A World Record on World Parkinson's Disease Day

This weekend marked two special occasions. The first, and most important, is the Sunday celebration of the cornerstone of Christian faith: Christ's resurrection. Although most Americans associate the day with rabbits 🐰 and eggs 🥚, the true reason for celebration is the fact that Jesus Christ was indeed the son of God and not only died, but conquered the death of sin to rise again so that our sins may be forgiven. Our family has a rich tradition of celebrating Easter with friends and family, enjoying the fellowship of our church service and cooking a special meal. During this pandemic, we had our special meal a day early (we ate an amazing Vietnamese meal delivered contact-free by Uber Eats) and celebrated the service online.

The second was a world record attempt. More on that later.

Friends of mine who don't believe in Christ often dismiss Easter as a pagan ceremony. They are right to acknowledge its pagan origins, but what we celebrate is so much more. A great article about the symbols and traditions (many of them pagan in origin) that surround Easter and what that means for Christians is Are the Symbols and Customs of Easter of Pagan Origin? This day is truly the foundation of our faith in Christ, so it's important to understand the facts about the resurrection.

Disclosure: this article contains affiliate links and I may receive commissions. Anything I link to is a product or service I recommend because I've purchased and/or personally verified and used it.

I was atheist through my adulthood and scientific evidence to me is still very important. If you are truly interested in the facts of Christ's resurrection, I highly encourage you to read The Case for Christ (the book has much more detail than the movie). For a very in-depth, scientific look consider checking out God's Undertaker: Has Science Buried God? Here is a short, direct article about Historical Evidence for the Resurrection. Finally, a longer yet very detailed read is Biblical and Extra-biblical References to the Resurrection.

I made this little sketch to celebrate today.

He is Risen!

Happy Easter! ✝

Jangle: The Video

After writing about my daily wake-up routine I call The Jangle, I received several requests to show the exercises in a video. I definitely need to improve my stick figure illustration game! I recorded my routine Friday morning and edited the video over the weekend. I've added it to the original article, but to save you some extra clicks I'm also posting it right here.

Unconventional Workouts

I had a very unconventional workout this weekend followed by some frustration with my symptoms. Doreen ordered a lamp that was delivered in three parts on Friday. The base of the lamp is a solid block of marble that weighs 170 pounds (77 kilograms). It came wrapped in a wood pallet. It was quite the experience grabbing it in a bear hug then carrying it up two flights of stairs. I thought that would be the difficult part, but I was wrong.

My real challenge came when it was time to wire the lamp wires to the light socket. I've done this plenty of times in the past, but this time my symptoms got in the way. I am left-handed and perform most activities that require precision with that hand. Unfortunately, almost all of my symptoms are on my left side too. My hand was stiff and experiencing tremors so I just couldn't get it to work to screw the wires in place. I became extremely frustrated and agitated, which only made it worse. I stepped away and had a little bout of feeling sorry for myself. In the end, I was more disappointed with my attitude than the difficulty itself.

Doreen suggested we sleep on it and try fresh in the morning. That was the perfect plan because in the morning, with a fresh and positive attitude, I was able to screw the wires in place and complete the assembly. Here's the result!

World Parkinson's Disease Day and the World Record

A huge inspiration of mine is Jimmy Choi. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease almost two decades ago. He has since run over one hundred marathons and half marathons and competed three times on American Ninja Warrior (which also happens to be the only sport other than billiards I like to watch). I've heard Jimmy use a phrase several times that really resonates with me when he refers how he is always exercises. I'm paraphrasing here:

"We can't stop because Parkinson's Disease doesn't stop."

When he announced that Movement Revolution was hosting an event to raise awareness on World Parkinson's Disease Day, Doreen and I immediately signed up and shared it with friends and family. The goal was to host a virtual 5-minute exercise event to obtain the Guinness World Record for "most people performing an exercise online simultaneously." I don't know if they hit the record or not, but it was a fun event. The event featured two exercises: a squat, and a push-up with torso rotation. The instructors showed several variations for people with strength and/or balance issues. I did the full exercise and Doreen demonstrated the chair modifications. Here is the video (edited for length) of our participation!

It was a great way to start the morning. I especially loved that our daughter Lizzie called us immediately after. She and her husband both got up early to do the challenge and support Parkinson's Disease. It made my heart full. Later that same day, I was inspired by a follow-up post by Jimmy that he and his wife went for a run. It was a beautiful day, so for the first time in weeks I went on a jog. It felt amazing and I was so happy I did it.

Short Run

This is the season of beautiful weather in the Pacific Northwest and I look forward to jogging more often in the coming days and weeks.

Thank You

I just want to take a moment to thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to read this. Everyone's support has been tremendous and really gives me strength during these difficult times. It means so much when you reach out so please say "Hi" through the comments. There is no greater strength than the rock my faith is placed on in Jesus.

Happy Easter, Happy Day of Resurrection and God Bless!

Regards,