Countdown to Triathlon – 173 Days, 24.57 weeks to Race Day (See Installment 66 of "The Journey", 220 mile bike ride, below)

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY -

With all the discouragement I was experiencing, what was I forgetting?  The motto of this ride – The power behind me is greater than the task ahead of me” Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power – Ephesians 6:10.  Boy oh boy!  Did I keep forgetting that motto.

This is what I saw yesterday.  The almond orchards are all in bloom.  Unfortunately for the farmers, we had a hard frost this last weekend and today it is gloomy, windy and raining.  Very nerve-wracking times for the farmers.

The Journey - Installment Sixty-Six

When I thought I had exhausted all the names of the women on the list, I was surprised to see one more that I had missed. I had been glancing down the column that listed the home city and found Atwater, which was only about thirty-five minutes away.  When I followed the line over to the left side of the page, the name “Lisa ...” was listed.  My heart must have briefly stopped and I exclaimed out loud, “Lord, that can’t be my Lisa, can it?”  Lisa and I had been Tupperware managers together many years before and I hadn’t seen her for some time.  I had always had great respect for Lisa because she lived her love of Christ at all times, even when in a group of non-Christians.  I was always impressed with her sweet demeanor and cheerfulness and the fact that she always prayed before a meal, no matter where we were or with whom we were sitting.  At that time, early in my Christian walk when I first knew Lisa, I was not likely to say grace in public and was quite amazed to see Lisa give thanks to God wherever we happened to be eating.  Praise to God that I am no longer such a wimp or coward about praying in public!

            I remember that Lisa had an unlisted phone number and tried Friday night and all day Saturday to find a way to contact her.  That Sunday morning, I had still not been able to reach Lisa.  I had decided to do a short 20-mile ride before church. As I rode, I was once again crying, tears streaming down my face and bemoaning the fact that God had given me the wrong bike.  I cried also because the Lisa on the list was probably not the Lisa I knew, and that I probably would be riding at the back of the group all alone.  Never having been on an organized ride before, except for the one at the Wine and Cheese Festival earlier in the fall, I assumed that I would ride alone because I would be so slow.  I didn’t realize that on the Focus on the Family Ride, we would be accompanied by a Focus team member who would always be the last one in the group, bringing up the rear to be sure no one was left behind