Blessings of the "Brrrr's!"

Last night I strolled through Chicago's glowing twilight in a simple lightweight jacket with the temperature around 42 degrees. Nine hours later, I step out into a beautiful and brisk 17 degree morning.

With yesterday being so warm, I often ended conversations at work with, "Hope you can enjoy the day!"

 I was taken aback when the majority of replies were not positive. To be fair, several customers did reply with a version of, "It sure is a beautiful day and I'm enjoying it, even from my office window!" However, most were not so upbeat.

"Don't get used to it. Tomorrow's gonna be awful."
"It may look like spring, but its sure not."
"Winter's just being tricksy -it's not really that great out, and the next couple days are going to nasty."
"Can't. I'll be working all day."
"Ughh. I can't enjoy it, knowing that tomorrow's high is in the teen's right now." (It actually rose to 22!)

What a sad world to live in! If the temperature outside is the thermostat for your mood and outlook on the day, YIKES! That's a lot of power to give something that you can't control or trust!

I'm not saying weather doesn't affect us -it just doesn't need to have the power to control any part of us.

Control is for one being only. God. He is faithful, good, and sovereign. Therefore, He can be trusted to control things for the best interest of His people.

Since I can't change it, I may as well enjoy it! ;o


Blessings of the cold:

• Drinking hot beverages. (Who wants hot tea when it's 100 degree's out?!)
• Bundling up and being cozy with scarves and hats!
• Feeling refreshed after walking or biking. 
• Attempting recipe's long overlooked.
• Walking in solitude through a normally bustling city.
• Hearing squirrels scramble up frozen trees.
• Renewed appreciation for summer.
• Sledding, snow-shoeing, ice-skating, snowmobiling, and of course, snowball fights...
• Watching the gentleness of twirling snowflakes. 
• Gazing through crystal clear, cold skies to a few extra stars at night!

The Roars Around Reflection

"Dear God, thank you so much for today and for being over everything. At my meeting, remind me to be open about you, especially with so-in-so....  Man. I don't think she works today... great! That means I'll be able to do ....."  

Do you ever want to think or study something, but then find yourself thinking about something (or many things!) before you realize you weren't concentrating on the first thing? You decide to pray for 2 minutes before heading out the door in the morning.... And after sitting down for five minutes, you've covered your daily and possibly weeks schedule, fed the cat, retrieved your phone and answered a text, eaten a bowl of cereal and thought about a co-worker before you got the first topic you actually wanted to pray about. The roar of everyday life drowns out the good-intended focus.

 "Sorry God, I really want to be with you right now...."

Our culture doesn't like listening to God, or being silent. When was the last time you were still before God? Or thought about His awe-inspiring attributes? What roars will try to drown out God?

Look at your watch right now. Sit and be still for 1 minute and think of who God is. (Especially if you don't ever slow down)Sovereignty -all things in your city, state, country, the universe, and heaven will bow down and sing Him praise. His Glory and Holiness. What is His holiness? And He says "Be holy as I am holy." He is a judge, and a comforter at the same time. Wow!

No really. Take 1 minute. (If you're reading this, then you actually do have one spare minute.) Do and say nothing -preferably with the door closed and no one around.

Now that you did that, (You did, right?...) Count on your fingers how many different things ran through your mind.

A while back, I wanted to spend time thinking about God's attributes. I sat down with tea, and instantly, eight things went through my head at lightning speed, each complete different from another. My head was roaring with things to do, to think about, to process. It was hard to think about the one thing I wanted to -God. My reflection time, was full of a roar.

There is a roar around reflection from the outside. Our minds easily jump from thing to thing, lickety-split, without dwelling on something specific, accomplishing little, of anything, with lasting value. It is not until we carefully, continuously, painstakingly, bend its focus in a specific, desired direction that we may reap the long-term benefits of reflection.  If Jesus spent hours talking and praying with God, then whatever it is, it is worth it...and worth reflecting on.

Minds are filled with thoughts and actions of our hearts. It can never, not be filled. What fills your heart? "Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.*" Listen to your heart for 30 seconds.

What is in there?
What do you want in there?
What are you going to do to continue having that focus or to replace the roars?

(Each person is different. Find what helps you focus best. Possibly write them out to get them out, and then pray. Maybe being in a place without the things that distract you. )

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.**"

"“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.***"


* Colossians 3:1-2
**Matthew 11:28-30
*** Matthew 7:7-8

French Lessons (Part 2)

Lesson 6:

Biking in the Rain,
Is really quite a drain.

God is good. He is a good Father, who provides good gifts to those who ask Him. One night in particular stands out. It was about 7pm, with 150km already under our wheels (which was a lot), we head out into the night to finish the last 75 to reach my companion's grandparent's house. Clouds and rain were all around us and we knew rain made biking miserable. I wearily prayed "God, please please don't let it rain on us. But if you need and want it too, please give us good attitudes and knees to hold up till we get there" It  never rained more than a few drops that whole night, even though it was on either side and behind us for several hours. ...and my knee made it the whole way! AMAZING!

Lesson 7:

Always be ready for greasy legs. No matter how careful I was around my bike, each day ended with new chain grease decorating my calves!

Lesson 8: GARLIC AND ONIONS!!!

The key to simple but tasty, meals on the trail

Lesson 9:

God provides what we need...and He likes us to ask Him for needs to show His power! In England,there are few public forests, and the only trees hedge fields, roads, and paths. This makes camping hard, espeically when both hammocks and flat ground were needed. After 45 minutes of looking for a camp site and finding none with the sun rapidly sinking, I finally prayed specifics. Two minutes later, as we crest a hill, we see trees, in a flat area, that would be hard to see from the road. A camp site. It even had sour pie cherries for fun! :)

Lesson 10:

Enjoy the people God has placed in your life. They are a gift to you, just as you are to them.

And then later, after being separated, time together is even better!

French Lessons (Part 1)

'Another favorite question after "Thee" bike trip, was

"So how was France?"

That's like asking a kid how they liked a parade, after meeting Mickey and Minnie, staying up later than normal, and getting stocked up on candy. All they can say, and I echo, "It was amazing!" as memories of so many things dance through my head. Here's what I remember most!

The Lessons of France.

"Sir Ducky" and his creators

Lesson 1

"Sortie" means "exit." After waiting for my massive bike box to get hand-carried in, everyone else had left...all but one customs agent who was engrossed in something other than the wandering tourist who could not figure out which hallway led out. At long last it was found! And I learned my first French word in France. Experience truly is the best teacher. Although my class in spring should help also!

Lesson 2

French culture and American culture.... may look similar but are very different. Especially in communication. Typically:

• Americans are louder in public than French...and often stand out as a result there.
• When in a dialogue, there is freedom to express, contradict, and add to thoughts. No need to sugar-coat, beat around the bush, or withhold them. Each person is "ok" with who they are, and can then banter back and forth without fear. What a relief!
• And though different and at times hard, there is a lot of truth to learn and I liked it!

Lesson 3

People I encountered in France are kind, hospitable, and not stuck-up. On two different, cold and rainy occasions, people took us in for the night and fed us. Complete strangers, who, when asked for directions to campgrounds, offered us shelter. One even helped us with maps, showed a shorter route, and then proceeded to tour us around her area, Cathedrals, a "Bio Boulangerie & Patisserie" and historical monuments with the extra time she saved us! Wow! Complete strangers, befriending complete strangers.


Lesson 4

French fries in France, taste just the same as in the US. They only cost 2X as much, for half the amount. And French bread... yeah. There's a reason why they are known for it!

Lesson 5

While on the topic of food....France (in the country at least) has a good balance of rest time vs work time. Stores close for 2 hours for lunch. And then close for dinner, and do not reopen. All good boundaries come with their limitations... For traveling bikers, that means,  the route and timing is considered wisely, and food bought when possible. Otherwise, there may just be a mad rush at 5:45pm to peddle furiously to the next town 4km away, find a grocery store, and buy food before 6pm. Not saying this ever happened of course...  ;)

Lesson 6

...You'll just have to wait till next week!

Icebergs and Reflection??!!

Recently God has placed the practice of reflection on my heart.

For months, I've been giving reflection small amounts of time, time that I now realize, was enough to simply scrape  the tip of an iceberg. Those amounts of time were enough to scrape real shavings from the tip of the iceberg -they energized me like a snow cone would on a hot summer day. Yet I'm finding more truth. Besides the refreshment - there is so much more to understand, grasp, and explore about it, than merely enjoying a snow cone from scraps of it! This iceberg, is immense. Unsearchable. Deep. Caring. And wants to be known and explored! He is there all the time. He is the perfect gentleman -waiting for me, and all who want to, to spend time to get to know Him.

But I like my merely refreshing snow cones. Why spend the time to search an iceberg? Won't it be barren and lonely in there since no one is with me? Won't I be uncomfortable in the cold of truth? Couldn't I get lost without a guide?

God is the iceberg. Time spent with Him can't be explained. There is no loneliness when with God because He is there, with us, our Comforter. Pain and hurt and hardness in ourselves distort the life-giving glow of His truth. The blue appears cold and hard, instead of radiant from His purity and holiness which warms to the core, those who seek the truth and are set free. And because it is He who encompasses us, He is the One who leads us to His heart, as a Shepherd leads His sheep.

Reflecting. Spending time, the energy to seek out the depths of already known truths and their implications. What a joy! Picking up the ice-pick isn't easy with so many things going through my mind. I've found, developed, and am developing new "muscles" and am a bit sore. Spiritual disciplines are hard -after all, they are "disciplines."

But after digging just a bit, I've decided to give up my hope of an easy life, and make this here Iceberg home.  I don't know where the current is heading yet. But do I know that in the current and coming storms, I'm way more protected now than on any warm beach that would be pummeled and ripped to shreds!

A Typical Biking Day

"What was a typical day for you on the trip?"

By far, this is the most common question.... right before "What did you eat?" and "Where did you stay?" Answering those succinctly is as easy as making thanksgiving dinner in under an hour! Despite the differences, there were similarities, and I'm pretty sure that it is this that people were referring to ...the 2-D picture... of the basics.

How'd you sleep last night?
Stretched across a dried up creek!

8:00 am: After an intense mental battle to get out of a toasty sleeping bag and pull on wet, 50 degree socks onto dry, warm toes, those now shivering toes, who know they won't be warm for another four hours, slink into wet, 50 degree shoes in order to tear down our camp site before breakfast.

8:40 am: Water boils on our camp burner. Breakfast time! Oatmeal, coffee, and fruit fill our bowls. Finish packing, and hop on packed bikes -1.5 hours after that awful, wet-footted wake-up.

11:30am: Bike for two hours, before the first 5-minute break at the top of a long uphill climb.
DOWNHILL!!!!  55km/hr! WEEE!!!!! BRRRRRRRRRRR!!!  The morning dampness is  very present in the mountains!

In a village, see a fruit stand. Stop! Freshly picked apricots, apples, cucumber, or melon soon became bungee-corded onto someone's paniers.

2pm: Find a quiet spot, away from people, and it's lunch time. Leftovers from supper, a baguette from the boulangerie in the last village, plus whatever we bought earlier makes up lunch. Ahhh! Stretch out for a much needed nap until 3pm

It's gotta fit in or on there somehow!

4:00 pm: Peddle, peddle, peddle. Hmmm. Need food for tonight before 6pm, when shops closed. "What are we hungry for??!!"  Success! There's a Carrefour (French supermarket). Soon "steak" (aka ground hamburger), an onion, a 1k box of rice, garlic,  butter, another baguette, and 2 bars of chocolate are spread around and bungee'd onto our bikes.

7 pm: Nathaniel: "Alright. We'll be going through a forest in the next hour. We're only at 90 km (of our 100km/day goal) but lets get water in the next town, and start looking for a good camping spot."

Side note: A "good camping spot" is not a camp-ground, but actually found each night along the road and met the following specifications. 

1) Be completely invisible from anyone. EVERYONE. 

2) Have big trees close together to hang hammocks.

3) Have a flat area for Natalie to sleep on the ground.

4) Be completely hidden from ALL angles. :) No unwanted visitors!

8:00-8:30 pm: Site found, after 45 minutes of looking. While Natalie and Nathaniel set up sleeping arrangements, I begin cooking. Tonight's menu...Italian hamburger sautee over rice...2.5 cups of it, or half the box. We're talking an 8" pot, filled to an 1.5" of the top with rice!!! And we downed most of that thing!

10:00-11:00 pm We'd be cozy, warm, and dry in our sleeping bags in hammocks, under tarps, knowing  that the little bit of leftovers, safe in a ziplock for tomorrow's lunch and the clean dishes are safe from the many roaming slugs.

Think of all the things that could have, and did happen within that basic outline. Rain; cold, drizzly rain. Wind.  Stores about to close before we got food. People taking us into their garages or houses. All the traffic that wizzed past us. Finding places to camp. Getting lost or confused with bad maps. Finding fresh drinking water. God met each of our needs. He protected us, provided food and shelter when needed. He gave us positive attitudes as the rain seeped into our shoes and down our necks. He provided support from within, from each other, from friends, and from complete strangers. He PROVIDES. He provides what we NEED, and in inconceivable ways.

Bicycle Beginnings

Think back to different summers. When you return, soooo many people asked what you did for the summer... if not made you write about it for a class. It can get a bit old telling, re-telling, and re-telling more. And then you listen to their story, and it's like WAY more cool, or awesome...or your next year's vacation plan...

And then, somewhere, you read about a trip someone did, that blows all normality  away. They hunted in the Arctic and got attacked by a polar bear. They hunted in an African safari. They sailed around the world for fun. And it's like Whoa. "Someday...." with the understanding that it'll never happen.

Can it be real?! Yes it can!

 One of those "never-going-to-happen-trips" became reality. "Someday"... became this last summer! After a "yes" to a mostly joking "need another person?!",  Bicycle France planning began. I never earned, deserved, or could have done it on my own. Oh man! The joy and excitement the planning brought! My/our fingers flew over the keyboard as we talked about different things... ferries, maps, supplies, itineraries, equipment...! Skype calls. Bike's bought. Begin riding. Paniers and compact sleeping bags perused, analyzed and bought. Ride and ride. Hammock or tent? Spoke replacements. Ride, ride, ride! England and Ireland added to itinerary! Ferry tickets bought. Airplane tickets bought with bike reservations.

Frustrating days at work? Knowing that there was a future and a hope for something big that summer kept me cool. Bad weather? Enjoyed and embraced it...on the trip there wouldn't be a choice. Unknown future plans? They dimmed in light of knowing what the future most likely held. More frustrations? Hope and joy from the soon-to-be reality of the trip kept oozing through when disappointments came up. Joy about the trip couldn't be dimmed by misunderstandings or miscommunications or even non-communications! A tangible, future hope.

Gear check and distribution!

Hope didn't stop at the start or end of the trip though. Those disappointments of work, live, communication... their antidote of "trip-hope"  opened understanding to true hope. Hope is looking to future certainties and living in light of them. I knew that there was something more coming-the bike trip. But that bike trip is done. Over.

True hope lasts. God's hope is so much more, and lasts. God is faithful, never changes. God's made promises of a future in Heaven for those who know Him personally. Because of His faithfulness, those promises will hold true. What a joy to look forward to ~being with God! Those same disappointments, plus others, came up again during and now after the trip. Yet God's hope is here now and forever!

What is God's hope? He loves me; He loves you; He died for my sin, and He died for yours. I get to be with Him. In Heaven. In a perfect place, with HIM! Where He is, there will be no injustice, anger, hate, hurt, or pain. There will be care, understanding, and joy! Perfect relationships and purity. God will punish evil and reward good because He is perfect and can't let sin into Heaven. Evil and sin can't enter heaven without a perfect sacrifice. So Jesus, perfect Son of God, died and allows me, allows us, to accept what He's done in place of ourselves dying and going to hell. And I'm headed there because He has saved me and I've accepted that!

That's my Hope.
Where is yours?

My Hope grows stronger when I look at the end,

Even when "Unknown" lies beyond this bend.