always great to hang out with friends. Oh, and I forgot to mention — there’s food at every gathering. 🙂
I am blessed to have close ties with both my mom and my dad’s side of the family, and I enjoy spending time with all of my relatives. However, the small group has taught me that there are great benefits from a close-knit group of people who can help each other out in both good times and bad. Our common faith brought us together and continues to keep us together.
Regardless of how you might feel about religion — if there’s someone who’s been a good friend to you, whether it was last week or last year — be sure to let that friend know that you appreciate him/her. It sounds cheesy, but I bet it’ll make you feel better.
The Thunder Rolls
A late-summer / early-fall storm greeted us this morning around 4 a.m. Some of the thunder was quite loud, and some of it was so close that we could feel the ground shake.
On a related note, we leave near two car dealerships. A lot of those new-fangled automobiles have sensitive alarm systems.
I’ll leave it to you to figure out the rest of the story.
Photo Time Again
I know that a new entry is long overdue, so I put together another photo album. Trips to Oregon are always lots of fun!
We arrived late Thursday night. We spent most of Friday relaxing, shopping, and hanging out with friends.
Saturday was a much busier day — I got up and ran 10 miles, and then I went with Jenelle, Pam, Jeff, and Lucas to the Beaverton Farmer’s Market. We bought berries, vegetables, and some incredibly tasty cheese-flavored kettle corn. From there, we went to the library, which is a place where Lucas really likes to go. We had lunch at Red Robin.
After a quick stop at home to change, we were off to Melanie and Kevin’s wedding. I didn’t know a lot of the people in attendance, but Jenelle knew quite a few. I was more than happy to have Jenelle parade me around like the trophy husband that I am. 🙂 We went to a place in downtown Portland for more fun after the wedding.
Sunday was another relaxing day (after my 20-mile run, anyways). For dinner, we had most of the Walter family over for a cookout. Fun times.
On September 13: Happy Birthday, Aunt Gail!
And TODAY (the 16th): Happy Birthday, Dad!
oh yeah, one more thing…
… we’re heading to Oregon next weekend. Holler if you want to see us.
The freckled face red headed girl you oughta know…
Ben and I just got back from running some errands — I had to go to Toys R Us to find a movie for work. While we were perusing the $3.99 VHS specials, I came across one of my favorite movies from my childhood — on DVD! No, not Cinderella – that doesn’t come out until October 3 — and not Mary Poppins, or Strawberry Shortcake or Rainbow Brite. This is way better.
The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking. Crazy Pippi – the things she can do! Not only does she scrub floors like she’s roller skating and go down waterfalls in barrels, but she can fly! And you thought those red pigtail braids were just there to look cute!
So Ben isn’t super excited about watching it with me — especially since I’ve already started singing all the songs from the movie. Yeah, I remember them. And I’m sure there’s someone out there who remembers them too. Anyone?
Clarkin’ It
It’s September already?!?!?! Yes, it is.
It is also the first day of school, and I got stopped by a school bus this morning. I’m sure all of the kids are THRILLED to be back to the books. 🙂
With gas prices on the rise, I’m sure lots of people have pictures of gas stations with the incredibly high per-gallon rates perfectly in focus. Well, I don’t have any of those. Instead, I have an interesting story to share.
In between work and church yesterday evening, I noticed my tank was just below 1/4, so I would have to stop somewhere to get gas soon. I figured that sooner was better than later, given how prices have been going up so frequently. I pulled into a Clark station, where the sign said that unleaded would cost me $3.249 a gallon. I was hoping to catch it for $2.999 a gallon, but oh well. I would still get a 4% rebate with my credit card.
BUT WAIT…
As I got out of my car and looked at the pump, I noticed that the price still said $2.999! Woohoo! How lucky I felt. (Yeah, feeling lucky to be paying almost three bucks a gallon. My, how my standards have slipped.)
BUT WAIT AGAIN…
As I removed my credit card and was about to insert it in the machine, a gentleman working at the station approached me. The following conversation ensued. I can’t recall it word-for-word, but it went something like this:
Him: “Wait! The computer is doing an update!”
Me: “An update?”
Him: “Yeah, it’ll just take a minute.”
Me: “What kind of update?”
Him: (pointing at a clerk in the building) “He’s doing it right now.”
I looked at the message readout on the pump. It said ‘Insert Card or Begin Fueling’.
Me: “How will I know when it’s ready?”
Him: “It’ll tell you.”
Me: “Is it going to be $2.99 a gallon?”
Him: “No, it just went up.”
Me: “Oh. How much did I miss it by?”
Him: (misunderstanding) “A quarter.”
Me: “No, I mean — if I had been here 20 minutes ago, it would have been $2.99?”
Him: “More like two minutes ago.”
Awkward pause.
Me: “I’m kind of in a hurry. Do you mind if I just try it anyways?”
Him: (with a slight chuckle) “Well, you won’t get any gas that way.”
Me: “Okay.”
Despite the employee’s advice, I inserted my card, pushed the start button, lifted the nozzle, inserted it into my fuel tank, and depressed the lever. It worked like it always had before. I was purchasing gas at $2.999 a gallon.
As I watched the amount rising, I realized what was going on. The store personnel were trying to increase the price to $3.249, but for some reason, they couldn’t do it quickly. For some strange reason, they also couldn’t stop people from buying gas at $2.999 a gallon. As other customers pulled in to the station, the clerk who had approached me was doing the same thing — telling people to wait. Most didn’t listen — especially when I told them that my pump was working perfectly.
I finished filling my tank, collected my receipt, and drove away.
Look at all those links
Another weekend over. I don’t have anything exciting to report, except for some run results. Well, I think it’s exciting, anyway. 🙂
I’m trying to keep the links in the right-hand column up-to-date. The most recent addition is Gina’s Photo Site, under the “Family” heading. If there’s any links you want added to the list, just let me know. I’ll be happy to help increase traffic to your site.
And as always, I’m open to ideas for fun things we can add to the page to make it more interesting. Comment anytime!
Tipping the scales
Looking at some of our wedding photos, I made the following comment to Jenelle:
“I wish I had weighed as much as I weigh now at our wedding. I think our photos would have looked even better.”
Her reply:
“I wish I still weighed what I did at our wedding.”
Transferring Data…
On Sunday the 21st:
Happy Birthday, Gina!
On Thursday the 18th:
Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad!
Happy Anniversary, Andrew & Holly!
You might notice the new BenCam picture with my latest accomplishment — a 10K in 50:32. Woohoo!
Since I seem to be spending a lot of this blogspace talking about running, I’ve created another blog devoted specificially to these endeavors. I am proud to present: Ben’s Running Blog! Enjoy. I’ll probably still make an occasional mention of races or milestones here in this blog, but if you like reading details (lap splits, etc.), head over to the running blog.
Jenelle and I just finished up a pretty busy work week, so we’re not doing anything too stressful today or tomorrow. I’m probably going to spend some time practicing my guitar, as I haven’t been doing that nearly as much as I should be. Later, blogfans!
