Lessons from the bike trail

Today is monday, which is typically my day off...but today I did something completely different...so I'm going to tell you about it.

It started out way earlier than I ever want to experience. Yesterday 2 guys from my church wanted me to join them on a mountain bike trail in the morning. Knowing I had to get up early, kept me from sleeping, then the fear of dying was also part of the lack of sleep. We got on the trail and it was not what I expected. When I was in High school I used to ride a trail in Indy with a friend of mine, but it wasn't too dangerous. This course was ridiculous, but I learned some cool stuff while riding. When I approached the top of a hill and had to go down a 15 foot drop and then climb a hill without breaking, I froze in fear. One guy (Toby) was leading us and went through it to show me (keep in mind, he does these trails about 3 times a week so he knows what's up. Then Chris Frazier was behind encouraging me. It was cool to have these 2 men in my life that I really look up to and respect be patient with me and help me realize that these hills will always be a fear of mine if I don't overcome it. It was a very humbling experience for me because not many people see my fear so much. But in a way, I felt a lot closer to these guys because they saw me very weak and were able to help coach me through it. I'm not sure it was the most fun I've had in awhile, but I do know that it was something I am glad I did.

When I look at the spiritual implications of this, it amazes me. Life is like these trails, sometimes you don't see the turns, the trees, or something scary coming up. But when we approach those times in our lives, we can either sit there and hope it just goes away, or we trust the One we are following and the One that is with us guiding us through. Now Toby isn't God and Chris isn't the Holy Spirit, but it's an incredible visual for me. I saw Toby go through the course, I know the path is set for me, but I get scared that I can't do it, that I will get hurt. Even if I do fall, if something does happen, they both were there to pick me up and to help me press on. Sometimes in life, we focus so much on ourselves and let fears keep us from accomplishing something great in our lives. We all have obstacles in our lives to overcome, the longer we sit and wallow in it, the harder it gets to go through it. By the end of the course, I was going right down these hills because I knew the longer I sat there, the more I would have fear. I love the song..."if you're going through hell, keep on going..." if life is tough, if something isn't going right for you in this moment, if life feels like "hell" - KEEP GOING, don't stop, get through it. We weren't meant to sit at the top of the hill fearing what is to come, we were meant to enjoy the journey, to learn from what we go through and to follow God through life and know that His presence is with you. So to Toby and Chris, who may never read this, you guys taught me something today. Something that i pray I never forget.