Busy Week

It has been a busy week in the Benson household.  Our big news is that our grandson, Lucas Joseph Browning, was born yesterday at 11:15 am in Kansas City.  Because of COVID restrictions, we have not gotten to see him in person yet, but will tomorrow.  I can’t wait.  I shared his pictures on Facebook, emails and texts with over 100 people.  I am very excited about being a grandpa.

Our oldest son, Theron, finished graduate school last week with a master’s degree in Public Health.  He is applying for jobs.  Please pray that he is able to find a great job.

David started his sophomore year of high school last week.  In addition to his core classes, he is taking computer programming this year.  He is thinking about going into Computer Science, so this gives him the opportunity to see if he likes it.  He is also taking his first college class this year, which is an introductory IT course.  The class is technically online, but the teacher of the class will be in the classroom if David has any questions or needs help.

In other big news, we are having new siding, windows and gutters put on our house.  They are starting the work today.  All of the materials were delivered yesterday plus a huge dumpster that is sitting in our driveway.

Other than that, our lives are pretty boring right now.

Caravan

Next year in June, I will be going with a group of high school students on a trip across the upper midwest, northeast and Canada.  This trip is one that our church does every 4 years.  We call it the "Caravan".  The term caravan comes from a group of people traveling together.  When they started the caravan, it was a group of vehicles traveling together.  Now, the "caravan" uses a tour bus.  

We are expecting about 30-40 kids on the trip.  We will be starting out in Kansas City and making stops in the following places:

• Nauvoo, Illinois
• Indianapolis, Indiana
• Portsmouth, Ohio
• Kirtland, Ohio
• Niagara Falls, New York
• Palmyra, New York
• Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Eerie Falls, Ontario, Canada
• Detroit, Michigan
• Chicago, Illinois

The trip will be focusing on mission, church history, issues facing our church and society today, worship, and team building.  Plus we are planning some fun activities for the kids.  I have been working with Craig Hidy as co-coordinators.  

Over the next 9 months, we will be raising money for the kids to go on the trip.  We will be having fundraising activities, but if anyone would like to donate, message me and I will give you more information about how to help.

Habits

I have heard that it takes 21 days to develop a good habit.  Various studies have suggested that depending on the person or the habit, it may take as long as a year.  I have been trying to develop better habits:

• Walk every day
• Drink a gallon of water each day
• Eat more fruits and vegetables 
• Sleep at least 7 hours a day 
• Read every day
• Blog/journal each day
• Lastly, Pray each day

I have gone through periods of times where have have been able to do each of these consistently, but then something happens, and I break that habit.

This spring, I went 47 out of 50 days where I walked at least 7000 steps (which is about 3.5 miles).  Many days, I was over 10,000 steps.  But I got out of that habit and have had a hard time getting back to walking.  My goal is to get up at 6:00 and go walking each morning.  

However, I also want to make sure, I get enough sleep.  During the time when I was walking every day, I was also able to sleep well.  But I am having a harder time falling asleep lately.  I am going to try some techniques to help me fall asleep by 11 pm so I can get at least 7 hours sleep each night.

I have been able to drink a gallon of water each day.  I bought a gallon jug over a month ago.  I fill it up each day  in the morning and keep it with me.  I have only gone 2 days where I didn’t finish it.  So I hope I can keep up that habit.

I am now on Day 2 of starting to journal in my blog again.  So I have a long way to go in that endeavor.

I also don’t take the time to pray enough.  But I find that when I am anxious or am not focusing on my goals, prayer helps me refocus. 

What habits are you trying to develop?

It’s Been a Long Time

 Back in 2007, I started a blog and was writing each day.  However, it didn’t last very long.  I went back through my blog tonight and read all of the entries.  One of the themes that I noticed at that time was that I had been struggling with worry and a negative attitude.  I had talked about asking God to help me with both of these. 

While I can’t say that I never worry or don’t have negative thoughts creep in, i have put my trust in God and know that He will help me through any situation.

Emily is going into the hospital next Tuesday to be induced.  Our grandson should be born either next Tuesday or Wednesday.  We just had a baby shower at our house on Sunday and they got a lot of gifts to help them out with a new baby.

David starts his sophomore year of school tomorrow.  He had a very good freshman year.  I am excited as he is going to be taking computer programming this year.  This will help him decide whether computer science is an area that he might want to pursue in college.

The start of the school year also means the return of high school sports.  I am running two websites related to high school sports: grandriverconference.com and mo8mancoaches.com.  I am looking forward to going to games and following area teams.

My goal is to start writing again and be more consistent. Wish me luck as I share my thoughts each day.