Sunday Observations - Apr 5

- The talk is weather. It was nearly 70 degrees today. Weather forecast calls for snow on Tuesday. Welcome to spring in the mountains...

- Tom Izzo can coach my team any day.

- I went from the 98th percentile in my ESPN Tournament Bracket two weeks ago to 82.52% today. Really? The rest of the country must stink if I am ahead of 82% of them. I only got half the final four and one finalist (UNC). I do have Carolina winning, however.

- Next time you see a law enforcement officer, thank them or give them a hug. What happened in Pittsburgh breaks my heart. These are men with families that put their lives at risk every single day.

- Here's a great article on repentance and forgiveness: One man's ambivalent retreat from his racist past

- I made it to Western Carolina yesterday and got to see my former athlete Felisha Garren run a collegiate meet. Fe was a state champion for North Henderson last season and now a freshman at Western. She ran a 56.38 to place 3rd in the 400m dash and ran the 3rd leg on the first place 4x400 Relay Team [3:48.15]. Not bad for a girl who spent most of the winter in a boot because of stress fracture in her foot (note the high wrapping on her left foot).

- My fellow blogger and friend, Brent, likes to use the word "glorious". It's a great word. Today's teaching at church was from II Corinthians 4:7-11. The words "glory" or "glorious" are used 10 times in those 4 verses.

And here's Scott Stewart's, the pastor at Grace Foothills, blog post today: “Everything Glorious” by David Crowder Band

Crush of the Week:
Gloria (there's that word again) "Glow" Nock is one of my heroes. She works as an officer for the Henderson County Sheriff's Department, primarily with the D.A.R.E. program. Her husband, Bill, is an policeman with the Hendersonville Police Department. They both work hard in service of our county and I appreciate what they and their colleagues do for all of us.
Glow also is the mother of my "son" Wayne (above left, who's finishing his 3rd year at Elon), and my buddy Natalie (who in the picture just shaved her hair because she met a goal to raise $2000.00 for cancer). Also in the family is Allison, the oldest and not pictured because she's off doing theater all over the country. Glow is well known in the community as an advocate and role model for children. That makes her awesome. The amazing kids she has raised makes her even more awesome.