Countdown to Triathlon - 288 Days to Race Day (See Installment 7 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below) 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

...Attitude to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think, say or do. It is more important than appearance, gift, or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home.
   The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day...I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes.
       - Charles Swindoll



It's raining today and we've not had a cold snap so leaves are falling before they've turned colors.  I did took this photo yesterday but most trees are still green.  People on the east coast get the blessing of all the fall colors. I believe this is a Pistache Tree and one of the few that are giving us the brillian colors right now.

The bike's not ready yet.  It seems that when a bike sits around for eight years, the gears are'nt  quite up to par. Imagine that! They're changing the tire and fixing the brakes,  So, Monday or Tuesday I get to overcome my extreme fear of getting on the bike.  I really don't know why I am so afraid when you think of how many miles I logged training for the bike ride each day.  It definitely has to do with having both my knees replaced and gaining about 50 pounds.  My balance is not the same because of both of those elements.  I'm afraid of falling and breaking my knees, although that probably wouldn't happed because they are tittanium steel.  The surgeon did tell me that I could ski with my new knees if I didn't do the "bumps", moguls.  Fat chance I would do that anyway.  But he did say that if I fell wrong while skiing, I could shatter my leg bones.  Now that sounds like something fun, doesn't it.  So I'll skip skiing (which I never really enjoyed anyway - only skiied to be with the family) and try not to fall off the bike.  But it's scawwy as my granddaughter Madison used to say!




The Journey - Installment Seven

THE POWER BEHIND ME IS GREATER THAN THE TASK AHEAD OF ME!

            One Saturday in July 2001, I happened to stop by Don and Wanda's  home to visit with Wanda.  She was opening her mail at the kitchen counter.  As she opened an envelope from a Christian camp, a small card fell out on the counter.  It read, “The power behind me is greater than the task ahead of me.”   Wanda handed me the card and told me that the saying should be the motto for my ride.  It was necessary many times throughout my training and eventually the actual ride for me to recall this motto in order for me to keep from quitting when the going got tough.

            Wednesday, July 11, 2001,  I met Don at our corner at 6AM.  He rode the two miles from Hughson, our little community, to meet me to begin our ride for the day.   We rode 4.3 miles the first day and I felt that I had really accomplished something great.  We continued to ride every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning about 6 AM.  I began to keep a journal of the trips, where we rode, how long it took and any thing that was noteworthy.  My notation on July 13^th was, “the buns are so sore that every bump matters.”  That problem continued for about three weeks and caused agony whenever we hit bumps.  Some of the problems which we encountered were dogs that chased us and trucks and cars which did not slow down at all.  One morning, a truck drove past us so fast that it blew Don’s cap from his head and caused me to swerve off the road into some stickers.  I discovered that my hands would go to sleep during my rides and I would have to constantly shake them to help relieve the numbness.  We began to gradually increase our distance and occasionally someone from the church would accompany us such as a young man named Rob  or Don’s daughter Julie who was visiting from Los Angeles, or a wonderful, sweet young woman by the name of Neva,

NOTE

Does "The Power Behind Me" contradict what my sweet Daughter-in-law Morena said about the Lord being "before" us.  No!  In Exodus 13:21 (New International Version) the Bible reads, " By day the LORD went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night." But in Exodus 13:19-20, it reads, "Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, ²⁰ coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long."   So you see, the Lord goes in front of us and also has our backs.  What a wonderful comfort that is!!!