By Steve

God encourages cycling

This morning reminded me of how much I enjoy cycling. It's been several weeks since I've been on my road bike, but after being motivated by a documentary on Greg Lemond yesteday, I pumped up the tires, slipped on the spandex and hit the streets.

I love the exercise, the speed and the danger that come with competing for road room with cars. And as much as I love the spandex, there is something I like even more about cycling. It seems that each time I get on my bike, my creativity blossoms, I am able to sort through challenging issues, and I often receive new and interesting perspective on God and faith. I think God likes it when I cycle.

This morning I made the turn to begin the steep descent down Texas street. Often times I will accelerate over 50 miles an hour on this short drop...it's a rush. This morning traffic was heavy and the cars were barely moving, thank God (and the department of transportation) for bike lanes. As I approached 45 miles an hour, a bus up ahead began to drift into MY bike lane. As much as I like competition, I knew bike versus bus was certainly not in my favor. I made it. But God got my attention as I narrowly missed becoming a bus and guard rail sandwich. I'm partial to peanut butter and jelly.

For the rest of the hour as I road, I was so aware of the presence of God. It often seems this way when I bike. I prayed for several people, I thought about many things for Citywalk and made many decisions, and I was able to work through some stuff that had sort of been bothering me.

It is a good morning, and I'm glad for God's encouragement to get out and ride.