Friday, June 24, 2011

"BUT IF NOT"

From the mind of Gordon...

Todays theme came from the reply of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to king Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 3. They boldly retorted to the king: "Our God is able to deliver us from the fiery furnace and out of your hand! BUT IF NOT, we will not serve your gods." We were given this message in Charlottesville, VA and since then we have vowed to glorify God through all the circumstances we encounter as we go up the east coast, good or bad. And let me tell you something, the devil was trying to get us to go back on that today!

We left the National Christian Conference Center in Valley Forge, PA in 2 groups. One group at 8, the other at 10.(Some of us wanted a little more sleep) I was in the later group and really enjoyed the extra sleep. We were excited to ride and hit a new state (came into NJ today). So this blog is mainly of our groups calamities today. So hold on to your britches cause he we go!

About 10 miles into the ride there was a nice downhill, we had some miscommunication and Marianne went down. She put on her brakes and her back tire skidded from underneath her. Thankfully she recovered and got the bike back in line, it was a great save! Unfortunately, however, she was about to hit Jon and ended up laying her bike over the other direction and went tumbling into the street! I saw all this from the back of the line and was quite startled by what had just happened. A police officer, Officer Right was his name, stopped as he was passing by and we ended up having an ambulance come clean her up before we continued on out way. Good news- there were no cars coming on the road when Marianne went down! So in the midst of a rough wreck and some pain, the Lord protected her life as she was skidding across the road so praise the Lord for that...Satan's first attempt: FAIL!

A couple more miles down the road we were climbing up one brutally steep hill and what would ya know, Marianne's chain breaks. We walked up the rest of the hill and had to do some chain repairs. Jon did a great job working on the chain and getting that fixed. And somehow me and Mark were able to get a smile and a few laughs out of Marianne! Good news- we had an awesome breeze at the top of the hill on a hot day; just another blessing in the midst of trial... Satan's second attempt: FAIL!

Not very long after, Gordon got a flat tire. We had to pull over and get that fixed to we stopped at a gas station in the shade of some trees and fixed his tire. Mark and Marianne bought starburst, chocolate milk, and refilled our water bottles. Jon bought pretzels, 2 for $1. Keeping our spirits lifted, we moved on. Thank the Lord for little pick me ups! The devil tried to get us down but we weren't having it... Attmept 3: FAIL!

We finally made it to NJ and its about 5:30. We are about 3 miles from our destination of Zerepheth Christian Church and we hit another obstacle, literally. Gordon was looking at the directions very intently trying to figure out where we had made a wrong turn and didn't even see the trashcan that was left halfway in the raod. He hits it dead on and had no clue! He went flying over the trashcan! He was still clipped in to his pedals and dove hands first into the wet pavement, his bike crashing down on top of him. He was the only one who hadn't had any type of falling on the bike and he soared into the club as he flew over the trashcan! His hands were pretty torn up but he came out in one piece. His phone fell out of his pocket and was run over by a truck, his handlebars got twisted out of place, and his "wreckless record" was shattered by a trashcan. Good news- the road was wet, therefore it was slick. He could have been tore up alot worse. Our God is still worthy of our praise!... Attempt 4: FAIL!

Finally we made it to the church and were so pleased that our day of trials on the road was at an end! Unfortunately for Jon though, he realized his tire was flat as we rode up the RV. He can no longer say he hasn't had a flat. So we're all not a part of the flat tire club, and we've all fallen off our bikes! Glad the body of Christ is unified on this trip! The Lord takes care of His saints and today we praise Him for his goodness! He will protect, provide, and strengthen us for all that we encounter...

BUT IF NOT, we still praise Him for being our God and Saviour.

Gordon

1 comment:

  1. Amen and Amen.To God be the glory for his protection. the last time G went over the handlebars of a bike he had a broken bone.

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