The Shekinah Glory

Day 3,4, and 5

Flat as flat could be. West Texas wasn't producing the scenes that I knew awaited me in CO but if there is one thing Texas has its that bigger bluer downright breathtaking sky. Not really sure what makes the sky bigger there but its undoubtedly true. The roar of the beast was like the perfect rock song, we had made it from SA to Dallas (the long way) and from Dallas to about 15 miles outside of Amarillo.  All I could think about was a comfy hotel with some coffee and pancakes from Cracker Barrel when all if the sudden I hear a loud BANG. Took me a second to gather myself, I was thinking maybe I blew a tire... on a bike that is never good news, but i was still rolling just fine and the engine was humming like a champ....just no power. After coasting to a stop I look underneath to find that the chain has fallen of and messed the hub up pretty bad...definitely wasn't driving this thing any further.

The Tower was called and I was told that it would be about 30 minutes. After hanging up with them i just stood there kinda frustrated with the whole situation. I was tired and cold and now even further away from pancakes. As i sat there kinda feeling sorry for myself I looked up and saw this.

This was the Shekinah Glory, the "Very presence of God".  How can anyone look at that and not realize how incredibly small we are? Psalm 103 say we are like a flower that flourishes, like we are here for a week and then the very ground we were on never knew we were there! Another one says that we are but dew on the grass...like we are here in the morning and gone before lunch! And we do our own thing and act like we have it all under control and through it all He gives us moments like these to bring us back to Him.

The rest of the story ends up great. The tow truck driver is a super cool guy who calls his buddy who lets me put my bike in his car repair garage...and the garage is 4 buildings down from the motorcycle shop that was already closed. He took care of me. It wasn't until that night that it all started to come into focus. It's all part of the adventure. All the side stories in our life almost always line up with the big picture. You will be cruising along feeling like the worst is behind you and you're gonna coast into comfort when all of the sudden the worst possible thing happens. Or maybe its just a bump in the road but either way you then have a choice to roll with it and learn from your mistakes or freak out and get mad and let it control your joy. You can't change it. It happened. Use that power that He will give you if you ask, to press on and run the race that's in front of you.

The next morning I got up, had more Cracker Barrel, pushed my bike to the shop and waited for the diagnoses.  The guys there took a look at it and told me that I was lucky, could have done some damage to the engine but instead just damaged the hub a little. 30 minutes later i had a new chain and a super reasonable bill. With the blessing of the mechanic I was on may way to the next stop.

Don't let it slow you down. Whatever it is. You will be ok because there really is nothing new under the sun. you aren't the first and you wont be the last. You can't control what happens, what you can control is how you respond.

I leave you with this quote I found from my friends blog...its becoming one of my favorites. Also here are some more pics from the side of the road.
Peace.

“No adventure is truly an adventure unless the hero reaches a point where, if they could, they would turn around and return fearfully home to comfort and safety; fate must press them forward, to require more of themselves than is available. Without this impossibility, there is no story, because a story must lift us above the possibility of ourselves. It must lift our gaze to the stars, and the potential in us to reach them.”

Day 1 and 2

And we have take off.  Time to race the wind and chase the sun. Forget whatever is going on and just get lost in the music. Watch the creation pass by at 70 pmh and wonder what all these scenes were like 50, 100, or even 1000 years ago. The day actually started out pretty rainy and I'm not gonna lie I had a pretty tight grip on those handle bars for the first couple hours.  Once the sun burned the clouds off, however, the jacket went into the bag and we had free running. The whole rest of the trip was PERFECT riding weather, I think my arms are a good 5 shades darker!

Now of course not everything is always as romantic as it looks. If you think your butt hurts driving a car...yeah...its nothing compared to sitting on what might as well be one of those God forsaken dugout benches. So there was only one option since I was behind schedule already. Stand and ride. So you can picture it. Me and who knows how many flatbed trucks out in west Texas where even the cows think I look like a special needs rider. But hey, I had feeling back and you can't put a price on that. ;)

Today was much different. After a great time with my cousins last night I woke up this morning and took my camera dowtown to snap a few photo's and explore Dallas. Its great if you haven't ever been. There's lots to do and there is some really cool architecture.  Also if you get the chance to go to the 6th floor museum (JFK Assassination), do it. Cool place...gives you allot of information you might not have known.

The thought of the day though comes from my aunt. My beautiful aunt is getting elderly and recently had an accident where she broke several bones. I went and saw her in the rehabilitation center and of course as always she was as chipper as could be and you would never know that she really is in excrutiating pain from the back spasms and just the overall healing process. As we sat there talking and laughing we looked over at her table full of beautiful flowers and in the corner there was a huge vase with 20 giant red and white roses. Sitting next to it was a very little glass with 3 small fresh red roses. We asked her who gave them to her and she told us their names but she went on to tell us that the little ones were hand picked off one of the families rose bushes. In her soft sweet voice she wisely told us that it just goes to show how the size and cost of a gift isn't what really matters.  Its the one's that took time and thought. Its so easy to buy a gift card or throw some cash in a hallmark but sometimes those gifts that didn't cost a penny but we put some thought into mean the most. Don't get me wrong, I wont ever turn down some free best buy or home depot but it was ust a cool thought.

Here's some pics of downtown Dallas =)   

  

Into the Sunset

This is it! If you wanna keep up with the trip and see some (hopefullly) cool pictures than this will be the place to see it happen.

And so the preparation begins. Cleaning the house, packing clothes, choosing what tools I might need and what to books I wanna read. The trip of a lifetime, one of many, maybe even the last one ever ;). Whatever happens its gonna be an adventure. A time to get away with just me, my God, His word and of course my trusty steed. There's so many thoughts racing through our heads on a daily basis its hard to keep track, even if you are the easy going type. It's always good to get away from the rush every now and then and have nothing but God's creation to distract us. Throughout the trip I'll post lots of pictures and a few of my thoughts. Hope you enjoy. This first post is just something that I got reminded of today so I thought I'd share. =)

On the way home today I ran into this weed. At least its what we would call a weed. After taking a picture, it kinda struck me that so many times I take the little "hardship" or "pain in the butt" and remove from my life as fast as i can and label it negatively. I run from it.  As I've gotten a little bit older and gone through a few difficulties I've found that "weeds" aren't always a bad thing. Going through stuff and sticking out to other side instead is what builds endurance in us making the weed not really a negative ugly thing we need to get rid of but instead a building block to add to a wall of maturity and experience. Find the beauty in the weed. You can let it tear you down or build you up. You're choice. Dont run from your problems, address them and grow into the person you were created to be.

James 1:2-4 

²Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
³knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
⁴And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.