Today was just 28 miles because we do not have a day off between now and next Thursday, the last day of the trip. We have one more light day on Monday (37 miles) to compensate for no day off. Today's weather was ideal with moderate temps, winds and hills. My friend Adam joined me for the ride and although he had way too much energy for me, we had a great time catching up with each other after about eight years and solving the world's problems.
Yet another rider, Tom from Birmingham, joined us today and will ride again tomorrow. What was interesting is that he walked up to me and told me he how much he enjoyed this blog. I asked him how he knew about my blog. Marilyn, our cook on the trip. gave him the address and so he started following it! I'm amazed how this blog has taken legs and gone further than I could have ever imagined.
Devotional Thought:
I would like to remind you to think about making a contribution to amandagivesback.org. I opened up my computer this morning to see a post from Christine, Amanda's mom. She thanked me for trying to help raise money for Amanda Gives Back and then shared a piece of information that shaped my emotions for the rest of the day and reminded me that the sense of loss never goes away. She shared that today would have been Amanda's 16th birthday. Please pray for the family as they absorb the "what could have/ should have beens" of a young lady who passed way too early.
On another note, Coach shared quite an inspiring story of how uniquely God uses Wandering Wheels in the lives of its participants. A number of years ago a 15 or 16 year old named Rex joined the coast to coast team to ride. The minute Rex opened his mouth Coach knew this was going to be a challenging trip. Rex had a profound stuttering problem and could get very few words out without tripping over them. His problem made him somewhat of an outcast among the rest of the young riders. Amazingly a group of the youngest and most immature boys agreed to take Rex under wing for the rest of the trip. They had a rather unflattering and offensive nickname for Rex, "Dumb Rex", but that was better than not having their company. These boys, in their youthful exuberance, loved to look for livestock along the route, especially pigs, and stir them up to get them to run. When they encountered a bunch of pigs behind a fence row the boys would yell "Pig,pig, pig" at the top of their lungs. To their delight, those pigs would begin scurrying about. Rex was used to riding at the back of the group and one day they rode past a herd of pigs that the other boys apparently did not see. Rex could hardly contain himself because he didn't want to let this opportunity pass that the other boys missed. So, almost out of a sense of duty and excitement, Rex blurted out the word "Pig!" and sent the pigs scurrying about as usual. The boys were impressed. What was even more impressive was that one single word blurted out almost spontaneously altered Rex's life forever. Somehow, in God's good providence and mercy, Rex's stuttering nightmare ended at that very instant! His parents had spent thousands and thousands of dollars to try to get help for Rex and nothing worked. However, a Wheels coast to coast trip, some rowdy, immature teenage boys and a herd of pigs were the instruments that God used to deliver Rex from his lifetime bondage to stuttering. You can imagine how flabbergasted his dad was when he went to pick up his son on the trip's last day. Rex greeted him with the simple yet flawless greeting, "Hi dad. It's good to see you." The family was so grateful to Wheels for what the trip accomplished in their son's life that they very generously and gratefully wrote a check to Wheels for $20,000 to say thank-you!
No comments:
Post a Comment