We’re back to continue our blog after a month long hiatus, I hope you can gain perspective of our life on the road. We had the trip of a lifetime and as we begin to process through all that we learned I hope these stories inspire you to live a faith filled existence, one that can only be sustained by the Holy Spirit of God. I’ll start the first of many entries to come with the first day I wrote in the travel journal.
Enjoy!
Day 1 – July 6th 2010
After weeks of scrambling to prepare, hours of comforting family, and an entire moving-out process, we have finally began what will surely be an amazing journey. I’ve read many inspiring stories about people biking across the country and now I’m living that story. We will go from Eugene Oregon to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Elle, Dez, Chris, Mallory, and myself will be together for the next six to eight weeks. The rest of the group will continue on from Tulsa all the way to Boston, Mass. Mallory and I have not decided if Tulsa will be our final stop with the group; we may continue on to Boston as well. The ride today was beautiful, heading East from Eugene and following along the Mckenzie River for sixty miles until we reached the Mckenzie Bridge, where we set up camp for the night.
That first day seems like a lifetime ago. We had no idea what was in front of us, how we would develop as a group of people, how Mallory and I would come together, how our bodies would adapt to eight hours of biking every day. How our minds would come to terms with the uncertain: life without air conditioning, television, computers, ipods, cell phones, clean clothes, access to showers, time alone, beds and pillows, and our safety. We knew none of these things – and that is exactly why we knew we must embark on this journey. We never planned in our time in Eugene that this is how we would journey back to Oklahoma. However, we had begun to pray that we would have opportunities to live a “faith-filled” life. Because after all - without faith it is impossible to please God.
Having said that, it does not take 35 days of life on the road to live a “faith-filled” life. However, we knew that we would be utterly helpless on this journey without the guiding hand of God. We knew that every single day, every hour, and every minute we would need God to sustain us. When you’re riding a bicycle and all you have is a mere three feet of shoulder while twenty ton trucks whiz by at sixty five miles per hour… you start to pray more frequently then you ever have in your entire life. There would not be days on this trip where we would sit down together while eating dinner and say, “I had an off day today trying to rely completely on the Lord, I just got distracted and didn’t have time to pray or do my devotion in the morning. Tomorrow will be a better day.” That discussion never took place, and we knew the moment we signed up for this trip that the conversation wouldn’t happen. So, as you can see, this trip, while foolish and dangerous and misunderstood by many, was a direct way for God to stretch us continuously without the distraction of everyday life.
- Trey
Trey & Mallory,
ReplyDeleteWelcome Home you two! Many have prayed for your safe return! What a journey! What stamina! Congratulations-we are proud of ya'll!!!
You are right, Trey. A person does not have to live life on the open road for 35 days in order to become totally dependent on God. There is, however, something to say about getting away from the distractions of this world & living in complete reliance on Him for such things as your basic needs (safety, food, shelter)
Total dependence on God can also come about as we go through difficult times like...losing a loved one, financial downfall, circumstances from our sins, disease process, a rebellious child, divorce, loss of a job, temptation...just to name a few. Times like these are times which, if we allow them to, will send us straight to our knees and to His Word, both of which draw us closer to God and strengthen our faith.
When we realize our dependence on Him, we are humbled. When we are humbled, we begin to realize how gracious our God is!!!
Gracious to hear our prayers, forgive us of our sins, cleanse us from within & guide us into all truth.
I thank God for the difficult times in my life as those times are when I feel even closer to God and my faith is strengthened. (Psalm 25)
Thank you for sharing your stories-they are inspiring. We are anxious to hear more!
Love ya'll
What a great adventure and what a privilege to view your beautiful pictures. In my mind I would try each day to visualize how you were doing what you were seeing and how all those experiences would enhance your lives. Thank you for staying close to those you love during those days, it meant so much to know that you were thinking of us even though you were working so hard to make the journey all that it was intended to be. I prayed for your safety and for your daily endurance. Those of us who were not along cannot begin to imagine what it felt like to muster up the courage to face another day of iron will combined with a positive outlook. That takes such energy! I'm so glad you could do this in this season - I know there will be layers and layers of stories forthcoming ~ I can't wait to be the recipient of your hard earned knowledge. Count me in as a strong cheerleader!!! How I love you and consider it an honor to pray for you throughout each day. Gammy
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