The conquering of the big blue water slide

Today was an absolutely perfect summer day. And there was no better way to spend a perfect summer day than at the water park with my good friend and her three precious young kids. There is something so carefree about the joy of kids splashing, laughing, and having fun in the water. It brought me such joy and delight to watch them play and to join in on the fun.

This morning was cloudy and rainy but as we pulled up to the water park the sky had cleared. We enjoyed blue skies and sunshine our entire time there. Thank you Jesus. 

My absolute favorite moment of the day was the conquering of the big blue water slide. My friend's three year old boy was having fun going down the green slide BUT there was also this bigger blue slide. So he climbed up to this slide and sat down ready to go.... only to get up and play nearby. He did this several times: sit down, ready to go, only to get back up and play close by as he watched other kids going down. Then FINALLY... he did it! He went down the slide and at the bottom was his mom to catch him. It was such a beautiful moment, I almost started to cry. This little guy had the biggest grin on his face and was absolutely beaming with joy and excitement. His mom was hugging him and shouting "you did it, you did it, you went down the blue slide." The mixture of emotions of pride, excitement, and joy were beautiful. I loved the pride of this mommy in celebrating her little son conquering his fear. After that moment, watch out, there was no more fear. I can not even begin to count how many times he climbed up and went down that blue slide all afternoon. Later, while we were enjoying some ice cream (did I mention what a perfect summer day it was?) my friend asked her kids about their favorite part of the day. And of course it all about going down that big blue water slide. 

I love God's sense of timing. How He illustrates what he is teaching us through simple things like a big blue water slide. On our drive over to the park, my friend was sharing about a decision that she has been wrestling over. It was a pretty big decision that she has been praying about for some time. God had shown her how her response had been one of fear. God also spoke to her about how He is leading her in this decision. And now any sense of fear is gone for now she walks in the confidence of who her God is and how He is leading her.

FEAR. How many times do we react to things or made decisions out of fear? Probably more than we are aware of. My friend had the insight to realize that was underlying her decision yet many times we don't take time to realize what is motivating our response. Fear of failure, fear of other's opinion or approval, fear of the unknown, and the list could go on and on. 

Yet once we realize there is fear, there is good news. We then can look to who our God is. Fear of failure... our God is the God of grace and redemption. He does not expect perfection. Fear of other's opinions...the deeper we fall in love with God, the more our focus is on Him, the less we care about other's approval. Why would it care if other's approve or understand if the God of this Universe, the King of kings and Lord of lords, our Abba Father approves and is calling us in this direction. Fear of the unknown...the Sovereign God of this Universe directs our every step. He promises to never leave us or forsake us. He is for our good and oh how He loves us. Once we can identity the fear, we are able to replace it with truth as we look to God and to His promises in the Bible.

And I can not help but think of our Abba Father sitting up in heaven. He sees us with our fear and oh how patient He is with us. It did not matter how many times my friend tried to re-assure her son that he would be fine, he needed to wait until he felt brave enough. God sees us with our fears and He tells us time and time again in His word not to fear. Look up the word fear in the bible and you will find so many verses re-assuring us not to fear for HE is with us. Yet God is patient with us as we are His beloved children. And when we finally do take that step of faith... how God must celebrate over us! I absolutely loved the joy and pride of my friend over her dear son. When we were leaving, she asked "who is going to tell daddy tonight about the blue slide?" Can you imagine the pride and joy of our Abba Father when we take a step of faith? He must say to Jesus, "Look at my beloved child! Did you see my child trusting Me? Did you see my child take a step of faith?" And once we take one step of faith, we receive so much confidence in who our God is that the next step of faith becomes easier. And easier. And we will find ourselves walking in faith with our eyes fixed on our God.

There will be much bigger challenges for this dear little boy down the road as he grows and matures. Yet, with each new challenge he will gain greater confidence. Throughout our lives there will be different or bigger challenges, yet we will gain greater confidence in our God if we choose to walk in faith and not let our fear hold us back. But when we do hold back because of fear, God will be patiently waiting at our side for He is gentle and kind. He understands we are His children. 

May we choose to walk in faith and in confidence of who are God is... and experience the thrill of conquering our fear.

 ^"For we live by faith, not by sight." 2 Corinthians 5:7

                   Psalm 46 

God is our refuge and strength,  an ever-present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear,

 though the earth give way  and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

  though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.

  God is within her, she will not fall;  God will help her at break of day.

 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us;  the God of Jacob is our fortress.

 Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth.He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.  

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations,    I will be exalted in the earth.”  The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

LAVISH

As I look back upon my bike tour the theme that I see again and again is God's love. Even before the bike tour began the song He gave me was "I am loved by God". He continued to showed me again and again the depths of His love throughout the entire week.


One of my favorite climbs was on Monday  morning. It was during that 8 mile climb out of Watkins Glen that God spoke to my heart in a couple of different ways. I already blogged about one theme. The other theme was the lavishness of His love. I have been thinking and mediating on the lavishness of His love since that climb. 


Throughout the bike tour I blogged each day about the rides- all that I saw and experienced as I was on my bike. What I did not blog about was our time in the evenings. This was my first bike tour. I hope many more are in my future. Yet I realize that I started on the high end of bike tours. My next one will probably be the other extreme and I will be roughing it as I camp each night. This tour was amazing in the sense that we stayed at absolutely beautiful places each night, dined in fancy restaurants, and had such wonderful bike support and attention throughout our ride. 


As I was biking up that 8 mile climb I was overwhelmed with it all. The word that came to mind was lavish. The night before I had enjoyed a wonderful dinner that included an appetizer, entree, and dessert. When I go out to eat I will often order soup because it's the cheapest thing on the menu. I felt like every evening I was splurging because I could order anything on the menu regardless of price. The first night we stayed at this fancy beautiful hotel. Amazing view of the water. When I came in for the evening, I discovered that my bed cover had been turned over and there was a fancy chocolate on top. My shades had been drawn and there was quiet jazz music playing on the television. Each hotel was unique, beautiful, and had amazing views of the water. Places that I would not normally be able to stay at on my teacher salary. It was simply lavish. And I was overwhelmed by the lavishness of it all.


I am pretty sure that many of the others in my bike group were used to such treatment. I am sure they enjoyed their stay each night but not quite the same way as I did. This was not the norm for me and I was so excited to see and explore our new destination each evening. It made me think about when I came back from my last missions trip a couple years ago. I was grateful for such simple things like a hot shower, a washing machine, grocery stores filled with wide food choices. My American lifestyle felt lavish in compared to what I had just experienced.  


Lavish. God spoke to my heart.... my daughter- you are in awe of the lavishness you are experiencing, that is such a small reflection of the lavishness of my love.


Do I realize how lavish God's love is for me? I confess that it's easy to take for granted His love for me. Just as it is easy to take for granted my lavish lifestyle of running hot water and electricity until I am in a third world country. Or how the lavishness of this past week would become common if it was all I ever experienced. How often do I stop to really mediated, appreciate, and praise God for the beauty of the gospel? I am a sinner who is completely unable to save myself. I deserve hell because I have sinned before a holy God. Yet God, who rich in mercy had compassion. In my filth and sin, He choose to save me. He sent His only Son to come to this earth to die for me. I did nothing to earn my salvation. Yet God looked upon me with love. Because of Jesus' death and resurrection, I can now have a relationship with the King of Kings. Because I have accepted Christ's gift of salvation, God now sees me as holy, pure, blameless, forgiven. I belong to Him and nothing can separate me from His love. Nothing. What lavish love. Love that is undeserving. Love that is unconditional. Lavish.


 ^"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us." Ephesians 1:7-8


"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" 1 John 3:1


When we were at Skaneateles Lake we saw a beautiful house on the waterfront. We learned that the cost of this mansion was $26 million. Talk about a whole new level of lavishness.


What I love about God's love is that we can always go deeper. Experience more. We only have the faintest idea of the depths of His love. One day we will see Him face to face and then we will fully comprehend the utter depth of His love. Until that time may we seek Him and know more of such lavish and extravagant love.


"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:17-19


***I love how amazing God is. When I started to write this blog entry it was pouring outside. I love storms as they remind me of the fury and passion of God's love for me. Then 10 minutes later the rain had stopped... I was mid-way through this post when my dad called to me to look at the sunset. I quickly grabbed my running shoes and started to hike up the hill near our house. And wow, what a brilliant sunset. Another way that God speaks to my heart and reminds me of His love- through the beauty of sunsets. I had a huge smile on my face as I pictured my Abba Father in heaven smiling down on me. My daughter is writing about the lavishness of my love. I will show her again and again of how deep my love is for her. A rainstorm and a brilliant sunset in a half-hour span right when I'm writing this blog post. Talk about the lavishness of His love for me!***

Day Six: Skaneateles to Cayuga Lake (Final Day)

Distance: 52 miles; rolling hills with some good climbs

Weather: First 20 miles was overcast with a little rain. Last 32 miles blue skies and sunshine.

Favorite part: a few wonderful long downhills

Most significant part: White hill road

Today was the sixth and final day of the bike tour. As we got our bikes ready this morning, the skies were cloudy and a light rain started misting. As we began the climb out of Skaneateles, the view of the lake was quite pretty. The skies and clouds were different shades of blue with some light pink and orange hues. The rain was very light and did not last long. The clouds made for a nice shade coverage as we came upon rolling hillside. We stopped to chat with a local neighbor about her exotic looking sheep. 

We had a brief rest stop at mile 20. Someone asked me if I was having fun and as I half-heartedly responded "yes", I realized that I had not been enjoying the ride up until this point. I had been thinking and worrying about a couple of challenges that I would be facing once the bike tour was over. I felt such a spirit of discouragment and defeat surround me. The cloudy weather and being tired only fed into these feelings. 

At mile 20 the routes split and there was a 40 mile option or a 52 mile option. The longer option was signficantly different in the amount of climbing and hills. I of course had chosen the longer hiller route. As soon as I made the left hand turn onto white hill road (I don't remember the exact name... but I'm almost positive it had the word hill in it), the climb started immediately. It was a long difficult climb. It did not have the very steep portion like yesterday climb but besides that it was just as difficult. The real challenge though was not in the climb itself but in my attitude and mindset. I was feeling quite discouraged and did not know if I had it in me to do the climb. As I slowly struggled to the top of the hill the words to the gospel song "awesome" came to mind. "My God is awesome, He can move mountains, keep me in the valley, hide me from the rain, My God is awesome, heals me when I'm broken, strength where I've been weaken, forever He will reign. My God is awesome. My God is awesome, Savior of the whole world, by His stripes I am healed, today I'm forgiven, His grace is why I'm living. My God is awesome, He's mighty, awesome, He's holy, awesome, He's great, awesome, Deliverer, My God is awesome, Provider, My God is awesome."

It felt like such a long, slow, difficult fight to finally pedal to that top of that steep hill. The combination of  the physical struggle of the climb and the emotional/ spiritual struggle of feelings of defeat was so strong yet the truth was that my God is awesome. There was such deep significance of finally making it up that difficult hill that tears threatened to come. I held them back though as I was just trying to breathe. I did glance back to catch a great view from the top of the hill.

Both of the challenges that were before me were ones that in the past I had experienced defeat many times  over. It is so hard to break out of the attitude and mindset of defeat and discouragement when that is what you have known and have experienced for years. Yet the truth is that our God is awesome. He can move mountains. He is my Deliverer. He is my Healer, He is my Provider. By His grace I am living. It does not matter how many times I struggle, HE does not change. In Him there is freedom and deliverance. Sometimes it is simply slowly pushing forward. Not allowing defeat or discouragement to hold us back.

This morning I read Psalm 40 which is one of my favorite psalms. I realize now that it was not by accident that I read this psalm.

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.
² He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
³ He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. 

This phrase from verse 11 really struck me... "may your love and your truth always protect me." 


When discouragement or defeat threaten me, may God's love and His perfect truth always protect me. May I truly know/ experience His love and may His truth be what my mind is fixed on.

Back to my bike ride.... after that point I had a wonderful ride. What a difference. The clouds had cleared so I enjoyed blue skies and sunshine as I rode along quiet country roads. There were some more good climbs but along with it were some wonderful long downhills. I was delighted to discover a field full of sunflowers. It was just a fun happy surprise. One road was full of gravel and I got stopped half-way up a hill by the sag van. It was very difficult to start pedaling mid- climb but I finally got going and made it to the top.

The last 10 miles I met up with a few others from the group and I followed them into Ithaca. Going down into Ithaca we had some great curvy downhills. It was nice to follow them as we went through the busy streets of Ithaca. While we were waiting at a stop light, I remembered that last summer I was sitting at a cute outdoor cafe in Ithaca having lunch with my parents when some cyclists passed. There were in the middle of a bike tour of upstate NY. I remember saying how much I would love to do that some day... and a year later   there I was again in Ithaca, only this time I was the cyclist. so cool.

After lunch, I drove home to my parent's house in Owego. As I drove along, I noticed that I was viewing the country roads through cyclist eyes... sizing up each hill and downhill... how difficult or challenging they would be to climb on a bike. After 6 days on a bike I should not be surprised.

My brother and I are planning to go for a easy 20 mile bike ride in the morning so I can even up my mileage to 400 miles. How often can I say I have ridden 400 miles in a week? This is the furthest I have ever ridden in a week and I am grateful for such an amazing first bike tour. Wonderful weather, amazing scenery, and some great hills to climb. I am thankful for God's protection that kept me safe and for all that He spoke to me and taught me through my rides. He is good.

Day Five: Skaneateles Loop

Distance: 66 miles; lots of hills and one difficult climb
Weather: blue skies and sunshine. praise God!
Favorite part of today: ALL of it!

When I got off my bike yesterday, I was wet and exhausted. I had no desire to get back on it anytime soon. Thankfully today was a brand new day. I woke up to see the sun sparkling on the lake. blue skies and sunshine all day. Thank you God!

Today was my favorite day of riding. beautiful weather, lots of hills, beautiful scenery. I enjoyed it all. I knew it was going to be a good day when the ride started out with some good hills. The first 15 miles was full of hills and a scenic view of the lake.

Mile 15 we had a decision to make. Would we attempt for a signature climb on the route that locals include in their "Giro d'Otisco Lake" challenge ride? There were a few different route options for the day. I of course could not turn down the climb. I tried not to focus on the little fears I had of whether I could make it up the climb. It was about a mile climb and I think the most difficult one I have done. I very slowly pedaled up the first section... you know it's steep when you find yourself weaving side to side just to make it up the hill. I could not let myself think about the possibility that the entire mile of climbing was this difficult. I could see a knoll ahead and I just slowly kept pedaling and finally made it to the knoll. After that it was more climbing but it was more steady and gradual. The worst was really at the beginning.  After the mile of climbing, it felt like such an accomplishment to finally make it all the way to the top.

I'm sure there are so many life lessons tied into that climb. Don't let your fears hold you back. Just focus on the section that you are on- don't get overwhelmed by all of it. Perservance. Overcoming with God's power the challenges that you face.

We had to head back down the hill after we climbed it and it actually wasn't fun. It curved and twisted and the very steep part on the bottom scared me.

The rest of the ride was rolling hillside. I followed a couple people for a while and then rode on my own. After a quick lunch stop of pb&j (my favorite!) I got back onto my bike. I had been steadily climbing uphill before lunch so I now was approaching a nice downhill. I somehow missed a turn and I ended up going down the steep scary hill from this morning. The good news was that I wasn't lost. I then did the first 15 miles from this morning in reverse which I loved. More pretty views of the lake. More hill climbing. I was happy.

The longer route option ended up having a bridge out. I still ended with 66 miles though with the additional hill climb and my route change at the end.

I am so grateful that today was such an amazing ride with great weather. What a wonderful change from yesterday. Thankful that each day is a brand new day, you never know what the day has in store.

Day Four: Seneca Lake to Skaneateles Lake

Day Three: Seneca Lake to Skaneateles Lake
Distance: 78 miles
Weather: Overcast for 40 miles, sunshine for 10, Rain for 28 miles
Favorite Part of the day: Off my bike, watching the amazing sunset over Skaneateles Lake

Theme of Today: Slow and Steady

Today was one of those days that makes for a great story afterwards but is not the most enjoyable when in the midst of it.

I woke up feeling groggy. The weather matched my mood as it was gray overcast skies. I decided early on it was going to be a slow and steady day. The beginning of our ride we biked by Seneca Lake. Then more country farmland. Pretty flat. Around mile 40 I felt a burst of energy... I then realized that the sun had finally come out. Amazing how much the sun affects my mood and energy level.

Mile 45 we stopped for lunch at Seneca Falls. I had fun wandering around downtown. I glanced around a little museum that was an interesting combination. Half of it was human rights displays and the other half was "It's a Wonderful Life" display. Seneca Falls most likely was the inspiration for Bedford Falls. http://therealbedfordfalls.com/therealbedfordfalls.php I also popped into the National Women's Rights Museum.http://www.nps.gov/wori/index.htm

After lunch, I was excited to get onto my bike. After a tiring morning, I was looking forward to the sunshine and some hills. I enjoyed the next five miles and then it started to rain. I continued to ride for a mile or so... until it started to downpour. lightening and thunder. I ended finding shelter and waiting for the storm to pass over. I felt like I was in the middle of no where with these three old country guys under their front porch. They were nice as they talked all about the weather.

When the downpour stopped I headed on my way. Yet it continued to rain for the remainder of the ride. Thankfully, it wasn't pouring. I wasn't cold. I had put a baseball cap under my helmet to keep the rain out of my eyes so I could see. I felt like I earned a new rite of passage as a cyclist now that I've ridden some 25 miles in the rain. And the hills I was looking forward to... there were some good climbs right at miles 70 when I was wet and exhausted. I tried to remind myself that I loved hills as I climbed them. When I finally caught a glimpse of Skaneateles Lake I was excited to be almost done with my ride.

Slow and steady wins the race. Today was not a fun spectacular day on the bike. I didn't feel strong. I didn't have amazing time with God. I wasn't in awe of the scenery. Yet I continued to ride on, even in the rain. Even if my pace was slower than normal. I rode on and I eventually finished. How often is life like that? So many of our days are not spectacular or exciting. Sometimes we simply have to press on. I love the word steadfast. steady.

Steady: constant, regular, free from excitement, calm.  Steadfast: unwavering, firm in faith, fixed in purpose.

My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music. Psalm 57:7


They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the LORD. Psalm 112:7


Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! Psalm 119:5


You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3


And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.  I Peter 5:10

Lord, I pray that You would make me strong, firm, and steadfast in You.