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Day’?s Verse:
“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”
Matthew 21:43
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In 80 miles, I see lots of mail boxes. Mostly the look the same, but in this one two- or three-mile stretch, people had gotten really creative.

Notice the Harley Davidson symbol in the post:

Ian’s favorite:

I need to get me one of these:

OK, I just Googled it and found out that you can buy these — for $160. As Ian put it, “For that much, I’d want real flames to come out of the mailbox!” Continue Reading >>

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Day’?s Verse:
As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.
Proverbs 27:19
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Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
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Day’?s Verse:
When the religious leaders saw the outrageous things he was doing, and heard all the children running and shouting through the Temple, “Hosanna to David’s Son!” they were up in arms and took him to task. “Do you hear what these children are saying?” Jesus said, “Yes, I hear them. And haven’t you read in God’s Word, ‘From the mouths of children and babies I’ll furnish a place of praise’?”
Matthew 21:15-16
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“Gas prices are outrageous!” Lately, you hear this from every side: Coworkers who commute long distances bemoan their $700-per-month gasoline payments; churchgoers sigh miserably at the cost of filling up a 20-gallon minivan tank; ladies in the bathrooms exclaim indignantly being cut off at the pump for the first (but not last) time ever; heck, you could stop random people on the street and have a complete conversation with them about gas prices. Continue Reading >>

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Day’?s Verse:
“Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.”
Matthew 20:16 (context )
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This blog will be fairly critical, just to warn you. If you are on a diet and don’t want to have your feelings hurt, skip this post.

People on diets bore me.

Example: I excitedly noted that this Thursday marks the start of my company’?s single best benefit, free ice cream day, which continues through August. My coworker on a diet said: “Oh, really? I’?ll pass.” She also boasted to us about how “good” she was at a restaurant. Then she immediately confessed, “I did eat a roll,” quickly adding, “without butter!” Great, good job. You’?ve managed to completely ruin your eating experience by obsessing about how many points each item that enters your mouth has. She also eats those nasty prepackaged lunches. They may only be 2 points per lunch, but I bet she could eat fewer points if she munched on cardboard instead. Think of the fiber! No calories! No fat! What’s not to like? Continue Reading >>

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Day’?s Verse:
“Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I’ll be there.”
Matthew 18:18-20
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From Sunday’?s ride:

Masonic retirement home, which I mentioned before:

From Monday’?s ride, in the order I saw them: Continue Reading >>

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Day’?s Verse:
“The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, ‘Move!’ and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn’t be able to tackle.”
Matthew 17:20
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Look at the map below.

If you’re observant (and I trust you are), you’ll notice that, unusually, I have marked a water stop. I marked this specifically because by that point, I had drunk one and a half of my two water bottles. If you look at the map again, you’ll notice that I still had about 25 miles to go at that point. With temperatures between 75 and 80 (I know! It will only get hotter!), it became clear that I would need to obtain more water some time before the end of my ride. Continue Reading >>

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Day’?s Verse:
Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?”
Matthew 16:24-26
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Yesterday I had a normal day, except that I gave my legs a break and in to work. Normally I would happily accept a normal day, but since yesterday I turned 24, I kind of secretly hoped for a special day. The only special part about it was that Ian gave me a nice stack of books: The Ganymede Club, Name of the Wind, Across Realtime, and Inherit the Stars. He also found an unopened copy of Beauty and the Beast on DVD, which I’ve wanted (along with Lion King) for a long time. Disney movies these days sure aren’t what they used to be. I also had one friend call yesterday to say happy birthday, a birthday card each from my grandparents and parents, and I received an…interesting…rendition of the happy birthday song on our answering machine this afternoon. Next year maybe I’ll make a point of coming up with SOMETHING so my birthday doesn’t feel totally hum-drum. Continue Reading >>