Saturday, November 29, 2008
Monday, November 24, 2008
Embrace AIDS Shines with New Website
It’s here, it’s live and it’s shining. iEmbraceAIDS.com is a new website created by the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee to provide young adults with a way to get involved in the rally to embrace people living with AIDS. AIDS is a disease that’s been ravaging the world for over 25 years – and it affects everything. In many developing countries AIDS is the main reason people aren’t getting enough food to eat, enough money to live, or the education they need. To make matters worse, a family affected by AIDS is pushed further into poverty causing members of that family to make decisions that put them at greater risk of getting this disease. In 2007 alone, 3 million people contracted HIV, 33 million people were living with it, and over 2 million people died of AIDS-related causes – three quarters of these deaths happened in Sub-Saharan Africa.
miEbraceAIDS.com was created to help a new generation be a light at the end of the tunnel that is the AIDS crisis, and shine the light of Christ around the world. The site includes a variety of options for young people to do their part to learn about the disease, raise awareness with their friends, and be part of the solution.
The site will launch on December 1, 2008 (World AIDS Day). Visit http://www.iembraceaids.com/ to find out how we can “all shine together, all over the world, to bring AIDS out of the darkness.”
(Newsletter article from http://www.crcna.org/site_uploads/uploads/crwrc/ea/shine/SHINE%20newsletter%20article.doc)
Monday, November 17, 2008
The Story of Melchizedek
This past week I decided to check out a friends Bible Study after having met a few of those in the group last month when 11 of us went to the Heaven's Rehearsal concert in Toronto. (It was really good by the way).
They usually meet for 6pm to have dinner together (each one taking their turn preparing) and then at 7pm one of them leads the study. Well, what a wonderful, special surprise I had when I realized what section in the Bible we were going to be discussing. The story of Melchizedek.
Many of you might be thinking, okay, so who's that? What's so great about that story?
Well back on the tour I had the priviledge of hearing many stories from Pastor Len while riding together. One of the stories that Len was excited to share was the story of Melchizedek. In fact, he had decided that it would be his mission during the summer to tell each new rider he rode with the significance of this story.
Sadly, I had forgotten about this story (as many events have boggled my mind since) so imagine my excitement when Shawn (who was leading) began having us read the chapters related to Mechizedek. As weird as this might sound, I was excited that I had had the priveledge of already learning the significance and was excited to watch as others started to put the pieces together the further we read and discussed about Melchizedek and the High Priest of that time.
As Pastor Len, notes it is not a story that is spoken of much which is unfortunate because it really is interesting. Len has kindly forwarded on his notes to me for my files and so that I may share it with you. It is a bit overwhelming in some ways so if you have any questions or thoughts PLEASE leave me a comment. I hope you enjoy!
The Story of Melchizedek
(Genesis 14, Psalms 110, Hebrews 4:14 - 5:10, Hebrews 7 and Hebrews 8)
This unfamiliar account of this is sadly neglected in Christian circles everywhere because so few take the time to explore its inner meaning.
(Genesis 14) A long time ago when Abram was slowly establishing himself in his new land there was a skirmish between rival lords. 5 of them had been subjugated to an alliance of 4. The 5 decided to go on strike and refused to pay tribute to the 4. After all, they had been under their control for 12 years. The 4 led by Kedorlaomer weren't going to give in so easily so on their warring expedition they decided to do battle. The 5 were easily conquered and led as captives as far north as Damascus which could be as far as 100 miles away.
Abram got wind of the battle and decided to take action because his nephew Lot was among those taken away (v. 13-17). Abram gathers his own army which consisted only of his family and servants and marched in pursuit. He catches up to the enemy, defeats him, and begins his return home. As Abram makes his way he nears a small village named Salem.
Here he encounters two prominent figures. The first is the king of Sodom (one of the 5 defeated kings) and the second is the King of Salem - Melchizedek. Seemingly Abram stands between these two dignitaries and is compelled to make a decision. The first king, Sodom, offers Abram all the goods or booty of the victory (v. 21). Mechizedek on the other hand only brought out bread and wine to offer some nourishment (v. 18). It was a very natural and neighborly thing to do. What Abram does is truly remarkable. Instead of accepting King Sodom's offer which could have been quite lucrative, he bows down to Melchizedek and offers him 1/10 of everything he had (v. 19-20). And then even rebukes the King of Sodom (v. 22-23).
The question is why? Anyone in their right mind would have been glad to accept Sodom's generous offer - it would have made Abram rich. It was especially significant because just prior to this God had promised all the land to Abram. God even said he would be great and the land would all be his as far as his eyes could see. It would be very logical to assume that God's hand was in this whole rescue and now the rewards of the covenant promises were coming to pass. Except the one making the offer was the king of Sodom and there is no way he could be part of God's plan. Instead Sodom represented the lure and trap of the world. It was exactly opposite of what God wanted of Abram. The other choice was Melchizedek. And for reasons only hinted at in the story, Abram surmised that since this was a High Priest of the Most High God, he had better give credit and honor and recognition to him rather than take it for himself. It was the perfect choice.
But that is only half of the story. Now we need to know who is this Melchizedek, where does he come from, and what does he represent?
Uncharacteristically, Melchizedek is introduced with no biography or background (Hebrews 7:3). Every major OT person has a lineage and place of origin, yet Melchizedek is presented without these important details. The significance of this is explained in Hebrews. Melchizedek, whose name means "king of Righteousness", is High Priest of the Most High God. He is the king of Salem which is the Hebrew word for Peace. Salem is a small village which later becomes the city of God – Jerusalem. All of these details along with his sudden appearance and then sudden disappearance are all part of the scene now presented with Abram and the king of Sodom.
Abram who had won a substantial victory is now presented with a choice. Either he is made ruler of the land by the world (Sodom) or he humbles himself before the High Priest of the Most High God. The first is attractive and luring but would reject giving credit to God. Abram was supposed to receive all the covenant promises from God and not through his own personal victories and conquests. Sodom tempted Abram to claim kingship, but Melchizedek blessed Him after Abram presented him with an offering.
The key to all of this is the phrase “after the order of Melchizedek”. In this world we have two orders – man and God-man. The first is God’s creation through Adam and Eve the parents of humanity, sadly, this order fell into sin. In order to save this order God introduces another order, another man who is above and beyond the confines of human falleness. This second order has to be connected to the first man (human) yet beyond man by being sinless. We all know that this second order is completed in Jesus Christ who is both man and God. A man who is not affected by the fall and thus is qualified to save the order of things.
What we need to see is that the introduction of this second order is not Christmas but actually foreshadowed in this amazing story of Abram and the battle of the kings. The sinful order (Sodom) is on one side of Abram, and the other is Melchizedek the High Priest of the Most High God. Melchizedek who miraculously, supernaturally, appears on the scene is the entrance of the new order. Some will even say he was Jesus himself. Whether he was actually Jesus or a type of Jesus is supported in the Psalms (110:4), where it says “you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek”. This means Jesus followed the unexpected order of priesthood. All the priests of the Bible were from the line of Levi. But Jesus didn’t follow that line, rather received his qualification from a different order namely Melchizedek.
So what we have is Abram standing between man and God-man and providentially he recognizes is only course of action. He chooses to give his allegiance to the God-man and thus receives the blessing. He is now qualified to represent the father of God’s people and enter into the covenant relationship. Later when Jesus came on the scene he fulfilled the promise and now offers to all of us the privilege of being part of this new order. We are no longer just human but we are adopted into a new order – a royal priesthood after the order of Melchizedek.
Now how cool is that!
They usually meet for 6pm to have dinner together (each one taking their turn preparing) and then at 7pm one of them leads the study. Well, what a wonderful, special surprise I had when I realized what section in the Bible we were going to be discussing. The story of Melchizedek.
Many of you might be thinking, okay, so who's that? What's so great about that story?
Well back on the tour I had the priviledge of hearing many stories from Pastor Len while riding together. One of the stories that Len was excited to share was the story of Melchizedek. In fact, he had decided that it would be his mission during the summer to tell each new rider he rode with the significance of this story.
Sadly, I had forgotten about this story (as many events have boggled my mind since) so imagine my excitement when Shawn (who was leading) began having us read the chapters related to Mechizedek. As weird as this might sound, I was excited that I had had the priveledge of already learning the significance and was excited to watch as others started to put the pieces together the further we read and discussed about Melchizedek and the High Priest of that time.
As Pastor Len, notes it is not a story that is spoken of much which is unfortunate because it really is interesting. Len has kindly forwarded on his notes to me for my files and so that I may share it with you. It is a bit overwhelming in some ways so if you have any questions or thoughts PLEASE leave me a comment. I hope you enjoy!
The Story of Melchizedek
(Genesis 14, Psalms 110, Hebrews 4:14 - 5:10, Hebrews 7 and Hebrews 8)
This unfamiliar account of this is sadly neglected in Christian circles everywhere because so few take the time to explore its inner meaning.
(Genesis 14) A long time ago when Abram was slowly establishing himself in his new land there was a skirmish between rival lords. 5 of them had been subjugated to an alliance of 4. The 5 decided to go on strike and refused to pay tribute to the 4. After all, they had been under their control for 12 years. The 4 led by Kedorlaomer weren't going to give in so easily so on their warring expedition they decided to do battle. The 5 were easily conquered and led as captives as far north as Damascus which could be as far as 100 miles away.
Abram got wind of the battle and decided to take action because his nephew Lot was among those taken away (v. 13-17). Abram gathers his own army which consisted only of his family and servants and marched in pursuit. He catches up to the enemy, defeats him, and begins his return home. As Abram makes his way he nears a small village named Salem.
Here he encounters two prominent figures. The first is the king of Sodom (one of the 5 defeated kings) and the second is the King of Salem - Melchizedek. Seemingly Abram stands between these two dignitaries and is compelled to make a decision. The first king, Sodom, offers Abram all the goods or booty of the victory (v. 21). Mechizedek on the other hand only brought out bread and wine to offer some nourishment (v. 18). It was a very natural and neighborly thing to do. What Abram does is truly remarkable. Instead of accepting King Sodom's offer which could have been quite lucrative, he bows down to Melchizedek and offers him 1/10 of everything he had (v. 19-20). And then even rebukes the King of Sodom (v. 22-23).
The question is why? Anyone in their right mind would have been glad to accept Sodom's generous offer - it would have made Abram rich. It was especially significant because just prior to this God had promised all the land to Abram. God even said he would be great and the land would all be his as far as his eyes could see. It would be very logical to assume that God's hand was in this whole rescue and now the rewards of the covenant promises were coming to pass. Except the one making the offer was the king of Sodom and there is no way he could be part of God's plan. Instead Sodom represented the lure and trap of the world. It was exactly opposite of what God wanted of Abram. The other choice was Melchizedek. And for reasons only hinted at in the story, Abram surmised that since this was a High Priest of the Most High God, he had better give credit and honor and recognition to him rather than take it for himself. It was the perfect choice.
But that is only half of the story. Now we need to know who is this Melchizedek, where does he come from, and what does he represent?
Uncharacteristically, Melchizedek is introduced with no biography or background (Hebrews 7:3). Every major OT person has a lineage and place of origin, yet Melchizedek is presented without these important details. The significance of this is explained in Hebrews. Melchizedek, whose name means "king of Righteousness", is High Priest of the Most High God. He is the king of Salem which is the Hebrew word for Peace. Salem is a small village which later becomes the city of God – Jerusalem. All of these details along with his sudden appearance and then sudden disappearance are all part of the scene now presented with Abram and the king of Sodom.
Abram who had won a substantial victory is now presented with a choice. Either he is made ruler of the land by the world (Sodom) or he humbles himself before the High Priest of the Most High God. The first is attractive and luring but would reject giving credit to God. Abram was supposed to receive all the covenant promises from God and not through his own personal victories and conquests. Sodom tempted Abram to claim kingship, but Melchizedek blessed Him after Abram presented him with an offering.
The key to all of this is the phrase “after the order of Melchizedek”. In this world we have two orders – man and God-man. The first is God’s creation through Adam and Eve the parents of humanity, sadly, this order fell into sin. In order to save this order God introduces another order, another man who is above and beyond the confines of human falleness. This second order has to be connected to the first man (human) yet beyond man by being sinless. We all know that this second order is completed in Jesus Christ who is both man and God. A man who is not affected by the fall and thus is qualified to save the order of things.
What we need to see is that the introduction of this second order is not Christmas but actually foreshadowed in this amazing story of Abram and the battle of the kings. The sinful order (Sodom) is on one side of Abram, and the other is Melchizedek the High Priest of the Most High God. Melchizedek who miraculously, supernaturally, appears on the scene is the entrance of the new order. Some will even say he was Jesus himself. Whether he was actually Jesus or a type of Jesus is supported in the Psalms (110:4), where it says “you are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek”. This means Jesus followed the unexpected order of priesthood. All the priests of the Bible were from the line of Levi. But Jesus didn’t follow that line, rather received his qualification from a different order namely Melchizedek.
So what we have is Abram standing between man and God-man and providentially he recognizes is only course of action. He chooses to give his allegiance to the God-man and thus receives the blessing. He is now qualified to represent the father of God’s people and enter into the covenant relationship. Later when Jesus came on the scene he fulfilled the promise and now offers to all of us the privilege of being part of this new order. We are no longer just human but we are adopted into a new order – a royal priesthood after the order of Melchizedek.
Now how cool is that!
Friday, November 14, 2008
Starting Over
So after 2 months of just plain, boring rest, I began Physio this week for my knee(s). I went to see the same Doctor as Art Smit a couple of weeks previous who gave me a prescription for several sessions.
On the whole it seems a lot of what was agitated in my right knee has healed but there are still a few areas and muscles that are still tight causing mild discomfort. There is still very minor swelling (I didn’t even notice :P).
My physiotherapist started me up on a few exercises to strengthen my hip flexor and rotators and the glutes, plus another muscle that I cannot remember the name of.
Well, let me say it’s official. I have lost every bit of strength in my leg muscles from this summer. I cannot believe how tired (and sore) I am getting from these simple exercises. It’s so sad, lol. But I know it’s the beginning to preparing my body for next years season and well to just be able to bike in general.
It’s been extremely hard to put aside my athletic activities while I let my body rest and heal over the last couple of months so even though I know how tough it is going to be to get back into working out I’m also extremely excited for it.
But I’ll admit it’s no wonder why so many people give up all the time. It’s amazing how quickly your body loses shape once you stop (only 2 weeks!!). It seems like you are always starting over.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Challenged to Grow
One of the things I talk about when asked what I enjoyed about the summer is usually about the community, the closeness, the support and encouragement. As well as being challenged in my faith and surrounded by others who live their lives for Jesus. I knew it would be something that would take some time finding again. I didn't really have any groups I was a part of that could get together and discuss various scripture. I talked with my cousin and she told me about a group that she goes too so last night I went and checked it out with her.
I really enjoyed our opening worship. Instead of songs or anything you would typically expect at the start of a study we ended up going out into the Dundern Castle park, separating ourselves from each other but close enough we could still see everyone and we spent about 7-8 min. in reflection on things we were thankful for and how they made us grow.
There were a number of things that came to mind but during that time and discussion later a couple of things hit me. Before the tour I had prayed that the upcoming summer would help challenge me and strengthen me to grow in my faith. Though my belief in God never wavers, I was struggling with being exactly who God wants me to be. I was finding my faith life and my walk was nearing more a luke warm level then the on fire faith I really did (and do) want to have.
Looking back I realized that though I am still not where I want to be that God did put many situations and people in my path that challenged me and help me to grow. Infact, I now feel that the issues with my knee were a great helping factor. Continually working on the fruit of the spirits; especially Patience!
During the morning service at Hope CRC in Brantford, Dirk and I put together a presentation on the Sea to Sea. I really wanted to share so much and really allow the congregation an insight into what we experienced. It was kind of funny though; I think Dirk's presentation was just over 2 minutes, mine was about 8 minutes :) and the offering that we were presenting through was about 4 minutes :) Oops, lol. Though after the service I got a lot of really encouraging feedback and comments of appreciation so I think in the end it went really well.
I've included below what I had to say (though yes I realize it will make this blog that much longer, I do hope you enjoy it).
Wow! What a summer!
Even now it is still hard to believe that after over a year of anticipation we have already completed the 9 week tour and have been back into the “so called normal life”.
There is so much I wish I could tell you, so many stories and memories to share but I could be up here forever.
So where do I start? What do I say that could sum up the most amazing summer in only a few minutes?
Over the last few weeks I’ve been asked numerous times, how was it? And I find myself only being able to say a couple descriptive words at best. It was Amazing! Life changing, Exhilarating! Unbelievable and absolutely God breathed.
So here is my chance to elaborate and I find myself not knowing where to begin.
In the beginning, so much of it was about biking. The tour found itself to be much harder than many even imagined and found themselves mostly focusing on just getting through the day. Not only that but taking the time to get to know everyone both young and old as well as trying to get into a morning routine. It was so funny to watch, some mornings, all the running around as people tried to get out before the fierceness of the sun shone high.
As a couple weeks went by it became more obvious that the real reason why we were on this tour was not coming out as much as many hoped or liked. We had been given these Sea to Sea cards that we could hand out to people along the way and we were really encouraged to take the time to stop and talk with anyone and everyone about why we were out there on the road riding in some days over 100F and where we were headed.
It was amazing how many people were extremely interested in what we were doing and many cyclists found themselves receiving donations right there along the way! Some days we would see how many cards we could hand out, tapping on windows of cars while we were stopped waiting for a light to change. Telling the wonderful staff at cafes that we would fill up entirely, some often giving us free food or drinks! Just stopping along the side of the road to talk especially when someone shouted, “Hey what’s going on?”
In the evenings we would have what we called Paleton meetings, where we discussed the happenings of the day, the weather, Ed would go over the route for the next day, and a few other things but what was really special to listen to was when we started to tell stories of various God moments because there were so many of them every day. God’s providence – we would say. How someone had a close call but through God’s providence it ended up not being that close. Riding through a neighbourhood on the way to Chicago where only less then a week before had been hit by a tornado! We come back and hear of how much rain you all had but God had us traveling in a sun bubble! In the end I think we had maybe 5 days of rain the entire summer, most of which stopped within the first few hours of the day!
There were stories of complete strangers coming up asking if they could pray for us and sometimes in their prayer focusing on exactly what we needed right at that moment. God was constantly putting people in our paths that touched us and used us to touch them.
I am so thankful that God chose me to be one of the 220 cyclists this summer. He used me and pushed me in ways I’ve never been pushed before. Over and over again he pushed me to learn patience, to be an encouragement to others, to be positive and to be happy with each day whatever may come.
As most of you know I found myself immediately faced with having to deal with my knee troubles but at the same time even though there were definitely some hard days, I always felt your prayers and knew that it was through God only that I was able to finish each day. Not by my own will or strength but by him.
In the end, entering into the 4th week, I did have to take a number of days off to let my knee heal but from that I was able to experience the tour in other ways that I never would have had the chance too, being on the bike the entire time. Seeing behind the scenes, spending time with the kitchen crew ladies, our media people, our SAG volunteers and yes, even though I did wish I could be biking, I am very thankful for those days as well.
I had promised myself that once we hit Michigan I would bike every day no matter what but God had other plans! From the moment that I received my knee brace, that my mom had to FedEx to me while staying in Dordt, I was able to ride pretty much everyday (except for a few missed km's those first few days getting back into it)!! I was so thankful and I know that it was because of all of the prayers back home. I couldn’t believe that I got to ride almost the entire last 4 weeks as well.
A number of things that also stand out from the summer were the views. Out west is like riding through a National Geographic magazine. It is so different then here and it is absolutely beautiful…sure after awhile we did get pretty sick of all the sage bush and craved for shade from a maple tree back home but still it was amazing all the same. The mountains to the desert to prairies to the lushness of the East. God sure is one amazing artist!
We also were able to enjoy the many Celebration Rallies held along the way. Each one quite different from the next but each powerful in its own way. Our own in St. Catharines having it's own God moment, where it poured right up to the start of the Rally itself and out shone a rainbow!
The community was one of my favourite parts. How the young and old mixed, supported each other, laughed with each other and encouraged each other. There was never a day I didn’t feel the support from those in camp and am so thankful for the many friendships made.
One of the most amazing days was riding into Jersey City that final day. It was an experience like no other. Escorted through three different jurisdictions, police cruisers closing down major interstates and intersections for us to ride straight through. It was hard to not feel like a celebrity but thinking how weird that was because all you were doing was riding your bike. Along the way we got tons of honks in support, people clapping and cheering us on, many not even necessarily knowing what we were about – us trying to throw out as many cards as possible - litterly, lol. It was so cool to ride into Liberty State Park and see the Statue of Liberty for the first time, then lining up along the water’s edge to finish the summer with dipping in our front tires into the Atlantic Ocean. Wow!
I want to end with saying thank you to this church. I want to thank you once again for your prayers for mine and Dirk’s safety this summer, and your prayers that I would be challenged and grow. I also want to thank all of you who sent encouragement notes my way at some point during those 9 weeks. Thanks as well to all of you who contributed towards the fundraising of the bike tour. The final tally from the summer is not exactly complete but at last tally it was somewhere near 2.2 million.
As I close though, I want to say that even though the tour is over, it is not the end. Not the end but rather the beginning. Poverty has not ended and so we must continue to find ways in how we can get involved, whether it be away on a missions trip or locally. But I challenge you all and encourage you all to find ways how you can make a difference. Check out how you can help those within our own community. It can be for an hour, a day or more often but unless we all come together and work at ending the cycle of poverty then how can it? Pray about it and ask God where you can be used today.
Thank you so much!
I really enjoyed our opening worship. Instead of songs or anything you would typically expect at the start of a study we ended up going out into the Dundern Castle park, separating ourselves from each other but close enough we could still see everyone and we spent about 7-8 min. in reflection on things we were thankful for and how they made us grow.
There were a number of things that came to mind but during that time and discussion later a couple of things hit me. Before the tour I had prayed that the upcoming summer would help challenge me and strengthen me to grow in my faith. Though my belief in God never wavers, I was struggling with being exactly who God wants me to be. I was finding my faith life and my walk was nearing more a luke warm level then the on fire faith I really did (and do) want to have.
Looking back I realized that though I am still not where I want to be that God did put many situations and people in my path that challenged me and help me to grow. Infact, I now feel that the issues with my knee were a great helping factor. Continually working on the fruit of the spirits; especially Patience!
During the morning service at Hope CRC in Brantford, Dirk and I put together a presentation on the Sea to Sea. I really wanted to share so much and really allow the congregation an insight into what we experienced. It was kind of funny though; I think Dirk's presentation was just over 2 minutes, mine was about 8 minutes :) and the offering that we were presenting through was about 4 minutes :) Oops, lol. Though after the service I got a lot of really encouraging feedback and comments of appreciation so I think in the end it went really well.
I've included below what I had to say (though yes I realize it will make this blog that much longer, I do hope you enjoy it).
Wow! What a summer!
Even now it is still hard to believe that after over a year of anticipation we have already completed the 9 week tour and have been back into the “so called normal life”.
There is so much I wish I could tell you, so many stories and memories to share but I could be up here forever.
So where do I start? What do I say that could sum up the most amazing summer in only a few minutes?
Over the last few weeks I’ve been asked numerous times, how was it? And I find myself only being able to say a couple descriptive words at best. It was Amazing! Life changing, Exhilarating! Unbelievable and absolutely God breathed.
So here is my chance to elaborate and I find myself not knowing where to begin.
In the beginning, so much of it was about biking. The tour found itself to be much harder than many even imagined and found themselves mostly focusing on just getting through the day. Not only that but taking the time to get to know everyone both young and old as well as trying to get into a morning routine. It was so funny to watch, some mornings, all the running around as people tried to get out before the fierceness of the sun shone high.
As a couple weeks went by it became more obvious that the real reason why we were on this tour was not coming out as much as many hoped or liked. We had been given these Sea to Sea cards that we could hand out to people along the way and we were really encouraged to take the time to stop and talk with anyone and everyone about why we were out there on the road riding in some days over 100F and where we were headed.
It was amazing how many people were extremely interested in what we were doing and many cyclists found themselves receiving donations right there along the way! Some days we would see how many cards we could hand out, tapping on windows of cars while we were stopped waiting for a light to change. Telling the wonderful staff at cafes that we would fill up entirely, some often giving us free food or drinks! Just stopping along the side of the road to talk especially when someone shouted, “Hey what’s going on?”
In the evenings we would have what we called Paleton meetings, where we discussed the happenings of the day, the weather, Ed would go over the route for the next day, and a few other things but what was really special to listen to was when we started to tell stories of various God moments because there were so many of them every day. God’s providence – we would say. How someone had a close call but through God’s providence it ended up not being that close. Riding through a neighbourhood on the way to Chicago where only less then a week before had been hit by a tornado! We come back and hear of how much rain you all had but God had us traveling in a sun bubble! In the end I think we had maybe 5 days of rain the entire summer, most of which stopped within the first few hours of the day!
There were stories of complete strangers coming up asking if they could pray for us and sometimes in their prayer focusing on exactly what we needed right at that moment. God was constantly putting people in our paths that touched us and used us to touch them.
I am so thankful that God chose me to be one of the 220 cyclists this summer. He used me and pushed me in ways I’ve never been pushed before. Over and over again he pushed me to learn patience, to be an encouragement to others, to be positive and to be happy with each day whatever may come.
As most of you know I found myself immediately faced with having to deal with my knee troubles but at the same time even though there were definitely some hard days, I always felt your prayers and knew that it was through God only that I was able to finish each day. Not by my own will or strength but by him.
In the end, entering into the 4th week, I did have to take a number of days off to let my knee heal but from that I was able to experience the tour in other ways that I never would have had the chance too, being on the bike the entire time. Seeing behind the scenes, spending time with the kitchen crew ladies, our media people, our SAG volunteers and yes, even though I did wish I could be biking, I am very thankful for those days as well.
I had promised myself that once we hit Michigan I would bike every day no matter what but God had other plans! From the moment that I received my knee brace, that my mom had to FedEx to me while staying in Dordt, I was able to ride pretty much everyday (except for a few missed km's those first few days getting back into it)!! I was so thankful and I know that it was because of all of the prayers back home. I couldn’t believe that I got to ride almost the entire last 4 weeks as well.
A number of things that also stand out from the summer were the views. Out west is like riding through a National Geographic magazine. It is so different then here and it is absolutely beautiful…sure after awhile we did get pretty sick of all the sage bush and craved for shade from a maple tree back home but still it was amazing all the same. The mountains to the desert to prairies to the lushness of the East. God sure is one amazing artist!
We also were able to enjoy the many Celebration Rallies held along the way. Each one quite different from the next but each powerful in its own way. Our own in St. Catharines having it's own God moment, where it poured right up to the start of the Rally itself and out shone a rainbow!
The community was one of my favourite parts. How the young and old mixed, supported each other, laughed with each other and encouraged each other. There was never a day I didn’t feel the support from those in camp and am so thankful for the many friendships made.
One of the most amazing days was riding into Jersey City that final day. It was an experience like no other. Escorted through three different jurisdictions, police cruisers closing down major interstates and intersections for us to ride straight through. It was hard to not feel like a celebrity but thinking how weird that was because all you were doing was riding your bike. Along the way we got tons of honks in support, people clapping and cheering us on, many not even necessarily knowing what we were about – us trying to throw out as many cards as possible - litterly, lol. It was so cool to ride into Liberty State Park and see the Statue of Liberty for the first time, then lining up along the water’s edge to finish the summer with dipping in our front tires into the Atlantic Ocean. Wow!
I want to end with saying thank you to this church. I want to thank you once again for your prayers for mine and Dirk’s safety this summer, and your prayers that I would be challenged and grow. I also want to thank all of you who sent encouragement notes my way at some point during those 9 weeks. Thanks as well to all of you who contributed towards the fundraising of the bike tour. The final tally from the summer is not exactly complete but at last tally it was somewhere near 2.2 million.
As I close though, I want to say that even though the tour is over, it is not the end. Not the end but rather the beginning. Poverty has not ended and so we must continue to find ways in how we can get involved, whether it be away on a missions trip or locally. But I challenge you all and encourage you all to find ways how you can make a difference. Check out how you can help those within our own community. It can be for an hour, a day or more often but unless we all come together and work at ending the cycle of poverty then how can it? Pray about it and ask God where you can be used today.
Thank you so much!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Continuing On...
(I would like to apologize for my lack of updating here. At times it was not the easiest to get internet access as you all likely heard and when there was, it didn't seem as important. By that time I was out of trying to keep things updated and rather just focused on the tour and community living. )
Wow, I never thought writing this first blog after stopping well over a month ago would be so hard. I have started writing numerous times and yet I still have yet to post anything.
I guess the best place is to give a bit of a quick update on whatever happened about my health with my knee.
First I have to say a great big THANK YOU to all those who were praying for me throughout this past summer, even when you didn’t know what was going on. I most definitely felt the prayers and I know they, along with God’s love and strength through me was helped me finish riding through the summer.
After my visit to the Sports Injury Therapist, I still had to take a few days off to recover from his therapy as well. Riding with the media crew for one day and riding with Betsy and Art in their SAG the next (Wed, July 30). I even had my own SAG water stop for 2 hours! Though I’ll admit I wondered if Betsy and Art (who had to go pick someone up) would ever come back for me J
I decided that once again I would start back in slow and so on Thursday, July 31 I rode with Walter in the RV to his SAG stop, which was 50km to our destination. The ride was absolutely amazing and I flew! Granted I also experienced the great tailwind everyone was riding with that day. I had my best time this day too even though I wasn’t even pushing that hard. I rode the 50km’s in 1 hr and 30min!
The next day I decided to ride about the same amount and rode with Julie this time to her SAG stop, once again 50km from the end. This was the day that I spotted that fire and wrote about it in the previous blog. This day as well had quite a massive headwind and even though I enjoyed myself I prayed for other cyclists to catch me that I could draft off of for a break. Unfortunately, I could tell I had overdone the ride that evening and once again had to take the Saturday into Nebraska off. It was fairly frustrating.
I didn’t start riding again till the following Tuesday, the section from Sioux City to Sioux Center. I rode with Betsy till she dropped me off once again at the 50km mark to the end. The beginning of the ride I was fairly sluggish and hooked up with Russel till our refreshment stop in Ireton. There had been a bit of a headwind so it was really helpful to have someone to draft off of now and then. After the stop I was feeling much better and left on my own to go at my own speed, expecting others to catch up eventually but I ended up picking up my speed and found myself flying into Dordt College, our stop for the night and also where I hoped a package would be waiting for me.
During the previous week, I had realized that the only way I was going to get the knee brace that I needed was to have my mom purchase it back home off of my Knee Therapist and have her FedEx it to me. So through the help of Erinn and Barb, my mom was able to send it to Barb’s house (which is right near Dordt) and thankfully it arrived on time!! I was set or so I hoped.
The next day was the first big 182km day. It was pouring out! Of course our first really big day of rain and it ends up on the longest day, lol. I decided since Tuesday’s ride went so well; I would get a ride in and start at the 50km mark and just ride as far as I could (plus a small part of me hoped the rain would be done by then, lol). Well, we got to the second refreshment stop and sure enough the rain hadn’t stopped and everyone there was drenched to the bone but in amazing spirits. I was really eager to get on the road so I put on all my rain gear and joined a great group of riders. I ended up riding with Nathan, Eritia, Katrina, Hilena, Joshua and Sarah (part of the time).
What an amazing day!! Definitely up there as one of my favourites. Riding in the rain was great, the weather was really perfect, everyone was laughing having a great time and my knees felt amazing with the new brace – granted I could feel where the knee cap was trying to pop out and the brace was keeping it in, so it was definitely doing it’s job. Things were going so well that I ended up even pushing it a bit and at one point raced up a hill at 40km/hr! It was exhilarating to be able to go at a higher speed once again. It was great being able to let others draft me for awhile instead of always the other way around.
In the end I ended up riding the rest of the day and rode 136km!!
The next day was also 182km’s but this time I decided to start right from the beginning to see if I would be able to do the whole day and if I couldn’t well then I’d just SAG it the rest of the way. But I was pretty determined. I left with Joshua trying to catch up with the group we were going to ride with but had already left. We caught them after a bit but found ourselves continuing on as we had been pacing ourselves at a great speed and were enjoying it so much we were not in the mood to slow down. The day turned into another great one and definitely another favourite for me. Would you believe I actually averaged 26.6km/hr! Though I will admit about 20km from the end my body finally gave out on me. Obviously I couldn’t go at this pace and distance forever. I had only ridden 150km in the past week and a half and now in the past 3 days I had ridden over 350km! My body began to rebel and we had to slow down quite dramatically. I was determined with only 20km’s left to make it in and what a reward when I did. Joshua and I went in search of an ice cream store but after not succeeding we bought a tub of ice cream and a bag of ice (for our knees) and headed back to camp to enjoy success. Would you believe we pretty much finished the entire tub between the 2 of us! Aaron Carpenter helped a bit but still! Lol.
The following day had a very large climb at the end that I didn’t even dare try after finding myself struggling for a fair amount of the ride and ended up riding 112 km of the 161km day. Still pretty happy with that.
From that point on, however, I was able to once again rejoin the riding portion in full. Thanks to all the prayers, encouragement, my knee brace and of course the all powerful and loving Lord I was able to complete every Km on, even the steep hills and long climbs the last few day! What a glorious gift.
I had promised myself that no matter what happened I would make sure I rode the last 2 weeks but in the end I was able to ride nearly the entire last 4 weeks! God is GREAT!
Obviously there were still some days that were more trying then others but everyone was experiencing that.
Well, that about wraps up the story (and questions) about my knee. Sorry it took so long for the update (which is now an essay :P).
I hope to continue writing about a few more Sea to Sea related items and I promise to not take another month to post them so if you are still in the need to read a cyclists blog, continue to check me out.
Wow, I never thought writing this first blog after stopping well over a month ago would be so hard. I have started writing numerous times and yet I still have yet to post anything.I guess the best place is to give a bit of a quick update on whatever happened about my health with my knee.
First I have to say a great big THANK YOU to all those who were praying for me throughout this past summer, even when you didn’t know what was going on. I most definitely felt the prayers and I know they, along with God’s love and strength through me was helped me finish riding through the summer.
After my visit to the Sports Injury Therapist, I still had to take a few days off to recover from his therapy as well. Riding with the media crew for one day and riding with Betsy and Art in their SAG the next (Wed, July 30). I even had my own SAG water stop for 2 hours! Though I’ll admit I wondered if Betsy and Art (who had to go pick someone up) would ever come back for me J
I decided that once again I would start back in slow and so on Thursday, July 31 I rode with Walter in the RV to his SAG stop, which was 50km to our destination. The ride was absolutely amazing and I flew! Granted I also experienced the great tailwind everyone was riding with that day. I had my best time this day too even though I wasn’t even pushing that hard. I rode the 50km’s in 1 hr and 30min!
The next day I decided to ride about the same amount and rode with Julie this time to her SAG stop, once again 50km from the end. This was the day that I spotted that fire and wrote about it in the previous blog. This day as well had quite a massive headwind and even though I enjoyed myself I prayed for other cyclists to catch me that I could draft off of for a break. Unfortunately, I could tell I had overdone the ride that evening and once again had to take the Saturday into Nebraska off. It was fairly frustrating.
I didn’t start riding again till the following Tuesday, the section from Sioux City to Sioux Center. I rode with Betsy till she dropped me off once again at the 50km mark to the end. The beginning of the ride I was fairly sluggish and hooked up with Russel till our refreshment stop in Ireton. There had been a bit of a headwind so it was really helpful to have someone to draft off of now and then. After the stop I was feeling much better and left on my own to go at my own speed, expecting others to catch up eventually but I ended up picking up my speed and found myself flying into Dordt College, our stop for the night and also where I hoped a package would be waiting for me.
During the previous week, I had realized that the only way I was going to get the knee brace that I needed was to have my mom purchase it back home off of my Knee Therapist and have her FedEx it to me. So through the help of Erinn and Barb, my mom was able to send it to Barb’s house (which is right near Dordt) and thankfully it arrived on time!! I was set or so I hoped.
The next day was the first big 182km day. It was pouring out! Of course our first really big day of rain and it ends up on the longest day, lol. I decided since Tuesday’s ride went so well; I would get a ride in and start at the 50km mark and just ride as far as I could (plus a small part of me hoped the rain would be done by then, lol). Well, we got to the second refreshment stop and sure enough the rain hadn’t stopped and everyone there was drenched to the bone but in amazing spirits. I was really eager to get on the road so I put on all my rain gear and joined a great group of riders. I ended up riding with Nathan, Eritia, Katrina, Hilena, Joshua and Sarah (part of the time).What an amazing day!! Definitely up there as one of my favourites. Riding in the rain was great, the weather was really perfect, everyone was laughing having a great time and my knees felt amazing with the new brace – granted I could feel where the knee cap was trying to pop out and the brace was keeping it in, so it was definitely doing it’s job. Things were going so well that I ended up even pushing it a bit and at one point raced up a hill at 40km/hr! It was exhilarating to be able to go at a higher speed once again. It was great being able to let others draft me for awhile instead of always the other way around.
In the end I ended up riding the rest of the day and rode 136km!!
The next day was also 182km’s but this time I decided to start right from the beginning to see if I would be able to do the whole day and if I couldn’t well then I’d just SAG it the rest of the way. But I was pretty determined. I left with Joshua trying to catch up with the group we were going to ride with but had already left. We caught them after a bit but found ourselves continuing on as we had been pacing ourselves at a great speed and were enjoying it so much we were not in the mood to slow down. The day turned into another great one and definitely another favourite for me. Would you believe I actually averaged 26.6km/hr! Though I will admit about 20km from the end my body finally gave out on me. Obviously I couldn’t go at this pace and distance forever. I had only ridden 150km in the past week and a half and now in the past 3 days I had ridden over 350km! My body began to rebel and we had to slow down quite dramatically. I was determined with only 20km’s left to make it in and what a reward when I did. Joshua and I went in search of an ice cream store but after not succeeding we bought a tub of ice cream and a bag of ice (for our knees) and headed back to camp to enjoy success. Would you believe we pretty much finished the entire tub between the 2 of us! Aaron Carpenter helped a bit but still! Lol.
The following day had a very large climb at the end that I didn’t even dare try after finding myself struggling for a fair amount of the ride and ended up riding 112 km of the 161km day. Still pretty happy with that.From that point on, however, I was able to once again rejoin the riding portion in full. Thanks to all the prayers, encouragement, my knee brace and of course the all powerful and loving Lord I was able to complete every Km on, even the steep hills and long climbs the last few day! What a glorious gift.
I had promised myself that no matter what happened I would make sure I rode the last 2 weeks but in the end I was able to ride nearly the entire last 4 weeks! God is GREAT!
Obviously there were still some days that were more trying then others but everyone was experiencing that.
Well, that about wraps up the story (and questions) about my knee. Sorry it took so long for the update (which is now an essay :P).I hope to continue writing about a few more Sea to Sea related items and I promise to not take another month to post them so if you are still in the need to read a cyclists blog, continue to check me out.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
A Week of Miracles
Well, I didn't get a lot of riding in this week. Only 100km, split between 2 days but what can you do.
Instead I enjoyed the week by spending the days with different crew members. It's actually quite nice to view all the different sides to this tour and how much work our amazing volunteer crew staff put into this tour. They really deserve lots of encouragement from everyone and lots of thanks for all that they do for us.
The cool thing for me this week is that even through the hard times of
this week God has sent me a miracle and used me for one. This past week I have seen God more then any other week and I am so thankful for these moments.
On Monday, I originally was going to send Erinn Swett off to find me the Knee Brace I needed that was recommended by my Knee Therapist, Conor, back home. In the end though, I thought it would be better to do things right the first time and go with her so that I could be properly fitted and also get my ankles checked out at the same time as I was having major issues with them swelling up like balloons (or as we like to joke, the worst cankles ever - where your calf and ankles combine :P).
Erinn had to go to the airport to drop off a few people and then get a hold of Joy, Pastor Len's cousin, as he had unfortunately forgotten his passport at their house (he stayed with them for the weekend) and she needed to go pick it up for him.
I spent the hour and a half on the phone feeling like I was on a wild goose chase. It was crazy, every hospital or medical centre I called passed me onto the next person. About 30 min in of calls I discovered that in the States you have to have a prescription for the Knee Brace I was getting (this isn't some high tech brace but better then your Walmart special). So now I was on the phone trying to find out how I could get a prescription and trying to find a place that could see me that day. I had nearly given up when I saw Erinn coming up the way. I went to tell her about my no-luck so far when she began to tell me her great news!!
While she was on the phone with Joy, Erinn had mentioned about the fact that I was trying to get a hold of someone about my knee and Joy stated that there is a Sports Injury Therapist that is within their Christian community (who also has worked with the Olympic athletes before) and said she would see if she could get me an appointment.
Pretty much in the midst of Erinn telling me this, Joy called and informed us that I had an appointment for 11:30AM with the partner, Jon Seeman of The Center for Spine Pain and Wellness. We jumped up and down with joy. I new as well that I had a number of people back home praying for me that I would get an appointment of some sort this weekend. Originally I was trying to see the founder of ART Therapy as Conor had told me that he was from Denver, CO but we discovered that his office was a 100 miles away still from where we were staying on the weekend, so that was a no go. But now here God used a number of various people to make it happen, starting with the purpose of Len needing to forget his passport at Joy's because it needed to be something important enough that Erinn had to go and get it and be in contact with Joy! Amazing how things work themselves out. Often you don't have the opportunity to see the effect of how or why the dominoes fall in a certain direction.
So we headed over there and I ended up being in the office for an hour and a half. He scraped at my scar soft tissues to get it to release (which I now have bruises from :P) then used Electrical Stimulation (that was weird as I could see my thigh pulse out from it and of course feel it too). As well as low level laser therapy, MRS therapy and adjustment. I was amazed at how much he did for me. Fitting me in on such short notice with a very long appointment. Was very detailed and explained everything to me as we went along, waved the consultation fee!! so in the end everything only cost me $65 US! I was absolutely blown away. He was and is a great man and I just want to send out a huge thanks to you, Jon and your office.
The rest of the day was great spent with Erinn driving around in her hot (rental) mustang. We went out for lunch and were going to do some retail therapy :) but there really wasn't enough time and I was getting a little tired.
Praise God for his amazing love and constant watching over us. Thank you as well to everyone for all your prayers.
Oh yeah, so my knee is not miraculously healed, but I did find out that even though it is badly agitated as long as I give it lots of rest over the winter I should not have any permanent damage. I just have to keep on top of elevating, icing and stretching.
So that was the start of the week. During the week we had numerous encounters of people coming up to us, praying for us outside of a 7-Eleven (that was so amazing). Art, Betsy and I were in the 7-Eleven and she was like are you that Christian bike group? and we said we were and she said to put all our stuff on her tab! Then Art and I were outside waiting for Betsy and she came up to us saying out she was going to be late but it didn't matter. She felt a strong presence that she needed to pray with us and she prayed a lot for the tours safety which is what we really need this week (well every week). It was so amazing!
Later on that day at our SAG stop we had a gentleman show up and give us a number of free health drinks to try and pass out.
My other big miracle story happened on Friday on my only other day of riding (I also rode part on Thursday). I drove with Julie today to her SAG stop (50km to the end) and started from there. Unfortunately, there was a very strong head wind the entire ride.
I was coming up a road and I could see smoke in the distance. There's been a number of times on the tour that this has happened and usually it's nothing much. I was thinking and hoping that was the case for this time as well. As I rounded the corner I noticed that some of the smoke was coming from a dugout pit that appeared they were burning stuff on purpose and it was mostly all gone already. However, there was another smoke cloud and I noticed that one of the large trees along the propriety was on fire inside the trunk. There was debris right in front of the tree so I wasn't sure if it was on purpose or not but one thing I have learned on this tour is to never assume anything. I saw that there was a house half a mile down the gravel road, so I layed my bike down and walked in my cleats over.
Luckily the women of the house, Deb Swartz was home and I informed her of what I had saw, not knowing that the tree was a part of their new purchased property. We hoped on her 4-wheeler to go check it out. In the time from when I first saw the fire to the time we got back, maybe 20 min later, the fire had spread up and extra 4 feet or so inside the trunk and was starting to near the crown of the tree. The tree was NOT suppose to be on fire and she couldn't believe it. Apparently her husband and a few other men had been clearing some of the debris from the land and since it was more at the smouldering faze decided it was safe to go for lunch. However, the wind had picked up a great deal and I guess a spark jumped out of the pit and spread to the tree. Deb was extremely thankful that I had stopped to let them know. I was just thankful that I had listened to my intuition and heart. I had felt God almost nudging me just to make sure.
Well, in her thanks she asked if I had had lunch yet and sent me to the next town to Kerry's Bar and Grill on her. I rode their while she called the men back from that place and dealt with the fire. I reached there maybe 30 min later. I wasn't sure how to go in and what to say to the people there but they knew who I was right away. I asked if I could sit with some of the locals and had a very pleasant lunch learning about the area and the farming and telling them about the tour. I guess one of the ladies called Deb to tell her I was there as she showed up not too much after. She informed me that sadly they did have to cut the tree down but where so thankful it had been caught when it was so that the fire had not spread to more trees or more of the property. She asked if there was anything that she could do for me but I kindly declined as I was just glad to be able to be in the right spot at the right time (through God's providence once again). She wanted to do something and said she would go home and check out the tour online and make a donation there. That wasn't the purpose of this but was a wonderful gesture. (Deb if you are reading this, I just want to say that I am glad I met you, though not under such circumstances, and I thank you as well. You and your family are in my prayers as you start this next section of your life with your new property and farming responsibilites. God's blessings!)
Later on that day I discovered that a number of others from the tour bumped into her at a Subway and heard the whole story and took some more pictures with her! Too cool.
So the moral of this story though is when you see something that just doesn't seem right, don't assume that someone else has dealt with the matter. Take a moment out of your time to just check things out before you move on. What made me stop was also a discussion I had had with Hilena Zylstra (my friend and social worker from home). She had told me that it is sadly very common for people to not act until they see someone else act first (it's a sociological/phsycological phenomenon that we dissociate ourselves from a situation as we figure someone else is already dealing with it). So we must be in reminder of this and take the lead and the initiative.
Today (Sunday) we also had another Godsend, a few people had to stay back from the church services we were attending to act as security for our stuff. They attended The Good Shepherd Lutheran Church across the street and after the service filled them in on what was going on across the way and what we are about. Since then they have been absolutely amazing to us, opening their doors (litterly), feeding us (with LOTS of food) that they only just started making this afternoon and hasn't stopped coming. They are also allowing anyone to sleep inside in the coolness of the halls. Thank you so much to all the members!! You truly have acted as Christ to us.
Well, I think that my blog is a pretty long one once again so I probably should wrap it up. Thanks to everyone back home for everything. I miss you and love you all and pray that things are well for you too.
Love Stephanie
Instead I enjoyed the week by spending the days with different crew members. It's actually quite nice to view all the different sides to this tour and how much work our amazing volunteer crew staff put into this tour. They really deserve lots of encouragement from everyone and lots of thanks for all that they do for us.
The cool thing for me this week is that even through the hard times of
this week God has sent me a miracle and used me for one. This past week I have seen God more then any other week and I am so thankful for these moments.On Monday, I originally was going to send Erinn Swett off to find me the Knee Brace I needed that was recommended by my Knee Therapist, Conor, back home. In the end though, I thought it would be better to do things right the first time and go with her so that I could be properly fitted and also get my ankles checked out at the same time as I was having major issues with them swelling up like balloons (or as we like to joke, the worst cankles ever - where your calf and ankles combine :P).
Erinn had to go to the airport to drop off a few people and then get a hold of Joy, Pastor Len's cousin, as he had unfortunately forgotten his passport at their house (he stayed with them for the weekend) and she needed to go pick it up for him.
I spent the hour and a half on the phone feeling like I was on a wild goose chase. It was crazy, every hospital or medical centre I called passed me onto the next person. About 30 min in of calls I discovered that in the States you have to have a prescription for the Knee Brace I was getting (this isn't some high tech brace but better then your Walmart special). So now I was on the phone trying to find out how I could get a prescription and trying to find a place that could see me that day. I had nearly given up when I saw Erinn coming up the way. I went to tell her about my no-luck so far when she began to tell me her great news!!
While she was on the phone with Joy, Erinn had mentioned about the fact that I was trying to get a hold of someone about my knee and Joy stated that there is a Sports Injury Therapist that is within their Christian community (who also has worked with the Olympic athletes before) and said she would see if she could get me an appointment.
Pretty much in the midst of Erinn telling me this, Joy called and informed us that I had an appointment for 11:30AM with the partner, Jon Seeman of The Center for Spine Pain and Wellness. We jumped up and down with joy. I new as well that I had a number of people back home praying for me that I would get an appointment of some sort this weekend. Originally I was trying to see the founder of ART Therapy as Conor had told me that he was from Denver, CO but we discovered that his office was a 100 miles away still from where we were staying on the weekend, so that was a no go. But now here God used a number of various people to make it happen, starting with the purpose of Len needing to forget his passport at Joy's because it needed to be something important enough that Erinn had to go and get it and be in contact with Joy! Amazing how things work themselves out. Often you don't have the opportunity to see the effect of how or why the dominoes fall in a certain direction.
So we headed over there and I ended up being in the office for an hour and a half. He scraped at my scar soft tissues to get it to release (which I now have bruises from :P) then used Electrical Stimulation (that was weird as I could see my thigh pulse out from it and of course feel it too). As well as low level laser therapy, MRS therapy and adjustment. I was amazed at how much he did for me. Fitting me in on such short notice with a very long appointment. Was very detailed and explained everything to me as we went along, waved the consultation fee!! so in the end everything only cost me $65 US! I was absolutely blown away. He was and is a great man and I just want to send out a huge thanks to you, Jon and your office.
The rest of the day was great spent with Erinn driving around in her hot (rental) mustang. We went out for lunch and were going to do some retail therapy :) but there really wasn't enough time and I was getting a little tired.
Praise God for his amazing love and constant watching over us. Thank you as well to everyone for all your prayers.
Oh yeah, so my knee is not miraculously healed, but I did find out that even though it is badly agitated as long as I give it lots of rest over the winter I should not have any permanent damage. I just have to keep on top of elevating, icing and stretching.
So that was the start of the week. During the week we had numerous encounters of people coming up to us, praying for us outside of a 7-Eleven (that was so amazing). Art, Betsy and I were in the 7-Eleven and she was like are you that Christian bike group? and we said we were and she said to put all our stuff on her tab! Then Art and I were outside waiting for Betsy and she came up to us saying out she was going to be late but it didn't matter. She felt a strong presence that she needed to pray with us and she prayed a lot for the tours safety which is what we really need this week (well every week). It was so amazing!
Later on that day at our SAG stop we had a gentleman show up and give us a number of free health drinks to try and pass out.
My other big miracle story happened on Friday on my only other day of riding (I also rode part on Thursday). I drove with Julie today to her SAG stop (50km to the end) and started from there. Unfortunately, there was a very strong head wind the entire ride.
I was coming up a road and I could see smoke in the distance. There's been a number of times on the tour that this has happened and usually it's nothing much. I was thinking and hoping that was the case for this time as well. As I rounded the corner I noticed that some of the smoke was coming from a dugout pit that appeared they were burning stuff on purpose and it was mostly all gone already. However, there was another smoke cloud and I noticed that one of the large trees along the propriety was on fire inside the trunk. There was debris right in front of the tree so I wasn't sure if it was on purpose or not but one thing I have learned on this tour is to never assume anything. I saw that there was a house half a mile down the gravel road, so I layed my bike down and walked in my cleats over.Luckily the women of the house, Deb Swartz was home and I informed her of what I had saw, not knowing that the tree was a part of their new purchased property. We hoped on her 4-wheeler to go check it out. In the time from when I first saw the fire to the time we got back, maybe 20 min later, the fire had spread up and extra 4 feet or so inside the trunk and was starting to near the crown of the tree. The tree was NOT suppose to be on fire and she couldn't believe it. Apparently her husband and a few other men had been clearing some of the debris from the land and since it was more at the smouldering faze decided it was safe to go for lunch. However, the wind had picked up a great deal and I guess a spark jumped out of the pit and spread to the tree. Deb was extremely thankful that I had stopped to let them know. I was just thankful that I had listened to my intuition and heart. I had felt God almost nudging me just to make sure.
Well, in her thanks she asked if I had had lunch yet and sent me to the next town to Kerry's Bar and Grill on her. I rode their while she called the men back from that place and dealt with the fire. I reached there maybe 30 min later. I wasn't sure how to go in and what to say to the people there but they knew who I was right away. I asked if I could sit with some of the locals and had a very pleasant lunch learning about the area and the farming and telling them about the tour. I guess one of the ladies called Deb to tell her I was there as she showed up not too much after. She informed me that sadly they did have to cut the tree down but where so thankful it had been caught when it was so that the fire had not spread to more trees or more of the property. She asked if there was anything that she could do for me but I kindly declined as I was just glad to be able to be in the right spot at the right time (through God's providence once again). She wanted to do something and said she would go home and check out the tour online and make a donation there. That wasn't the purpose of this but was a wonderful gesture. (Deb if you are reading this, I just want to say that I am glad I met you, though not under such circumstances, and I thank you as well. You and your family are in my prayers as you start this next section of your life with your new property and farming responsibilites. God's blessings!)
Later on that day I discovered that a number of others from the tour bumped into her at a Subway and heard the whole story and took some more pictures with her! Too cool.
So the moral of this story though is when you see something that just doesn't seem right, don't assume that someone else has dealt with the matter. Take a moment out of your time to just check things out before you move on. What made me stop was also a discussion I had had with Hilena Zylstra (my friend and social worker from home). She had told me that it is sadly very common for people to not act until they see someone else act first (it's a sociological/phsycological phenomenon that we dissociate ourselves from a situation as we figure someone else is already dealing with it). So we must be in reminder of this and take the lead and the initiative.
Today (Sunday) we also had another Godsend, a few people had to stay back from the church services we were attending to act as security for our stuff. They attended The Good Shepherd Lutheran Church across the street and after the service filled them in on what was going on across the way and what we are about. Since then they have been absolutely amazing to us, opening their doors (litterly), feeding us (with LOTS of food) that they only just started making this afternoon and hasn't stopped coming. They are also allowing anyone to sleep inside in the coolness of the halls. Thank you so much to all the members!! You truly have acted as Christ to us.
Well, I think that my blog is a pretty long one once again so I probably should wrap it up. Thanks to everyone back home for everything. I miss you and love you all and pray that things are well for you too.
Love Stephanie
Sunday, July 27, 2008
A Rollercoaster Week of Emotion
Well, it's Sunday. Just back from an amazing (but extremely hot) Celebration Rally here in Denver, Colorado.Week 4 is now behind us and though there were great days and beautiful scenery I am thankful to have it over and look forward to week 5 with more downhill then up :)
This past week has been an extremely emotional and trying week for me and at times very frustrating, unfortunately. But it has also been a week of once again learning patience and putting it into action (which was the theme for the week) and accepting that it's okay to be served now and then rather then serve.
For those of you who don't know, I had many troubles with me knee this week with all the climbing and had to make some hard decisions. I am so thankful though that God put people right where I needed them to be when I felt like I couldn't go on.
I started out being on sweep team this week and the first part of the day went well. I flew up the first mountain and it was such a great feeling...but then we hit the second mountain and though we are not sure of exact numbers, we climbed roughly from just under 7000 ft to 9485 ft with an 8% grade a fair amount of the way. Things were going okay in the beginning but then they just turned sour. My knees gave out and shortly after my entire body. I was riding with Justin Helder and he was a godsend. He helped keep my mind off of the pain and helped me climb right to the top of that mountain. Of course we were stopping every couple of km's to take "photo breaks" (which could also be labeled as breathing breaks due to high elevation :P).
Of course with almost every large climb is a wonderful downhill ride. We rode into Hanna (small town) at the halfway point and stopped at a restaurant where many other cyclists were stopped.
It was there that my breaking point happened. We had 60km's left and I knew that I couldn't do it anymore but I didn't want to face that fact. My fellow sweep mate, Barb, found me out back and talked with me, prayed with me and helped me to make the decision that I needed to stop for the day and take the SAG wagon back. You wouldn't believe the number of emotions and thoughts that were running through my head.
I've let people down, I've let myself down...no, it's okay, it isn't the end of the world if I don't ride every km...but it sure feels like it...this tour isn't about me...why can't my body just be fine...I made it 3 weeks...that in itself is a great accomplishment...and I have 6 more weeks to go...need to be smart....and so on...the thoughts continued to come and with each, more tears.
Everyone was so compassionate and caring that evening. It blows me away the support that comes from within this tour and from those back home. I was so thankful too to talk with my mom that night too...sometimes that's exactly what you need.
Of course the next morning, still being sort of stubborn but having accepted some of my feat, I decided that I would still try riding the downhill portion that started out the day and then get picked up before the climb...I lasted 4 km's. 2km's out of town and the 2 to get back.
For the next 2 days, I rode with the wonderful kitchen crew that infolded me and helped me make the best of those days. I really did have so much fun with them and am so thankful for all the laughter.Though I'll admit, I am amazed how quickly when sitting on the sidelines, you almost feel like you were never riding. Watching others through the clean windows of Jeri's jeep (I windex'd them before we left, haha, wanted to make sure I could still take good pics, I'm weird I know).
I didn't know how quickly I could let myself ride again but I was getting antsy and decided on Thursday (even though anticipated as one of the hardest days of the week) to get back on my bike with the intention of getting picked up by Betsy before the big climb and dropped off for the glory-downhill ride. I rode with Pastor Len. He is such a great guy to ride with, especially on the days where you are a little down. I am so thankful that he is on this tour and that God put him in my life. We had such a great day together and good conversation and we took our time, just enjoying the moment of being able to cycle.
I rode on Friday as well with the girls for the 55km day. We dilly-dawdled most of the day and it was awesome. Starting out with breakfast, then another restaurant snack stop as well as a candy store stop :) We also stopped for coffee one more time with only 15km and a climb left to go.
Sadly I discovered that my knee was not happy to do another climb and it failed on me again. With only a couple of km's to go I had to flag down Betsy (SAG driver) and hitch a ride into camp. I was so close. It was definitely a bit disheartening that on such a small climb I was still having such trouble. I really struggled that evening not knowing what I should do about Saturday's ride. There was some beautiful downhill that I really wanted to ride but the day started with a large climb and there was another one halfway through the day and I didn't want to be an annoyance by asking to be driven twice to bypass the climbs. But Betsy is just wonderful and goes out of her way to make you feel okay while she's is once again locking your bike up on the top of the van.
I was truly thankful that during Friday evening we had communion together as a community and also said goodbye to the riders who were only with us for the first 4 weeks. It was a very powerful and needed evening. I'm also thankful for wonderful friends like Nick Ellens, who are there for you when you need to cry on their shoulder (and of course to so many more people - you know who you are).Well, I ended up riding 80km's of the 140km day on Saturday and it was so great. I'm so thankful I got to do part of it. Coming down the mountain was awesome (breaking my speed record only by a bit, but hit 72.7km/hour) and going through the canyons was amazing. God is so good! What an artist.
Going back to a comment I made at the beginning of this blog about learning to be served rather then to serve, I just want to explain what I mean. One thing that I and Julia have really enjoyed doing over the last week is sending notes to those who have had a hard and trying day. Being of the few late (and mature) 20 year olds, we have taken it upon ourselves to spread as much encouragement to others as possible when we can.
However, this week there hasn't been any of it. I think this has contributed to my fustration as we constantly talk about this tour not being about us and this week I've hated the fact that I feel like it's been all about me. It's hard to accept having the tables turned. To be the weaker person rather then being the strong one who watches out for others.
So I go into this coming week in hopes of a better one but also with understanding that there may still be trying days ahead. I also hope that I can put the focus back more where it should be. First on God and all his glory, second on spreading awareness of what this tour is about and awareness of poverty and to get involved and lastly on others involved in the tour. I realize that there is nothing wrong with having to take time for yourself but I am definitely looking forward to seeing smiles and laughter on the faces of others.Thank you all so much for your love and support for myself and for everyone here. I miss you all.
Friday, July 11, 2008
I'm Alive!!
Hey Everyone!!
It's me! Can you believe it! I sure can't. I haven't had much luck with getting on the Internet since being here. Seems like every time I finally get my hands on a laptop, that's when the connection goes down. Ah, well. I'm on now.I finally uploaded all my pictures to date to my flickr page with some stories along with them. Please check them out!
Sadly I won't really be keeping a detailed day to day blog anymore as it is just too hard to being able to get online to keep it up-to-date. I will probably be posting pictures more then anything.
But I do want to give a quick update.
Things have been awesome here! I can't believe we are nearly done our second week of riding! How the time sure does fly by! Only 7 more weeks to go :( lol.
Everyone here is absolutely amazing and wonderful. The relationships that have been forming are so genuine. Everyone has such a respect for each other and for the leaders as well. There is just this wonderful sense of peace and community over the camp. It's wonderful.
I can't begin to tell you how much fun I am having. It's soo busy here, always having something to do. So many storie
s to tell...I've been able to keep my journal up to-date so far so if you have time when I get back I'll be able to tell you all about the summer. For now though you'll mostly have to read them through other people's blogs who I have been hanging out with. (Sorry)
s to tell...I've been able to keep my journal up to-date so far so if you have time when I get back I'll be able to tell you all about the summer. For now though you'll mostly have to read them through other people's blogs who I have been hanging out with. (Sorry)I have been riding mostly with Hilena, Julia, Nick, Joshua, Ryan, Jeff S., David S. Len M., Jenna, Kaitlyn, Annette and so many more. I have been trying to jump around, especially on the days where my knee really bothers me as I hate to slow people down. Julia and Hilena (and others) have been so caring and considerate for when I need to stop and stretch.
Oh yeah, for those of you who have not heard, sadly my knee acted up right away on the first day and gave me a lot of grief. I've been popping those anti-inflammitory meds ever since (so much for my liver, lol). I have had so many people praying for me and I know that is what is getting me through each day. There have been moments I'll admit (like the second day before the hill climb up Steven's Pass) that I didn't know if I would be able to make it but God has been with me in every pedal stroke I take. Now it hasn't been all bad. I have had a number of days where I've been able to ride with not much pain and those days I try to fly and push for at least half of the ride to build up my strength. It's soooo much fun to do.
I've been getting to meet so many people of various ages and it's been wonderful. I have shed all competition feelings and have just accepted the speed I have to go at now and then. I have such a sense of peace about it and really don't feel in any hurry (except near the end on super long days) to get to Point B. It's been great. God has really helped me through this.
I've ridden with Len our main chaplain a few times now and it's been so much fun. He is such a great guy and has such an amazing character. He makes me laugh so much. Yesterday, it was just the two of us riding, just taking our time. I learned so much about him, his childhood, his children and how he met his wife. Amazing stories, which I all wrote down in my journal.
I absolutely love my sweep team. We work sooo well together and have such a great time. We've been sweep twice now (as we are Team A). We started with supper last night and then we swept the ride today (on an easy 56km, which we deserved after our super hard sweep last Tuesday up Steven's pass - we didn't get in till 6:45pm that night).
The food has been amazing here as well. The cooking staff have really outdone themselves. I am definitely NOT loosing any weight but in fact think I have gained some!! lol.
Ed and Jen having done a great job with leadership too and Ed has mapped out some really great routes with wide shoulders for us to bike on. Though the last couple of days we have had no choice but to ride on the very busy interstate a few times (something many have not enjoyed). Yesterday Len and I flew along the interstate at 35-45km/hour!
Well, I really should get going. I skipped Paleton and small groups tonight to get caught up (shame on me I know :P) but sometimes you got to do what you got to do :)
Anyhow I hope things are all well with all of you too!
Monday, June 23, 2008
ONE WEEK!
Can you believe it! After waiting well over a year for this day to come it is nearly here.
Only ONE MORE WEEK till we are beginning the ride of our lives! Probably by now we have already dipped our back tire in at Golden Garden Beach in Seattle and our now on our way down the road! Having already started meeting new people and beginning the journey of getting to know eachother!
I am soooo excited and can not wait!!
Please though in this last week, keep everyone in your prayers. I don't know about others but besides my huge excitement there are definant nerves beginning to arise.
Well, I am off tomorrow for Vancouver. Leaving from Toronto at noon! Crazy....it's all coming so fast now!
Thanks for all your love and support over the last number of months and I look forward to hearing from you all along the way.
Love
Stephanie :)
Only ONE MORE WEEK till we are beginning the ride of our lives! Probably by now we have already dipped our back tire in at Golden Garden Beach in Seattle and our now on our way down the road! Having already started meeting new people and beginning the journey of getting to know eachother!
I am soooo excited and can not wait!!
Please though in this last week, keep everyone in your prayers. I don't know about others but besides my huge excitement there are definant nerves beginning to arise.
Well, I am off tomorrow for Vancouver. Leaving from Toronto at noon! Crazy....it's all coming so fast now!
Thanks for all your love and support over the last number of months and I look forward to hearing from you all along the way.
Love
Stephanie :)
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Coast to Coast
Well I will admit, I did not expect to end up in a paper this close to the start of the tour. It was kind of cool how it all happened actually. A women from my Pilates class works for United Way in Woodstock and they had a big photo shoot the week previous. Somehow she got on the topic of my summer and of Sea to Sea. The photography she was talking too was really interested in doing an interview with me and asked her to tell me to get in touch with him (as she didn't have info on how to connect with me).
So I was off to any other Pilates class this past Tuesday (or so I think) and Kelsey tells me her story. So as soon as I got back to work I gave the photographer from the Sentinel Review (Woodstock's daily, but small newspaper). We set up a time for the following day and that's pretty much how it went. I ended up using my old mtn bike helmet and my coworkers commuter bike for the picture.
The story ended up in Friday's paper and to my surprise ended up on the front page with a gigantic picture of me! Yikes, lol. I was expecting a small article with an equally small gray scale pic on the inside somewhere. lol.
Anyhow I have attached the text from the article for you to read (the only disappointment was he forgot to add the website so people could check it for more info, but incase they call my office - as it did mention where I worked - they can pass on all the info).
Coast to coast
Posted By Elliot Ferguson, Staff Photographer
On June 30, Stephanie Webb will put the rear wheel of her bicycle in the Pacific Ocean.
If all goes to plan, nine weeks later she will dip the front wheel in the Atlantic.
Webb, 26, is gearing up to be one of close to 220 cyclists taking part in a 6,200-kilometre ride across North America to fight global poverty. It's a cause Webb said she has always wanted to become involved in.
"You don't always know how you can make an impact," said Webb, who works as a graphic designer at Oxford Media Group.
"When I heard about this, combined with biking, I thought (it was) perfect."
The Sea to Sea tour is organized by the Christian Reformed Church. It raises money to help fund programs that fight global poverty and help communities in developing countries.
Webb first heard about the ride in 2005, when it crossed Canada. She regretted not taking part in that ride, and when she heard about this year's tour she was among the first to sign up.
Each rider has a fundraising goal of $10,000, and Webb is close to $2,000 past that amount.
Webb has competed in mountain biking for about five years and started riding on the road seriously two years ago.
She'll need the training those years have provided.
This year's tour includes 54 days of riding, including six "century" days, where riders will cover more than 100 miles (160 km).
"It can be somewhat overwhelming when you think about it, but you'll get there," she said.
The Sea to Sea tour is scheduled to roll through Woodstock Aug. 22, during the London to Hamilton stage.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
An Old Forgotten Friend
Well with my road bike now in Grand Rapids waiting to be taken tomorrow on the gear truck to Seattle, I decided to grab my mountain bike from my parents garage where "Sugar" (it's a Gary Fisher Sugar 29er) has waited 8 months for me to remember her.I couldn't believe it had been that long but it was obvious when I hoped on for a ride monday night and everything felt so wrong. I felt like I was so compact on this bike that my elbows were by my side, that my back felt nearly straight up in the air and I felt like I was 2 miles of the ground!
I couldn't believe how the bike that I had been riding for, I think 3 or 4 years was completely unfamiliar too me. I have to admit I was somewhat devestated. I wondered how things would go after the summer as I had it in mind to sign up for the Squeezer Bike Race again this year (figured with my summer trainging ;) I might have a chance at first place this year) but now I wondered how well that might go. I guess though I do have a month before the race after I come home to get use to riding on my mtn bike and riding through the trails.
Anyhow so I decided rather than riding all road I would follow along the grand river trails, since I never do them on my road bike as there is too much gravel.
It was a really nice ride (though the bugs were out). I headed towards Paris and came out at Oakpark Road and was going to keep going when I saw the big grey clouds. I stopped for a minute to see which way they were actually going and realized they were heading right for my area so I decided to turn around just incase.
I was about 16km into my ride when all of a sudden BAM, my tube blew! Absolute dread filled me as I had no tools or a tube for that matter on me to fix a flat, seeing as all my tools were taped to the side of my bike box in Grand Rapids :P I had taken my cell phone along and took it out to try and call a friend...of course to no avail as I was down low in a valley. I started walking and everynow and then held up my cell to see if I had service yet...that's when the rain started, lol. Found a tree to tuck myself under and was surprised to find I sort of had service in this area, phew. I got a hold of my friend Amanda and asked if she could come pick me up...unfortunatly, the instructions to find me were not the easiest as I had to try calling her about 3 times as I kept loosing my signal.
Thankfully a very nice couple out walking their dog offered to give me a lift to a main road and the use of their cellphone that seemed to work much better than mine so I could make sure Amanda new exactly where to meet me. I found out later that Amanda had been called by another friend a half hour before to go out but thankfully God's plan was for Amanda to be home for when my call came in :) (Thanks girlie)
So, anyhow so much for trying to get on the bike some more this week. Tuesday night the weather was bad and just went to the gym instead and the rest of the week is too busy with getting things together so I guess that's about it for my training now.
Can't believe that this friday is my last day of work and in less then a week now I'll be visiting with my friend Julia in Vancouver!
The countdown is really on now...only 12 more days till we start to ride!!!! I'm getting sooo excited for it but am also starting to get a wee bit nervous with anticipation. Definitely ready to get going :) Soon.... Yeahhhh!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Packing it up
My bike that is :(
After talking with Helena last Friday, I decided to send my bike along with my pastor to Synod in Grand Rapids to get it on the Gear Truck that will be leaving next week for Seattle. This way I won't have to worry about my bike on the other end once I am in Vancouver visiting my friend Julia and family just before the tour. It's been a bit of a stressful few days and though I am sad that I won't have my bike to ride over the next 2 weeks, I am glad to have it all taken care of now.
Here are a few pictures of Mari and Dave and I packing up my bike. (A big THANKS send out to you guys again!)
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Putting the "Peddle" IN the Metal :)
It's been such a busy week this week! I'm packing up my bike tonight (with the help of my wonderful friends Mari and Dave again - what would I do without them I don't know) and with that I have been trying to cram the rides in for the past 4 days.
Went out Saturday morning about 8:45am. Trying to beat some of the humidity heat that would boil down on us later in the afternoon. I had already stopped once at my usual place for a warm up stretch and was about 22km into my ride. I was going to pull over again for another quick stretch when all of a sudden these 4 guys came flying by. Something told me to hop onto their draft and ride with them for a bit. Well would you believe that one of the guys ended up being Mark DeVries from Sea to Sea 2005!! That was really cool. I couldn't help but think here I was about to stop again and all of a sudden found myself riding at about 32 km/hr! It was nice getting to ride with them for a bit and to chat it up with Mark. They also really encouraged me and I was quite impressed with myself that I was able to stay side by side with them even on the steeper hills. Though I'll admit I am thankful that I only did about 10-15km with them (I couldn't have handled that speed the whole ride that's for sure) but it was definitely a nice break to ride with a group again.
We hit Hwy 52 and they continued on into Ancaster/Hamilton where they had come from and I turned around to continue my route and head back towards Brantford.
At about 50km I thought I would stop in at my friends house...sadly they were not there (also sad cause I really needed to use their washroom, lol). I decided that I would slow my pace down and ride into downtown Brantford as there was suppose to be a street festival going on and as well I thought I would stop by the "Why Not City Missions" Centre where I volunteer at. They usually have women's breakfast and worship sat mornings. It was so nice to see a few familiar faces that I hadn't seen in awhile (and I also apparently planned it right as they still were eating so I filled up on food too :).
All in all it was a great ride. I rode about 6okm (nearly double my longest ride to date before). In total I rode for about 2 1/2 hours but was gone for 3 1/2 hours (due to my long visit at "Why Not").
That evening my friend Paula was having the first official summer patio party but to my surprise they ended up combining it with a surprise goodbye party for me. I was so blown away. OH and this is where the title comes in. They were trying to decide what to put on my cake, didn't think "Go Steph Go" was enough or "It's okay to Fail" and "Don't Die" (my loving friends :) ) were a little harsh, so they decided on "Put the Pedal to the Metal" however the lady who wrote up the cake kind of had some issues, lol, and wrote "Put the Peddle IN the Metal". Made for a great story. They also got me a big bouquet of flower. So sweet. Thanks guys. Sure going to miss you over the summer.
On Sunday, Hilena, Nick and I got together for another later afternoon ride, starting in bright sunny super hot weather (32 degrees feeling like 40) and ended in a great big storm! We rode around Ancaster and then down the escarpment into Dundas to the Buskerfestival. However, we were about an hour late :P oops. We stopped in at Freewheel Cycle for a bit to arrange our bike box pickups later in the week and the first Thunderstorm came through. Good timing. 
We then stopped at Thirsty Cactus for a bit as we were starving and storm #2 came through! Wow great timing again! We rode back up Wilson Street up the escarpment and then decided we had better head home as it was starting to get late out and we could see another stormy cloud coming in. It wasn't long before there was lightening all around us.
We got back to my parents house like 2 min before the big drops of rain came. Nick decided he could make it home down the escarpment and took off. Well all of a sudden a major tidal wave of rain hit and Hilena and I ran for my parents garage. It kept getting worse and we hoped Nick would turn around and come back. I ran out into the rain to see if I could still see him and yell for him to come back but there he was coming around the corner (phew). He came riding up the driveway soaked. He said all of a sudden he couldn't see anything, not even a truck that turned right in front of him! It was crazy. Though we were laughing so hard standing in the garage watching the storm that came in in a matter of seconds, couldn't believe how soaked we got in a matter of seconds. My mom came to the door with towels for all of us :) The storm lasted maybe 30-40min. It was great to watch though...from inside :)
God sure was watching out for us that day that's for sure! It's funny I've had a few people comment just over the last few days what do you do if you run into a lightening storm and I said, "Pray and trust that God will get us through safe and sound!" He sure did that day!
Also managed to get out for 2 more rides on Monday and Tuesday evening. In total over the 4 days I rode about 170km. Not too bad :)
Went out Saturday morning about 8:45am. Trying to beat some of the humidity heat that would boil down on us later in the afternoon. I had already stopped once at my usual place for a warm up stretch and was about 22km into my ride. I was going to pull over again for another quick stretch when all of a sudden these 4 guys came flying by. Something told me to hop onto their draft and ride with them for a bit. Well would you believe that one of the guys ended up being Mark DeVries from Sea to Sea 2005!! That was really cool. I couldn't help but think here I was about to stop again and all of a sudden found myself riding at about 32 km/hr! It was nice getting to ride with them for a bit and to chat it up with Mark. They also really encouraged me and I was quite impressed with myself that I was able to stay side by side with them even on the steeper hills. Though I'll admit I am thankful that I only did about 10-15km with them (I couldn't have handled that speed the whole ride that's for sure) but it was definitely a nice break to ride with a group again.
We hit Hwy 52 and they continued on into Ancaster/Hamilton where they had come from and I turned around to continue my route and head back towards Brantford.
At about 50km I thought I would stop in at my friends house...sadly they were not there (also sad cause I really needed to use their washroom, lol). I decided that I would slow my pace down and ride into downtown Brantford as there was suppose to be a street festival going on and as well I thought I would stop by the "Why Not City Missions" Centre where I volunteer at. They usually have women's breakfast and worship sat mornings. It was so nice to see a few familiar faces that I hadn't seen in awhile (and I also apparently planned it right as they still were eating so I filled up on food too :).
All in all it was a great ride. I rode about 6okm (nearly double my longest ride to date before). In total I rode for about 2 1/2 hours but was gone for 3 1/2 hours (due to my long visit at "Why Not").
That evening my friend Paula was having the first official summer patio party but to my surprise they ended up combining it with a surprise goodbye party for me. I was so blown away. OH and this is where the title comes in. They were trying to decide what to put on my cake, didn't think "Go Steph Go" was enough or "It's okay to Fail" and "Don't Die" (my loving friends :) ) were a little harsh, so they decided on "Put the Pedal to the Metal" however the lady who wrote up the cake kind of had some issues, lol, and wrote "Put the Peddle IN the Metal". Made for a great story. They also got me a big bouquet of flower. So sweet. Thanks guys. Sure going to miss you over the summer.
On Sunday, Hilena, Nick and I got together for another later afternoon ride, starting in bright sunny super hot weather (32 degrees feeling like 40) and ended in a great big storm! We rode around Ancaster and then down the escarpment into Dundas to the Buskerfestival. However, we were about an hour late :P oops. We stopped in at Freewheel Cycle for a bit to arrange our bike box pickups later in the week and the first Thunderstorm came through. Good timing. 
We then stopped at Thirsty Cactus for a bit as we were starving and storm #2 came through! Wow great timing again! We rode back up Wilson Street up the escarpment and then decided we had better head home as it was starting to get late out and we could see another stormy cloud coming in. It wasn't long before there was lightening all around us.We got back to my parents house like 2 min before the big drops of rain came. Nick decided he could make it home down the escarpment and took off. Well all of a sudden a major tidal wave of rain hit and Hilena and I ran for my parents garage. It kept getting worse and we hoped Nick would turn around and come back. I ran out into the rain to see if I could still see him and yell for him to come back but there he was coming around the corner (phew). He came riding up the driveway soaked. He said all of a sudden he couldn't see anything, not even a truck that turned right in front of him! It was crazy. Though we were laughing so hard standing in the garage watching the storm that came in in a matter of seconds, couldn't believe how soaked we got in a matter of seconds. My mom came to the door with towels for all of us :) The storm lasted maybe 30-40min. It was great to watch though...from inside :)
God sure was watching out for us that day that's for sure! It's funny I've had a few people comment just over the last few days what do you do if you run into a lightening storm and I said, "Pray and trust that God will get us through safe and sound!" He sure did that day!
Also managed to get out for 2 more rides on Monday and Tuesday evening. In total over the 4 days I rode about 170km. Not too bad :)
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Flying High!
What a great day!
It first started with my mom calling me at work to tell me that from the bunch of letters I sent a few weeks ago to various companies I had recieved 3 RESPONSES all today! and along with them amazing support and contribution to the cause to fight poverty. In total from those 3 letters there were $800 in donations! Absolutely amazing! Praise God! Mom said when whe opened the mail all she saw at first was junkmail and she just sent a quick prayer up asking for something positive and low and behold were those 3 letters tucked in with it! So cool.
After work, I grabbed my bike and headed out for another ride. Missed riding last night due to weather but hit the gym instead. Today the weather was still blah, very foggy, misty, but warm at least so out I went anyhow. Thankfully the wind was blowing in the right direction so I could do my favourite route the right way with hitting the strong winds on my way out and having them at my back on the way home. Even though it was a slow ride out it still felt great and when I turned around I was flying! Riding and my spirit! It just felt so right and so great and I'm just so thankful that I was able to have that experience again. Thank you Lord for watching over me and guiding me through. Only through you.
I can also start to tell that my strength is slowly starting to come back. Yeah :) I was in such good spirits despite the gloomy weather overhead that when I got home and was doing my stretches listening to my IPod, I was also doing a little boogying outside! lol I'm sure I might have made a few neighbours smile, lol. Ah well, it's all good.
What a great day :)
It first started with my mom calling me at work to tell me that from the bunch of letters I sent a few weeks ago to various companies I had recieved 3 RESPONSES all today! and along with them amazing support and contribution to the cause to fight poverty. In total from those 3 letters there were $800 in donations! Absolutely amazing! Praise God! Mom said when whe opened the mail all she saw at first was junkmail and she just sent a quick prayer up asking for something positive and low and behold were those 3 letters tucked in with it! So cool.
After work, I grabbed my bike and headed out for another ride. Missed riding last night due to weather but hit the gym instead. Today the weather was still blah, very foggy, misty, but warm at least so out I went anyhow. Thankfully the wind was blowing in the right direction so I could do my favourite route the right way with hitting the strong winds on my way out and having them at my back on the way home. Even though it was a slow ride out it still felt great and when I turned around I was flying! Riding and my spirit! It just felt so right and so great and I'm just so thankful that I was able to have that experience again. Thank you Lord for watching over me and guiding me through. Only through you.
I can also start to tell that my strength is slowly starting to come back. Yeah :) I was in such good spirits despite the gloomy weather overhead that when I got home and was doing my stretches listening to my IPod, I was also doing a little boogying outside! lol I'm sure I might have made a few neighbours smile, lol. Ah well, it's all good.
What a great day :)
Monday, June 2, 2008
Friends vs. IPods
So Hilena and I got to go riding Sunday afternoon and it was sooo great!We rode 32 km in an hour and 20 min (with about 15 minutes of stretching throughout for me, though the one time was way longer because we got to gabbing :) ).
And that's where the title comes in. You may have noticed in the picture of me in the previous blog that I have headphones on (don't worry I keep my music soft enough that I can hear a beat but also hear the sounds around me). I didn't get the IPod till last September and I do have to admit it really does make a lonely ride much more enjoyable and gives me more power in my ride.
BUT I will still take riding with people over my IPod any day. Hilena and I had so much fun and she was so considerate of my need to stop for stretching. I look forward to getting to ride more together during this summer...we realized we only have one more weekend before she leaves for Vancouver and then I leave the following week for Vancouver first too.
She was telling me how she was sitting in church yesterday morning and all of a sudden it hit her that in 2 weeks at that time she would be sitting on a plan and then I realized that I'd be gone in 23 more days as well!! It is just coming sooo fast now. I can't begin to describe how exciting I am starting to get...but I still feel I have a few things to take care of before I am ready...including moving back home! Thank goodness for a great mom who spent the day in my house packing for me :) I'm so spoiled :)
Got out for another quick ride today as well. I increased my km amount just a bit and did 22km today in an hour. Just another nice leisurely ride. I realized I had accidently forgotten my inserts for my shoes but it was okay. Perfect weather out. Sunny warm 23 degrees :) Love it! Hoping to get out everday but thursday this week so hopefully the weather cooperates. We had some amazing lightening (and thunder) storms this past weekend. Drove home through one. Had to remind myself to keep an eye on the road instead of the sky :P God sure knows how to do fireworks right!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
The 30 Km mark
Well managed to get out for another ride today. Thankfully the forcast for thunderstorms held up till later in the afternoon and was able to get a nearly sunny ride in. I was cruising on my way out and was having such an enjoyable ride. Temperature was perfect, wind was decent, things were going well. I felt like I could have gone on forever but it was my plan to do only around 30km mark since it would only be my second time riding that long to-date.
Well lets just say I'm glad I didn't keep going on forever...in that direction...because I don't know what the radio guy was talking about barely any winds because when I turned around those "barely" winds seemed to be making themselves known. Though my plan was to really just take it easy on this ride so I wasn't overly concerned with my lower speeds on the way back.
I had averaged about 26.6km/hr on the way out and my speed on the way back amazingly only dropped me down to 23.3km/hr which really isn't much different then the averages I've been pulling lately. A sure cry from what I use to pull last year but once again I'm only in the beginning stages of getting back into training.Even though the ride was great on the whole, unfortunately at km mark 28 my knee started to act up again. I slowed right down but it didn't deter. So once again I jumped off my bike and proceeded to do a number of stretches on the side of the road. It seemed to help but I could still tell I had to take it slow the last bit of the way home. I ended up doing 35 km in total (riding time was 1 hr 28min, actual time out was 1 hr 55 min). The last time I did around this much, it seemed that right around the 30km mark was when my knee starting bugging me that time. Here's praying I can get over this hump.
Well the plan tomorrow is to go riding with Hilena (finally) so hopefully all things go well there. I've missed getting to ride with her.
I took a few shots while biking today. I've noticed some of the lovely pictures others have taken and posted on their blog and thought I'd better get on gear on that as well. Enjoy :)
Friday, May 30, 2008
Back into the swing...er, I mean spin of things
Only ONE MORE MONTH TO GO till we officially start riding!!! Wow I can not believe how fast it is coming now and I am so excited to get going.
It's been awhile since I have written on my blog even though there have been many times that I have thought about it. Up until the last few weeks I was still having trouble with my knee and kept getting so frustrated and I really didn't want my blogs to keep being about that, so in the end I never wrote.
But this past week, I have started getting into a bit of a schedule and things have been going great so far (much to my relief). Though I have only been doing about 15-18km / day of riding, I have gone out every day of this week and my total is about 70km so far for the week and I still have the weekend to go. To some this may seem fairly small considering most of our days are going to be well over 100km long but I've really learned over the last few months how important it is to ease back into something. One analogy that I think about that I heard at a christian retreat last year was that we need to be like elastic bands. An elastic band needs to be constantly stretched so that when shot across a room it can go really far, otherwise if it just sits there it will become hard and brittle and fall apart. The message here is that we sometimes have to pull back in order to spring ahead. And man I have done my share of pulling back.
ART therapy has really helped heal my knee but so has my dependence on God and my constant prayers to him. As well as all of my family and friends who have been acting as prayer warriors for me (thank you). They have been a real encouragement to me in my down times. I like the one comment made to me by a relative that maybe the purpose for me learning to slow down in my riding is that I will get the chance to ride with some people I might not have had the chance to otherwise.
I look forward to finally getting to ride with the cyclists who right now I only know through e-mails. It's going to be so amazing. My excitement is definitely building.
I am also amazed that I now only have $2000 more to go to reach my goal of $10,000. I have been blown away by so many and by the support they have shown for myself and for the cause of this tour. Thank you to all of you.
Please continually keep all of those involved in the tour in your prayers as we are only still just in the beginning stages.
One month and counting :)
It's been awhile since I have written on my blog even though there have been many times that I have thought about it. Up until the last few weeks I was still having trouble with my knee and kept getting so frustrated and I really didn't want my blogs to keep being about that, so in the end I never wrote.
But this past week, I have started getting into a bit of a schedule and things have been going great so far (much to my relief). Though I have only been doing about 15-18km / day of riding, I have gone out every day of this week and my total is about 70km so far for the week and I still have the weekend to go. To some this may seem fairly small considering most of our days are going to be well over 100km long but I've really learned over the last few months how important it is to ease back into something. One analogy that I think about that I heard at a christian retreat last year was that we need to be like elastic bands. An elastic band needs to be constantly stretched so that when shot across a room it can go really far, otherwise if it just sits there it will become hard and brittle and fall apart. The message here is that we sometimes have to pull back in order to spring ahead. And man I have done my share of pulling back.
ART therapy has really helped heal my knee but so has my dependence on God and my constant prayers to him. As well as all of my family and friends who have been acting as prayer warriors for me (thank you). They have been a real encouragement to me in my down times. I like the one comment made to me by a relative that maybe the purpose for me learning to slow down in my riding is that I will get the chance to ride with some people I might not have had the chance to otherwise.
I look forward to finally getting to ride with the cyclists who right now I only know through e-mails. It's going to be so amazing. My excitement is definitely building.
I am also amazed that I now only have $2000 more to go to reach my goal of $10,000. I have been blown away by so many and by the support they have shown for myself and for the cause of this tour. Thank you to all of you.
Please continually keep all of those involved in the tour in your prayers as we are only still just in the beginning stages.
One month and counting :)
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