Today is a landmark in my personal history. In preparation for the race I have been shedding unnecessary things. Sunday I loaded up my bicycle and took it to it’s new home. That’s right I am bike less for the first time in my life. For those of you who know me well you are probably gasping right now. For the rest of you I will try to explain the magnitude of this event.
As long as I can remember I have had a bike. My current bike and I have seen more miles than I can count, over nine hundred of them in a single year, my personal best. A bike represented freedom to me as a small boy. When I was in first grade it gave me the power to go to places I could never have gone. My brother and I would ride our bikes to places over a mile away! This was huge when you grew up in rural America and going to see you friends down the street meant a mile drive on your bike.
My bike has taken many shapes and sizes over the years. There was the little blue one, the BMX, the Huffy mountain bike, and one of my favorites the green hornet. It was huge, heavy and had a flag and black banana seat, black being the color of the tape that held it together. No, I’m not old enough to remember when banana seats and flags were cool but that is the subject of another blog.
I still remember the day the training wheels on my little blue bike came off. This was another monumental day in my biking career. It was a warm day. The sun beat down on the driveway and my father and brother were on hand to “help” me learn balance. To get this picture correct in your mind you need a few details. I lived in the country. We had a cornfield to the left of the drive and the yard to the right with a small metal fence. My mother had a rock garden complete with cactus at the end of the yard. Large trucks and tractors came through on a daily basis making ruts and bumps in the rocky drive. Yes it was as scary as it sounds.
I knew I had to do this. I couldn’t let my dad down and there was no way I was going to fail in front of my brother, my senior by two years. Ok, here we go. I got on my bike as my dad held on, He told me to start peddling and he ran with me for the first twenty or so feet. He let go and I was on my own. Sheer panic set in. I tried to remember everything I had been told about balance and control but alas it was all gone. I suddenly realized I was doing it and no one was helping me! About this time it occurred to me that I had something else to deal with, the road.
I had not prepared myself for success. I assumed I would crash and burn right away. I never thought I would make it that far so I had no plans for this. Two things ran through my mind in an instant. One, I would shoot strait across the road and into the rather large ditch on the far side. Or two, I would make the turn and end up going down a very large hill. Neither of these options were going to end well. About the time all this went through mind, I hit a bump and found myself crashing to the ground. My Dad was right behind me when I went down. He picked me up and brushed the gravel off my knees and said let’s do it again.
For me The World Race is God taking off the spiritual training wheels. He is standing right there giving me a push and letting me go. But just like my natural dad he is right behind me ready to help. Sure I’ll crash a few times this year but the question is do I get back up? Are you ready to go out and be awesome for God? Are you prepared for success? As for me and the World Race team, we are going to be awesome for God. I hope you will come along with us and be awesome through God, too.
