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.”