Keep On Keeping On

This morning I decided to take advantage of its beauty - so I loaded my cross bike onto the roof rack of my car and headed West towards Brillhart Station. Riding is therapy for me. Usually it's a time for reflection, prayer, and being in awe of the many shades of green that cover the landscape this time of year. This morning was no different. As I traded in four wheels for two, I began my journey pedaling through the cool dewy air. I forgot to mention that I subscribed to a podcast from Mars Hill Bible Church of Grand Rapids - so with my earbuds buried deep in my ears, I listened to Rob Bell's sermon from last Sunday as I traveled south on the Heritage Rail Trail. The sermon was really challenging to me. I wanted to fully take in every word and discover their meaning and find application for them in my life. Well, in focusing so intently I realized I was a dangerous woman who was moving rather fast on a gravel path. I noticed, because of my concentration on the sermon, I pretty much had fixed my eyes on the ground about 6 feet ahead of my front tire. This is not good. When riding a bike, kayaking, driving, snowboarding, what have you, your eyes should be constantly glancing ahead to see what is coming BEFORE it's 6 feet in front of you...maybe to notice a young man zig zagging his rusty bike across the path without thinking anyone else may be using the rail trail today. He enters into my 6 foot zone and I freak - grabbed for my rear brake and skidded sideways for what seemed like eternity. It's a mystery that I didn't cream that young man or even fall in the midst trying to avoid him. I think I scared him (and the others sitting on a near by bench taking a rest from pedaling) more than anything.

So I got to thinking about this...there are the people, maybe the super ambitious, that strain their eyes trying to see what's coming way down the pike, rarely, if ever, looking right in front of them. They miss the suicidal squirrels playing frogger on the rail trail, hit the poor thing and get thrown from their journey. Then you have people who, maybe due to fear or lack of confidence, fix their eyes just a few feet ahead. These people are dangerously surprised by the large obstacle that's in the path 14 feet in front. If they'd only looked up they would have seen it and could have gone around it, if possible. Or stop, get off and figure out how to navigate through it. I learned today that a healthy balance between looking right in front of me and looking ahead is the best (and safest) way to journey. I never want to run ahead of God or keep my eyes down, afraid to see what's coming. I want to move with God - at His pace with confidence that He'll lead me and help me figure travel the path ahead. I'm not saying there will never be surprise squirrels that cause me to fall. But if I do fall, when journeying with God and others in community, I will have hands of grace offered to me. They will lift me up, place me back on my bike and give me a nice big push to get moving again.