Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Hangin' Out With Some Cool People at the Wycliffe Associates Conference in Toronto
Sitting on the patio outside Hart House at the University of Toronto. Back: (L to R) John Van Sloten, John Bowen, Judy Paulsen. Front: (L to R) Nicole Poitras, GG, Wendy Moore, David Reed.
Last Thursday, I was off by train to the Institute of Evangelism Associates Conference at Wycliffe College in Toronto. It was a time of learning and planning as four of us new "associates" received an orientation and were able to critique each other's sample presentations to hone our skills as specialty resource people working with the Wycliffe College constituency. Going first of the four new team members, I did a workshop Friday morning on "coaching leaders" and got some very supportive feedback!
Friday night was a real highlight as the team attended the theatrical production of "Lord of the Rings" at the Princess Alexandria Theatre. Wow! A great experience for any fan of J. R. R. Tolkien. Definitely a night to remember.
On Saturday morning, Dianne also took the train to Toronto. We met at the conference conclusion so that she could catch a ride with Nicole Poitras to Sudbury. Dianne is now on "grandma" duty with Emilie for the week. It was my lot to return to Kitchener on the train. "Grandpa" will travel north to join them on the upcoming weekend.
It is exciting that the Institute of Evangelism sees value in what Outreach Canada can offer and will partner to serve its evangelical mainline church supporters. It's an honour to work with them. To learn more about Wycliffe College and their associates, you can visit www.wycliffecollege.ca. GG
Sunday, June 18, 2006
1 Hour, 4 Minutes, 12 Seconds ... Waterloo 10K Classic
It was definitely not a good result in today's Father's Day race in Waterloo! But, it was probably what I deserved. Why? I didn't stay on track sufficiently for the whole preparation schedule (travel and conferences can really interfere with one's training regime!). A few too many restaurant meals were still stuffed into my running shorts! It's the kind of wake up call that I needed at this point in the season. Get more focused and make it happen!
But I can't help feeling good about the outing! Everybody's times were slower because of the extreme heat and humidity. While a number of runners were being treated for heat stroke, I ran within my limits and had the sense to walk at several points in the middle of the race to avoid overheating. I ran the first kilometre at my target pace. The last 3 K were my fastest ever in a 10 K run. I was able to move up over 20 places in the final stage of the race! No pictures this time -- my usual photo team was away for this one.
Sometimes the positives of an experience are in the pieces rather than the whole, in the learning rather than the result, and in what it will produce later instead of what happened now. So ... in my mind, today was an excellent day! GG
Monday, June 12, 2006
Team Mate Appears on "Celebration 2006" Telecast
Dianne (right) with Alison Johnson over coffee and dessert following the studio session.
Last night, Dianne and I traveled to Burlington, ON to be in the studio audience for the "Celebration 2006" telecast sponsored by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. This one hour TV program profiled efforts in various regions across Canada where Christians have been working together to share the love of Jesus Christ with people in their community. Our team mate, Alison Johnson, was part of the "Love Ottawa" effort and was interviewed on the air to describe the effort in our national capital. It was fun to meet with her after the program in a nearby coffee pub for some conversation and prayer. To watch a rerun of the "Celebration 2006" program in your area of Canada, check your local lists for the CTS Network. GG
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Racing for Father's Day ...
After taking a bit of a racing break following the Waterloo Half Marathon in April, I'm getting ready to race again one week from today (Father's Day) in the Waterloo 10 K Classic. It's not only the first anniversary of my first comeback race, but is an outing to prepare for the Oktoberfest 10 K race this fall in which I hope to break 54 minutes over that distance -- one of my personal fitness goals for the year. At present, my personal best over that distance is 58:39 -- so getting under 58 minutes would be good progress this time around. With all my family away for the weekend, I won't have a personal photographer for this event. But I'll post my result next Sunday afternoon as soon as I've recovered and staggered to the keyboard. GG
