“I don’t want to be a race car driver in a rat race
Doing what I can to be on top
I don’t want to be a metal head it’s a way
Of life banging my head to vicious rock
I don’t want to be an elementary school teacher
Putting up with kids Like me
I don’t want my stupid ways to make me
Miss my train next stop to glory
I don’t think I want to be fighting in a wrestling ring
Elbow smashing people for drunk men
I don’t think I want to be any of the farming
Type I don’t know how to milk a hen
I don’t think I want to be a guy with
Popularity being someone that I’m not
I don’t think I want to be
One of the men in blue
Hanging out in doughnut shops

I don’t know a lot about science but I do
Know that I’m not a hairless ape
I don’t know anything about really about
Being Kool, less filling or taste’s great
I don’t know if you would call being in a ska-core band really holding down a job
I guess I don’t know what I’ll do in my old age
but I’ll always praise my God

I don’t know much, but one thing is true
All I want to do is live my life for you
No matter what people say

Please God give me peace, give me hope and give me grace
And the strength to see my life through”
– Rat Race by the Insyderz

At church on Sunday, Charley challenged us to have a ‘go to prayer’ for times we just needed a quick prayer – when driving in traffic, frustrating times at work, or anywhere we need a quick reconnection to God. I had just put the Insyderz on my ipod. The whole song and especially the last line to Rat Race stuck out, and I jotted it down to be my quick prayer. Especially right now, I need a lot of peace and hope, as I don’t know where I’ll be living or what I’ll be doing in the next six months. I don’t know what I want to do with my life, but really, that’s not the important thing.

After 6400 miles on the car, its nice to be out of it. I’m excited to be able to use my bike as my main mode of transportation now.

Recap of the past few weeks. After a wonderful week at the lake, we went to Milwaukee and spent a few days with my dad. I haven’t spent that much time in Milwaukee in awhile, so we got to do a few things I’ve been wanting to do: Bike down to the lake front and have coffee/lunch at Alterra (might be one of my favorite coffee shops ever), ended up being about a 30 mile ride; touring the Sprecher Brewery, which makes probably the best root beer in the world; and we finally found the disc golf course, so played a quick 9 holes.

After Milwaukee, we made our way to Missouri with a quick stop in Chicago and had lunch with Dave’s friend Craig and my step-bro Jeff. We then drove the length of Illinois down to SE Missouri, of course passing Carbondale, Ill and taking pics of the signs. 🙂 We arrived at Dave’s grandma’s house around dinner to about 60% humidity… Ugh. Luckily, everyone there has air conditioning. We spend the next few days gorging on delicious Southern food and swearing to never eat again! We did a tour of Dave’s uncle’s farm. I’ve never been on a working farm before, so it was really cool to learn about how it works. Uncle David (yes, same name) grows corn, soybeans and rice. We also did a 20 mile bike ride – which was pretty, but also miserable in the heat and humidity. Word to the wise – never go to Missouri in the summer!

We then made our way to Omaha to visit with some college buddies. On the way we did a stop in St. Louis to see the Arch, and stopped in Columbia for a quick visit with Dave’s cousin. Columbia is a cool town, too bad its in Missouri. We arrived in Omaha at Nikki and Pete’s house with the humidity and heat no less than Missouri. A full day of no driving on Sunday was nice (besides going to church), and we got to catch up with quite a few people I haven’t seen in about five years. Our church in Ft. Collins helped with a ‘church plant’ in Omaha, and so a bunch of people moved there after college.

Then on to Denver to stay with Dave’s sister in their new house, and to save the final push home for Tuesday. And now…we’re finally home. I’m taking today off of work to relax, do laundry, and get some EXERCISE!!!