Life is a gift

As some of you know… I’ve been dealing with heel pain on my right foot.  It’s been a real downer at times… but as of late I am starting to see improvement. I no longer wake up with soreness and after I ’slog’ I am no longer in pain as well.  I think I am starting to see light at the end of the tunnel!  PTL!!!

None the less… as I was out ’slogging’ yesterday I was moving along at a snails pace. I know folks can walk faster than I run, but… I guess I am at the stage where I do not want to injure myself anymore.

Last year I started to dream of running a Marathon to celebrate my 50th birthday. As I got excited about that idea… I started to increase my mileage and started quickening my pace. Then last November, I hurt my back and for nearly 3 months, I hobbled along in pain as attempted to get healthy again.

Once my back felt better… I started to increase my mileage again, but… I gain a little bit of weigh as I slowed way down and decreased my weekly mileage when I hurt my back. So… that was taking toll and then my heel issue started up during my Spring Tour in April. Ever since I backed way down on my miles and often missed days.

Last week in Illinois I weighed in 191… UGH! I know that’s better than my zenith of 230 lbs… but how discouraging!!!

So here I am on the mend and this time I am going to take it slow and easy! I don’t care about running any marathons anymore. I just want to run/slog everyday… that’s all I want! I love running… it’s as simple as that.

It may take awhile for the weight to come off again… but for now it’s 2 miles a day, really… really… really slow! I’ve learned my lesson… I am not as young or as fast as I used to and that’s ok!

Somehow this all applies to life as well… the point is to finish the race!

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us - Hebrews 12:1 (New King James Version)

Goodness… what a title for my post today!  I know that may sound somewhat odd… but I was out ’slogging’ in Olathe, KS this morning and it felt hot and humid.  Being from Western South Dakota I’m not used to such things… but, it felt great.  It reminded me of my days in Charleston, South Carolina.  I lived there in the mid 60’s when my dad served in Vietnam and then in the early 70’s when my dad went overseas again to Korea.  As you may have guessed… he was in the Military. Serving in the U.S. Air Force for 27 years.

My grandmother lived in Charleston thus the reason we stayed there when my dad was away.

It’s funny how something like warm and sticky weather can bring us back to such profound memories!  Of course we as a family had many challenges during that time, but… in 1972 I gave my heart to Christ at Riverside Baptist Church there in Charleston Heights.

As I propelled my body forward on this warm, humid morning… I thanked God for the gift of life, eternal life!

Brand new song I wrote yesterday… planning to share this week during my Summer Tour!  Hope to record it soon…

Life is a gift

Life is a gift

It’s meant to lived

Through the joy & sorrow

Always willing to forgive

Life is amazing

Days filled with grace

You can live in the moment

Or stay in one place

(bridge)

This is my time

This is my day

(chorus)

I want to live courageously

Never wonder what would be

I want to live

I want to give

I want to be all I can be

Live my life in liberty

I want to live

I want to give

Life is a gift

Those were your last words

In your moment of healing

My soul was stirred

Life is surprising

Mercies new every day

It’s a gift to be opened

Never to be tossed away

Words & Music: Ken Verheecke

© 2008 Heartcall Music

June 15th 2008

The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, 
      And he who begets a wise child will delight in him. 

Proverbs 23:24 (New King James Version)

My dad was a good man… far from perfect, but someone I looked up to.  He was consistently telling me that I could be whoever I wanted to be in life… “the sky was the limit.”

When I chose to be a musician… my dad was delighted.  He often bragged that I played guitar as good as Chet Aktins… which was so far from the truth, but it always made me feel special.  He also shared a phrase that I will never forget… “the only failure is a no try.”  Those words stuck with me throughout the years and because of that encouragement, I’ve never been afraid to try anything.  It gave me the strength to walk into a full time calling as a musician for God.  Something I will always be thankful for!

My dad, Edward Allen Verheecke passed away on May 1st, of 1992.  I miss him… as noted, he wasn’t perfect, but when it counted he was nothing short of perfect.  In such moments, a true reflection of my Heavenly Father’s Heart.  I miss you dad… Happy Father’s Day!

Today was my 3rd day of running 3 miles… this time, NO HEEL pain!  Praise God…

As I was running this afternoon, I learned something… I don’t want to take running for granted, never again… because it was becoming, blah, blah… blah.  It was something I did day, after day… after day.  I forgot how much it meant to me…

Getting hurt and dealing with the possibility of not running for a long time scared me!!!  All of a sudden I realized how much it meant to me and I understood the value of it in my life.

It’s funny… or maybe human nature.  We don’t value things until we lose them… or feel we’re about to lose them.  Not good huh?

I want to be able to see the value in things.  The value of family, friends… life… and even something as silly as running.  This is what I’ve learned today…

Everything with Beau’s recovery from his recent ear injury seemed fine.  For those who might not know… Beau is my Dalmatian/German Shepherd.  

Anyway, from the looks of things he’s been pretty uncomfortable all day… shaking his head and whimpering.  Of course being Beau’s papa… it’s hard to see him feeling that way.  Well… with all the constant shaking his bandage came off this evening.  I tried to get him into the Vet today… but that didn’t work out.  His appointment is scheduled at 8:20 am tomorrow morning.  So… I had to bandage Beau up and let me be the first to say… I am no doctor.  It’s flimsy at best, but I hope it holds through the night.

Keep Beau in your prayers… thank you!

Slowly but… surely I am starting to see improvement.  Today I ran/slogged 3 miles… yay!!!

Although I will confess… people can walk FASTER than I run, but… no matter, I was thrilled to be out running again.

My heel pain is still a problem… but with each passing day I am seeing improvement!  The new shoes… along with icing my foot (after working out) is making a difference!

Last night was rough! Aubrey and Beau got into a small tiff while colliding into each other.  This happened when I was walking through a small space. Both dogs were wanting my attention when they bumped into each other. This caused a short tiff and I was able to remove the dogs from each other. At first glance everything seemed fine… but closer examination revealed that Beau’s ear had been ripped. It started at the tip of his ear and it was about an inch deep.

Needless to say he needed immediate attention! Blood everywhere…

In the end he got 7 stitches and is bandaged pretty heavily. He’s also wearing a cone for now… mainly so he won’t try to pull the bandage off.

Poor little guy… and of course Aubrey knew she was in trouble. Since then she’s been showing signs of being very concerned for Beau. It’s interesting how that happens. All told, got about 4 hours of sleep last night. We all we beat tired…

Anyway, see pic attached taken about an hour after we got Beau home…

My buddy Shawn is going to giggle when he sees this layout… or this semi-new update with the theme of my blog.  He knows me all too well… but, here’s my problem.  I’m having some difficulty finding a proper theme for my blog.  Once I am able to find something that fits the look and feel of my site (www.kvmusic.net) I’ll stick with it.  Case in point… remember my greyish theme, the one I had for almost 2 years!?

Anyway… the more I attempted to work with the theme I was using this last week (the brownish one), the more I started to realize that it’s very limited.  I wanted add “Twitter” updates, a Tag Cloud, etc.  But… because of it’s design, I couldn’t readily make any changes.  That’s frustrating to say the least!

So… I am still trying to find a theme for my blog.  Please continue to be patient as I work through this process.  Thanks…