POSITIVE RUNNAGE

I had a good run this morning.
And I found out something that made me feel good.
First, the stupid temperature was AGAIN right at 50 degrees, so I had to wear my partly, mostly, not quite fully warm outfit.
It turned out to be not quite enough.
My ears got cold.
This was prolly because of the nice breeze that was blowing from the north.
I felt a bit tired as I started out and that feeling stayed with me until the last hundred yards or so.
And, as usual, my left hamstring was mumbling about discomfort almost the whole session.
I still think this is an artifact from the dumbbell rows I do on Thursday evenings.
I am up to 70 pounds and for some reason I must brace myself a bit differently when doing my left side than I do when doing my right side.
I have tried to analyze my form as I am doing the exercise but I cannot tell any difference in how I place my legs.
Anyway, barely audible left ham whining this morning.
I ran the course in about 42 minutes – typical for this stage in my life.
But as I was getting into my car to go home I remembered something.

I remembered that I wanted to check the distance of my course with my odometer.
So I did.
Up to this point, my estimates of the distance have been by measuring maps.
Today I drove the distance.
My "three mile" course measured 4.45 miles.
Now I don't feel so bad about my 42 minute times.


CHURCH NEWS

The congregation where I attend church had been affiliated with the Church of God with general offices in Anderson, Indiana since it was founded (before my time started there).
This past month, our pastor announced that he could no longer support the national and state organizations because of some of the doctrinal changes that have taken place in the last few years, and because of some of the organizational changes they are starting to implement.

He went into detail about some of the issues that were most troubling to him.
He also suggested that the congregation consider separating from the state and national organizations also.

Truth be told, there was very little influence (as in none) on our congregation from the national or state organizations.
The concern was that this situation was about to change.
He wanted out before “things” got started. (such as required budget submissions to the national and state organizations.)

The congregation held a meeting three weeks ago to discuss the issue.
I was surprised at how many people spoke in favor of separating.
I was one of them.

Last week we voted on the proposal.
To my surprise, 87 percent of the congregation voted to separate from Anderson.
Now comes the work.
We need to change the name of the church.
Prolly from Madison First Church of God to just Madison Church of God.
We will also have to change our bylaws a little to take out the name of the national and state organizations where they appear.
These changes will not be difficult.

These are exciting times at my church.