Countdown to Triathlon – 171 Days, 24.42 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 68 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

GOD GIVES ME A LIVE BIRD RIGHT AFTER SHOWING ME A DEAD ONE (OR WHAT WAS LEFT OF A DEAD ONE – ONE FEATHER ONLY)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - I believe that the turning point for this entire bike ride exercise - 18 months of preparation and three days of actual bike ride occurred at this exact time. 

I believe that when I saw that feather; when I straightened my back in determination and raised my chin, setting my jaw I turned the corner in my then present and future attitude.  My bike and I literally turned a corner, but then my attitude and behavior did also.  

turning point
n.

1. The point at which a very significant change occurs; a decisive moment.

2. A moment when the course of events is changed

 3. A point at which there is a change in direction or motion


The Journey - Installment Sixty-Eight

           

        I continued to ride to the end of ten miles at which time I stopped, turned my bike around and took a short break, drinking some water and eating an energy bar.  I had stopped my bicycle along side the road that was bounded by three feet of weeds to my right in front of a barbed wire fence surrounding a pasture of cattle.  As I got back on the bike and started to ride again, slowly at first, but picking up speed gradually, a bird flew out of the weeds and hovered at my right shoulder.  I was startled, to say the least, and turned my head toward the bird.  We were only a few inches apart as it hovered there beside me for a short distance. I was eyeball to eyeball with it.  As I looked into its little beady eyes,   I remember questioning God out loud asking, “Okay, Lord!  What does this mean?”  At that instant the bird flew off – I don’t even remember which direction it went. When I think back, I was in a forward motion on the bike with my head turned toward the bird.  The bird was facing me, otherwise we would not have been eyeball to eyeball.  But how was it able to fly alongside of me, sideways.  Only God knows.   I would suppose that the bird had a nest in the tall weeds and was trying to get me away from her eggs.  However, the incident seemed to me as being God-inspired.  Think about all of the incidences of God's creation which were interjected into my traiing.  There were dead birds, snakes, a huge hawk with a snake in its mouth.and now a live bird hovering, looking me in the eyes, God does use His creation, whether it be animal, mineral or vegetable to teach us and show us His mighty power.  He uses wind, volcanoes, lightening, waves in the ocean and any part of his magnificient creation that He feels like using.  It is up to us to see it and understand what the message is.  I had never in my life had a bird fly along side of me and look me right in the eyes as that bird had done.  It was immediately clear to me that I had absolutely no idea what that meant. 

            After continuing home and preparing for church, my husband Bob and I discovered that particular Sunday a visiting missionary, a man named John Earle from a ministry called Sports World, was to speak during the service instead of Pastor Don.  John explained that his group, former professional athletes, visited public schools and gave their testimony about the Lord.  I was amazed that people were allowed to mention Christ in public schools because I didn't think that was a possibility.  He told a story of how he had been in college, expecting to be drafted by the NFL, a chance of a lifetime. He had worked toward that goal his entire life.  At that time he had weighed over three hundred pounds and had been having trouble with bones in his feet breaking. He was so concerned and upset that he might miss the opportunity to be drafted by the NFL, that he found himself alone in his dorm room crying out to God.  At some point he began to ask God to forgive him for his unfaithfulness. He told God that he knew that God had been with him all his life and that God had blessed him so much.  He said he realized that God loved him and that God didn’t have to prove Himself to him anymore.  At that very instance, sitting in the pew next to my husband, I wanted to shout out, “God, you don’t have prove Yourself to me anymore either.  I don’t need any more dead birds.”  Then, the early morning incident of the bird flying beside me made sense.  I saw that bird as representing God and that He had been flying or coming along side of me, this entire time I had been in training.  What a revelation that was to me! I had known it all along in my head, but hadn’t truly felt it in my heart.  Now I felt confident that I no longer needed God to show me dead birds in order to cause me to remember that He loves me and that He is with me. Beginning at that moment, I rejoiced in my new-found assurance.  I was literally a new woman!

Come back Tuesday - going to Mendocino for a few days.  Maybe I'll get some good pictures to share of the whales in the ocean.  It is Whale Watch weekend in Mendocino and Ft. Bragg.