Miraculously (I am being literal here), Heather and I were able to get child care for all day 8am-9pm so we could get down to the Arizona Families for Home Education yearly conference in Phoenix. We had all but abandoned being able to go as every thing was falling through, so we just prayed about it and left it in God's hands and he provided (not angels, but they might as well have been).
Took off at 8am and really had a pleasant time. So nice just to sit in the car and talk with just the wife and no one else around. The conference was inspiring as always. Nice to be around thousands of folks who are all as committed (or more) to parenting well as we like to think we are. A family of four kids is small for this group of folks. We were very encouraged in lots of ways and refreshed by the speakers, and from hearing from folks who have been in the trenches of parenting and come out successfully on the other side. Got lots of books/curricula/supplies at the curriculum fair as well.
We both were blessed by this message from Dennis Rainey that we downloaded and listened to via Ipod on the way down. It addresses the blessing of children in marriage. This is a topic that is relatively taboo in the protestant church. It is by far the best handling of the topic that I have seen.
Here is a little taste:
"Children are our legacy. They save us from our selfishness, from our materialism. Children are the spiritual messengers that we send to future generations with the Gospel. Children should be viewed from God's perspective not from the world's perspective. The world views them as a burden. The Scripture speaks of them as being a blessing."
I was very challenged by that because many times I can buy into the world's view and think of all the ways a bunch of kids can limit me rather than seeing them for what they really are: blessings. Perspective matters on so many things in life. Complain or be thankful. A matter of perspective. That is not to say that this large family thing is easy. It is not. But it is worth it. It matters. It is a good thing, and every "sacrifice" is really nothing in the eternal perspective. I fear we evangelicals have bought in to the world's "burden" viewpoint too much.
We feel very blessed to have the family we do, and feel strongly the weight of the responsibility we have before God to train these kids well, but also to enjoy them as the blessings they are.
The best part of the day by far was this:
Just me and da wife all day, no one else, learning, driving, eating, and talking together. A twelve hour retreat that was incredibly refreshing. We love the kids, but a break once in a while is essential to recharge and regroup.
Today, got up early to meet Dan. He wanted to go all the way up Spruce. I was nervous about it but game. Full rigid ride for Carbon fork evaluation today.
Red sky in the morning...
Started raining about 1/2 way up 305. This didn't bother me much, but did get under Dan's skin a bit (I found out later). Traction was outstanding (except roots and rocks). I managed to blow every difficult move in the second half of 305 either by spinning out on a root, or through fear of spinning out.
Went up Smith to the big Juniper and stopped which was fine by me. Descending Smith is a great fork tester and I was anxious to try it.
News Flash:
Carbon forks ride just like steel forks. They are just way lighter.
Seriously, I noticed next to no difference in the ride other than the lighter front end (a good thing). No diminishment in the trail chatter. No particular flex under braking. Nada. Tires and pressures are by far the most important variable on a rigid bike. I noticed possibly, slightly, better tracking under braking. In other words, less torsional twist when braking compared to the Zion steel fork. At least it looks cool.
There is little that can compare to the wonderful, precise feeling of traveling at high speed down smooth, curvy, narrow singletrack on a rigid bike, however.
Everything was dirty by the end, so I decided to wash bikes later in the afternoon.
I must say is does not suck to live here.
Finally congrats to the Ungers who just had number three: Nolan Morris. Quite a cute young man.
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