Oh, Dear - Oh, Deer! (And Trees)

I saw this the other day...kind of weird. There were two cars stopped on the side of Miami Road, some broken pieces of plastic on the shoulder. And a deer standing there, motionless, watching the whole thing. I guess someone hit the deer (it was holding its leg up) but not enough to do much damage either to the deer or the car. The cops came (the black SUV), and I drove by before I saw the aftermath (which probably will result in some tasty deer jerky for someone).

And I saw this tree at the park where I usually start my running routes. The color is amazing. Thank you, Father, for making your creation more beautiful than it needs to be.

Shameless Self-promotion

I wrote an opinion article for the Cincinnati Enquirer last week about that middle school in Maine that started giving away birth control pills to girls as young as 11, and that without parental knowledge.

It's essentially the same as my earlier post about it on this blog. You can read about it here. Hopefully, someone will read it and say, "You know, I'm totally pro-choice, but I get what he's saying and I agree." That's the ideal; they will probably actually say, "what do you know? A fundy's preaching yet again!"

Half Marathon Training Check-In

Here's what happened in October:

Not the best month! I was sick off and on for three weeks, so I took a week and a half off (which would have been about 18-20 miles). Also, McDonald's had their Monopoly contest, and I got sucked into it yet again (note my weight).

(Note: last month's numbers are in parentheses)

Weight: 220 (219)

Pounds to target weight: 25 (24)

Miles run this month: 34.2 (56.1)

Miles run this year: 494.0 (459.8)

Days until the Flying Pig Half Marathon: 186 (as of the 1st)

See you next month!

Today, Free Birth Control; Tomorrow; Free Abortions?

In a recent MSNBC.com article, a Maine middle school will now be giving birth control pills to middle-school students confidentially, that is, without their parents finding out. This is in addition to the condom distribution already happening there. Am I crazy, or does the fact that middle schools are giving birth control pills to girls as young as 11 years old just, as one radio talk show host says, "make blood shoot out of your eyes"?

What's next, adding abortion clinics onto the nurse's office at school? This goes back to an earlier post I made regarding condom distribution in schools. If condom distribution was to help curb disease, what is giving birth control good for? It does nothing to stop STDs. One way to look at this is to see that schools like this are removing excuses for "just being a kid" and are in fact encouraging promiscuity by making it easier to fix any potential problems. If we adopt their line of thinking, we should:

• distribute bongs, pipes, and Visine at school because "they're gonna smoke weed anyway"
• or better yet, set up a safe place to deal drugs so they won't have to go to skanky neighborhoods or dangerous meeting places
• teach students the proper use of a beer bong and distribute aspirin and Alka Seltzer on Mondays to hungover students because "they're gonna drink anyway"
• host "safe drinking nights" for teens at the school so the kids can "be safe" In fact, why not just cancel Homecoming and Prom and go straight to giving the kids the alcohol and private bedrooms they desire (equipped with condoms and birth control pills, of course) because that's what they're going to do anyway.
• give away clean hypodermic needles so at least the student junkies won't get AIDS or hepatitis from dirty needles because (you guessed it) "they're gonna shoot up anyway"

As others have also brought up, why not give the kids trans fats (they're gonna eat them anyway), caffeinated soft drinks, and other things the kids want? Oh yeah, BECAUSE IT'S BAD FOR THEM. Also, because THEY'RE ELEVEN!!! They are too young to be trusted with a lot of personal decisions because their brains are still developing and they cannot properly and rationally think through complicated issues like sexuality.

This is what happens when "what's true/right for you may not be true/right for me." This is the bastard child of Tolerance and Don't Judge Me.

It used to be that there was this place kids could go to learn about how to live life responsibly, be polite to adults, clean their rooms, and learn about the birds and the bees, a little place called "home." Now, we trust the American school system (which ranks near the bottom of school system effectiveness) to do this for us? [Shiver runs up spine]

I think that people whose Christmas wish lists are headlined by XBoxes and stuff from Berkley Girl should not be allowed to have sex at all, let alone be trusted to "come to their own conclusions" about it.

The Strange Case of My Local Burger King

Things employees said (very loudly) that I overheard on a recent visit to the Burger King next door to our apartment:

• "No tickling!"
• "Ewwww!"
• "It's burning!!!"

Ahhh, the joys of working fast food.

Say Hello to My Little Friend

Caution: when eating Rolos, check the date, lest this happen to you (on the last one, after I ate nearly the whole thing).This is not the first time something like this has happened. When I was in Albania in July, we were eating some plum-like fruit from a nearby market, and with my third bite I uncovered a still-alive worm in the fruit. I had eaten two of the fruits before this. :(

I have decided to start a file of photos of "things in food that don't belong." So if you would like to contribute, send your photos (nothing staged, but real, nasty discoveries) to

adamgraunke@hotmail.com.

Happy eating!

Ever Wonder "There's Gotta Be More To Life Than This"?

So I was at the gym today, and the song "I Don't Wanna Be" by Gavin Degraw (the video, actually) started on the gym's many TVs. I like the song, the few years old that it is, but today the words occurred to me in a new way:

I don't want to be anything other than what I've been trying to be lately
All I have to do is think of me and I have peace of mind
I'm tired of looking 'round rooms
Wondering what I've got to do or who I'm supposed to be
I don't want to be anything other than me


The reason I noticed the words is because I paused the song on my Shuffle to watch the video. I was listening to Stacy Orrico's "There's Gotta Be More To Life":


I've got it all but I feel so deprived
I go up, I come down, and I'm emptier inside
Tell me: what is this thing that I feel like I'm missing?
And why can't I let it go?


There's gotta be more to life
than chasin' down every temporary high to satisfy me
'Cause the more that I trip around thinking there must be more to life
Well there's life, but I'm sure there's gotta be more (I'm wanting more)


I've got the time and I'm wasting it slowly
Here in this moment I'm half way out the door
Onto the next thing, I'm searching
For something that's missing
There's gotta be more . . . .


Now, you may not know that Staci Orrico is a Christian, so this song is really her way of inviting people out there who are "tired of looking round rooms wondering what I've got to do or who I'm supposed to be" to search for true meaning in life other than "what I've been trying to be lately."


And since we're using music here to explain some tough issues (funny how music has a power to do that sort of thing better than straight out statements), allow me to explain what I believe is true life and meaning available for each person. This comes from the Newsboys' remake of a classic hymn "In Christ Alone":


No guilt in life, no fear in death -
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry, to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from his hand
'Till he returns or calls me home -
Here in the power of Christ I stand


And why I continue to be a Christian, as expressed in Hillsong's "Made Me Glad":


You have made me glad, and I'll say of the Lord:
You are my shield, my strength, my portion, deliverer,
My shelter, strong tower,
My very present help in time of need


I don't want to be "what I've been trying to be lately" because I screw it up too often. I do want to be what God wants to make of me: gentle, self-controlled, peaceable, strong, gracious, understanding, loving, encouraging, brave, full of hope, not afraid of death, not afraid of life, one who lifts others up, a fantastic husband, brother, son, friend, father (some day!), and slowly becoming all around better than I was at this time last year.


He can make this of you, too. That's the "good news" about Jesus. We don't have to try to get into Heaven on our own efforts; Jesus has done the effort and has paid the penalty we deserve. Paul, one of the writers of the New Testament, says it this way:


"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he [or she] is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himselft through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. . . . We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."