"Most people would like to be delivered from temptation, but want it to stay in touch." - Robt. Orben

Yeah, but can you kick that high?

This morning I worked at Matt & Marcie's new place. They move in this weekend so items on the inspection report need to be fixed. Nothing too tricky, especially considering the home sat empty for months. I'll go back Friday to take care of the rest of the things on the list.

They have a painter working there too. Now is the time to get walls painted, before the furniture arrives. At one point, when we were both working in the kitchen, he said, "Matt tells me you're a pastor."
(cue sound of door opening)
I think (!) he is born again. His answers to my questions were somewhat ambiguous but he seemed to understand that he was a sinner and that Christ paid the penalty for his sins. He also said, without any prompting, that he didn't deserve heaven on his own.
It's sometimes difficult to know what's in a person's head, never mind their heart. Some are more verbal, explain themselves more easily, while others struggle to put their thoughts into words. So one person may be able to recite orthodox theology with great clarity and have nothing in their heart while another person may trust fully in Christ's substitutionary atonement but stumble in their verbalization of that faith.
He hasn't been attending church recently because the church where he normally goes is, he says, all about "Jesus loves you; it's going to be OK." That is, a seeker church.
He says he'd like to visit Pathway.

But tonight is really all about tomorrow morning. My brain says this is no big deal; absolutely nothing hinges on how the race goes. In fact, for me it's an event, not a race. I have set no goal times for any of the segments; my objective is to finish, and to do so without repeating as "the fool in the pool." I could walk the run portion and stop to change a flat tire (!) without any consequence whatsoever.

Last year we had 12 people from Pathway doing this triathlon. This year Ryann is the only other participant from church. That means I have no social pressure to do well (not that it made any difference last year). Ryann is an animal at all three events, so the only time I'll see him is at the starting line. He'll be home, showered and sitting down to eat before I get out of the pool.

It will be cold when we begin, at about 8 a.m. The forecast is for temps in the middle 40's. That's crisp for running but downright unpleasant for biking. Think 18 mph wind chill, which creates a "feels like" temp near freezing. So I'm trying to decide what to wear. But mostly it's about the pool. Last year it took me 17:33 to "swim" 400m, a little less than 1/4 mile. To put that in perspective, it won't take me that long to run 2 miles tomorrow. I had no business being in that pool with no swimming skills and count it as one of the scariest experiences I've had in the last decade.

I started teaching myself to swim using the Total Immersion system last December. I was able to swim the length of the pool for the first time in late September, and I've only been able to do laps for the last month or so. I can now swim the 400m without problem. Oh, it takes me a lap or two to get in a rhythm with my breathing; I have a tendency to hyperventilate for the first 50m. But until I get tomorrow's first 100m or so behind me I'll be anxious about what could go wrong. Among other things, I'll be sharing narrow swimming lanes with lots of other people, most faster swimmers, and the potential for getting clobbered by an errant elbow or kick is real. My grasp on the aquatic art is fragile enough that I'll have to talk myself down if that happens.

I'll leave the house a little before 5 a.m. to be at the YMCA by 5:30 in order to get a decent spot for my bike in the transition zone. Everybody has to have their stuff set up by 6:30. The race is supposed to start at 7:45, but last year it was almost 8:15 before the gun went off. (The race organizer is infamously poorly organized.) Sunrise is at 7:12 a.m.

I promise a full and accurate report in tomorrow night's post.
Pam says she's praying for me. Feel free to join her.