A Self-Defense Seminar

by   November 3, 2022 with No Comments

By David Freeze

The topic of self-defense, especially for women, has become a highly discussed topic with the recent killing of Eliza Fletcher who went out for a 4 a.m. run and did not return. Fletcher was a teacher and mother of two when abducted in her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. Her body was found later after she was forced into a dark-colored vehicle. At least six female runners and one female golfer playing alone have been killed in recent years.

The dangers women face while simply exercising outside are in the spotlight again and locally the Salisbury Rowan Runners and Sidekick Karate are offering a self-defense seminar and training session on Nov. 5. The event will be held at Sidekick Karate at 520 South Main Street from 10 a.m.-noon. There is no charge and both men and women are welcome. You do not have to be a walker or runner to attend. A limited number of spots are available. Please reserve yours by emailing me at david.freeze@ctc.net

Most runners, at least at one time or another, want to train to get faster. Working to get faster is hard and often painful, but commitment to a good plan is usually successful. Training to get faster almost always pays off relative to the amount of time and effort invested.

I used to read Runner’s World religiously and other related magazines until it seemed they were recycling the same ideas over and over and just titling them differently. It remains my belief that runners in general used to train harder and push themselves more. Yes, it is a different time, but we all want to be good at something and what is better than any benefit to your physical and mental health?

Last week, I ran across what a Navy Seal teaches to his trainees when they must break very fast mile times, particularly when a lot of them are large men. Usually the bigger the body, the harder it is to run fast. Navy Seals have to train for a 1.5-mile time trial clocking of 9 minutes, that’s 6 minutes per mile. Here is what Navy Seal trainer Stew Smith says: This is a workout for conditioned athletes, so dial yours back to something doable and in line with your abilities but keep with the basic plan. I am going to do this once a week.

Warm up with the following — Keep going up the ladder until you reach set 10.

  • 1 squat, jog 100 meters
  • 2 squats, jog 100 meters
  • 3 squats, jog 100 meters

Then repeat the below workout four times:

  • Run 400 or 800 meters at goal pace. If you choose, you can do the squats and lunges every other set.
  • Squats: 20
  • Lunges: 10 per leg
  • Stretch as needed but at minimum rest between sets

You could begin with four 400-meter runs and do the squats and lunges every other set. Then work your way up.

After you complete the middle segment, finish the full pyramid that you started with and use it as a way to push a faster run pace for shorter distances. The final section looks like this:

  • 10 squats, run 200 meters fast. You aren’t sprinting but running faster than your goal pace.
  • 9 squats, run 200 meters
  • 8 squats, run 200 meters

Keep going to one squat and a total of 10 x 200-meter runs.

This workout will be most easily accomplished on a track. 100 meters is one quarter of the track, 200 is about half the track and 400 is one complete lap. Of course, the secret to this workout is the squats and lunges. You are waking up leg muscles while stretching them out as well.

Look for this coming weekend’s two races, Saturday’s St. Matthews 5K on Oct. 29 and Sunday’s Spooky Sprint at Salisbury Community Park on Oct. 30 at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org.

An Owl in the Birdbath

by   November 1, 2022 with No Comments

By Lynna Clark

We love riding our motorcycle through the country. Unchartered territory! Exploration at its finest! One day we passed a huge ceramic owl in a birdbath. I wondered if we were supposed to be tricked into thinking it was real. Who would put an owl in a birdbath? Was that to scare off the other birds? Then why have a birdbath in the first place if you don’t want birds? A house down the road had the entire dwarf clan plus a gnome, snow white, and Santa thrown in for good measure. It was redneck utopia.


On another ride we passed a country church with a sign out front that said, “Be a fountain, not a drain.” Was this meant to be spiritual insight? Perhaps a reprimand to an unruly church member… Usually church signs just get on my nerves trying to be all spiritual, but this one cracked me up. So one day when one of my afore-mentioned godly daughters was griping, [notice in this story she only gets a small “g” in godly], I said to her, “Be a fountain, not a drain.” She replied with an Aretha Franklin head wag, “I’ll have you know that drains are necessary too. Without drains all kinds of stuff gets backed up!”
Had to agree.


Some guys in Nehemiah 4 were being drains, and not in a good way. There was mocking and rage involved. Have you ever been the victim of gossip and anger? Hurts doesn’t it. If only people would give you a chance to explain. Have you ever been the one making fun of a work or a plan? Have you ever given your opinion at the expense of a ministry? I am very sorry to say that I have. The results were very displeasing to the Lord. I have been a part of the naysayers in ministries past. But with great conviction I am asking the Lord to strengthen me to never take part in negative speech regarding ministry again. It takes effort. There is always a better way to do things. But why tear a wall down when you can build one up?


Hebrews 10:24 says, “Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds.” I like how the King James phrases this verse. “Encourage one another while it is yet today.” Sounds more urgent. It is not an accident that the next verse says, “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do…” God knows we need encouragement. And so do all the people around us. Today, “while it is yet today,” encourage someone. Refrain from negative speech. Build someone up. Take notice of something praiseworthy and point it out in front of the person you are building. Do that for your children. Say to a parent so their child can hear, “I saw Jesse being kind to his little sister today. He must be growing stronger in the Lord.” Watch their response. It’s catching.


With all that said, today’s prayer is for positive speech, and intentional building up of those around us. Encourage one another while it is yet today. And watch out for all those owls splashing around in a birdbath near you.


More Proverbs 6:16-19 Proverbs 14:1

Fall Chores

by   October 29, 2022 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

Fall Chores

            I love when the weather starts to cool down after a hot summer. Seeing the trees turn their beautiful colors makes me stop in my tracks. I am a fan of the bright red ones. Watching the leaves fall from the trees is like watching snow fall on a cold winter day. Naturally, all those leaves will need to raked and picked up, but for the moment I want to enjoy their beauty.

            Fall’s arrival means that there are plenty of chores that need to be done in preparation for winter. My wife’s plants need to come into the garage. I took care of that one right before the recent cold snap. The garage needs cleaning and straightening before the plants come in, which is a chore that I don’t like. Actually, I prefer bringing the plants out in spring versus putting them in the garage in the fall.

            The recent cold snap finished the growing season in the garden. I cleaned up the debris from the remaining vegetables. I found a small mess of butter beans. I also dug up my sweet potatoes. I harvested the only sunflower that I got to grow. I also picked what I thought would be the last of the tomatoes. To my surprise one of my cherry tomato plants survived the cold and is blooming again. Could we be in for some Christmas tomatoes?

            After getting the garden all cleaned up, I started collecting the leaves. I like to put the leaves in the garden. It helps keep the weeds down and provides a great place for the worms to live. I will continue gathering the leaves over the next couple of weeks and putting them in the garden. It adds so much to the soil. I haven’t cleaned the gutters yet, which are overflowing with leaves.

            There are more chores to do outside including trimming a few trees, cleaning up some limbs, and weeding. I am also working on doing a little painting. When you think about it, outside chores never seem to be complete. There is always something needing attention no matter what season of the year. I prefer working outside in the cooler fall and spring weather.

            Many people approach tending to their spiritual lives like doing chores. I have to read three chapters from the Bible. I need to pray for everyone on my prayer list. I must watch some preachers on TV. And when they get their list of spiritual chores done, they sigh with relief.      It is important to read our Bibles and to pray, in fact, I would say it is vital to good spiritual health. But I don’t think God wants us to approach it like a ritual or a requirement that must be completed daily. When we think of God that way He becomes a task master, someone who demands we perform our daily duties. God does not want us to view Him that way.

            I believe God wants us to view our interaction with Him as a relationship. He wants us to connect with Him on a personal level. Instead of praying at Him, He would prefer that we talk with Him. Prayer should be a conversation with God. Naturally, there are times of intense prayer, but on the day-to-day basis I think He wants us to talk with Him like we were talking with our best friend.

            When we read our Bible He doesn’t want us to approach it like a homework assignment that we are dreading to get done. Instead I believe God wants us to approach reading our Bible like reading a love letter written personally to us. The Bible is full of so many promises and God wants us to take those personally. It is full of encouraging and positive things that can help us in our daily lives. It is also filled with hidden treasures about who God is and how much He loves each one of us. I see different things each time I read a specific passage of scripture. The Word of God is alive and active and anointed by the Holy Spirit for us.

            I want to encourage you to stop looking at your relationship with God as an obligation and consider it as a personal and intimate connection to the creator of the universe. He made you and wants you to get to know Him. He loves you and longs to talk with you. Imagine that, God longs to connect with you. Yes, He is God almighty but He wants to be your friend. Open your heart and build a relationship with a living, loving, and caring Father and friend.

Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com

In Vein

by   October 28, 2022 with No Comments

By Roger Barbee

As a youth growing up in a south-central North Carolina textile town during the 1950’s, I attended a Baptist church with my siblings and mother. In that church I sang songs like “Jesus Loves Me This I Know,” was taught Bible stories such as Noah and his ark, memorized Bible verses like the 23rd Psalm, and was taught about the Ten Commandments. Some of the lessons I took away from those Sunday School classes and sermons have butted heads with my adult reading and learning. For instance, I was taught that Jesus worked as a carpenter in his father’s shop when in fact both were most likely skilled handymen who were competent workers in several areas of building. Another misconception that I have lived with concerns the 3rd Commandment, the one about taking the Lord’s name in vain. For a variety of reasons, mostly my own ignorance, I have always viewed the breaking of this rule as a verbal one, such as the all-too popular exclamation, “Oh, my God…,” or when President #45 repeated three times the words GD in a North Carolina speech. A recent reading of Pastor Clarence Jordan showed how wrong I have been.

If you are unfamiliar with the writing of Pastor Jordan, I caution you. If you read a collection of his writings, such as The Inconvenient Gospel, your understandings of Christian doctrine likely will be confronted. A Christian scholar of Greek who lived The Sermon on the Mount, Dr. Jordan will challenge any staid Christian learning you may carry with you. So when I began reading the new collection of his speeches, I noticed one chapter titled The Ten Commandments and thought that I may as well skip that chapter because I knew them; not in order mind you, but I knew that they were commands, not suggestions, and I tried to obey each one. To paraphrase: Oh, ye of little understanding.

This chapter, like each one, is actually a speech given by Pastor Jordan. The Ten Commandments is one he gave at Goshen College in May 1965, in which he concentrates on the commands concerning our relationship with God, so only the first four are discussed; but in his explication of number 3, Pastor Jordan rattles my shallow understanding because he shows how actions, not just words, can take the Lord’s name in vain.

Pastor Jordan says, “A person who has never come within the Christian fold can’t take the name of Christ in vain. He’s never taken it. A Buddhist can’t take the name of Christ in vain,  no matter what one says. Only those who come within the church, who take on the name of Christ, can take his name in vain.”

If Pastor Jordan is correct, and I think he is, every Christ follower becomes bound to keep the name Christ clean. Keeping the name of our Lord above reproach means that we are not free to express our anger at that other driver by flipping her off. Taking on the mantle of Christ means that we cannot cast a vote for a person who tells lie after lie. Becoming a Christ follower means that we must actively refute any combining of our religion with our country. If we are serious about the 3rd Commandment then we will shelter the sojourners. Being a Christ follower demands that I support justice not injustice. Wearing that name requires me to love not hate.

I took on the name of Christ when I was baptized and now realize the enormity of that decision. Words, like all I was taught in that Baptist church, are nice. But actions, as St. Paul writes, are what matter and our acts show how serious we are about being a Christ follower.

Is it Possible to Exercise too Much?

by   October 27, 2022 with No Comments

By David Freeze

Most regular exercisers have heard comments from less enthused folks that our knees won’t make it or that we are going to wear out our bodies in some fashion. Usually the people who say this don’t get much exercise but is there some truth to what they say? Can we do too much exercise?

I ran 42 miles on the final day of running across North Carolina and pedaled back-to-back century rides (over 100 miles) on my bike trips several times. Those distances pale when the real athletes who train for exceptional distances run over 100 miles and bike over 250 miles a day in competition. This type of competition requires simulating the effort for many hours in training.

We all know that exercise is good for our health and fitness, and it’s tempting to assume that more is automatically better. But as with so many other good things in life, there comes a point of diminishing returns, and it’s possible to overdo it.

Exactly what constitutes too much physical activity depends on our individual abilities and goals. It is generally accepted that 2.5 to 3 hours a week of moderate exercise gets you the benefits that I talk about each week, such as cardiovascular health, less chance of diabetes and other health risks, along with mental clarity, focus and a sense of well-being. Going past that amount is for purpose and performance and the process gets more complicated.

“When you’re exercising for performance — whether it’s to get stronger in the gym, run a marathon or improve your tennis game — it’s possible to stress your body beyond what it can bounce back from,” said Kristen Dieffenbach, an exercise scientist and director of the Center for Applied Coaching and Sport Sciences at West Virginia University. She says the purpose of training is to induce a so-called training response. We work out, and our body responds by getting fitter, stronger and faster. These improvements don’t happen during the workout itself but occur during the recovery period. That’s when your body repairs the damage brought on by hard exercise, like micro tears in your muscle fibers, and makes adaptations, like increasing the energy-producing mitochondria in your cells.

“As long as your body is able to keep up with this repair work, your workouts will continue to aid your performance,” Dr. Dieffenbach said. But when the stress from your workouts builds up beyond your capacity to recover, you have entered the zone of too much, known in the endurance world as overtraining.

“What makes things tricky is that the line between training hard and overtraining is fuzzy. There’s no formula or number that can tell you what’s too much,” Dr. Dieffenbach said. Instead, what matters is how your body responds to the exercise you’re doing. Dr. Dieffenbach suggested thinking of exercise and the physical and emotional resources it requires as calling upon money in a bank. You have only so much in your budget, and if you try to overspend, you’re going to end up worn down or injured.

During my competitive years, I sometimes had a lingering tiredness, and all workouts became hard for days or even a week at a time. Along with that came trouble sleeping, a higher resting pulse rate and a lingering cold. The body is miraculous but if exercise has to be forced and doesn’t enrich your life, then as hard as it is to admit, it might be time for a break. Experiment with lower intensity workouts, a few days off and cross training. Some extra sleep and time away from the training watch both could help.

Our local Halloween double is just ahead on Oct. 29 and 30 with the St. Matthews and Spooky Sprint 5Ks. Look for these and a busy November schedule as well at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org.

God Said it was Good!

by   October 25, 2022 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

Who, me? God, You are always thinking of me? What? Did you say that I am your friend? How can that be?

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the thoughts I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you hope and a future.”

James 2:23 says, “And the scripture was fulfilled that said Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness and he was called a friend of God.”

God is always thinking about us. God is our friend, and He is so good!

We are in a beautiful season where leaves are changing from green to red, orange, yellow, brown and even purple, reminding us of our beautiful world.

I have a few questions about leaves:

Why do leaves fall from dogwood trees? They are afraid of the bark.

Why were so many people collecting leaves under a tree? It was a poplar tree.

How do maple leaves and elm leaves get along? They sign a peace tree-ty.

What did the tree say after he made an offer? Take it or leaf it.

And a personal favorite: Why don’t you make like a leaf and leave?

All right, let’s just LEAVE the jokes for now…

Genesis 1:12 says that the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the fruit tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Yes, right in the middle of creation, God made the trees and said they were good. And, He paints their leaves different colors every fall, and He repaints them the next morning and the next!

Are all those amazing colors even in our color spectrum? We have the privilege of watching it all unfold!

Trees begin from a seed to a sprout, a sapling to a young tree, to a mature tree, to a snag dead tree whose life is coming to an end as it falls to the ground years later.  But even then, it continues to provide shelter for animals in its cavities and tree holes, food for animals, nesting for animals and a place for woodpeckers to peck.

As I was finishing this column, I convinced my husband to help me count the trees on our property. Not one of the approximately 1,500 was exactly alike. As far as counting the number of leaves, many of which were on the ground — only God can do that.

God works out every single detail in nature, and we get to enjoy the beauty! Isn’t it amazing?

Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.

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