....BICYCLING....
My wife and I have taken up bicycling. We went to Dick's Sporting Goods and got outfitted with bikes....helmets....a few other accessories.....and a truck hitch to haul the bikes to various trails. We're going to be newbies on this for a while but bicycling is certainly serving it's intended purpose so far for exercise and enjoyment.
We found ourselves in Ohio today and shared an interesting experience. Being new to longer bike rides, I have a tendency to pay too much attention to any 'downhills' at the beginning because I know that they will be 'uphills' on the way back. So we both noticed....what we thought was ....a noticeable downgrade at the beginning that seemed to continue for a couple of miles, therefore I expected a workout as we headed back to the truck.
I was ready to huff and puff a little as we were in the last stretch but it never happened and before I knew it my wife said...."There's the truck!" What happened to the uphills? Now I know that there is a bit of optical illusion involved.....as I said....we're real new to this....but we had a similar experience last weekend on Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod! It appears that being new to bicycling I may be a little overly apprehensive at the beginning of these rides.
If you have read more than a few of my posts you might expect where I'm going to go from here. I just sat on the bike for a while and pondered the Christian walk. Somewhere in these past posts I remarked that if at the beginning I knew now how hard at times it would be....and how discouraging at other times....I don't know that I would have continued.
Yes....there may be hills ahead but Isaiah tells us "Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain." (Is 40:4) It's not an optical illusion...the hills are there....but there is something illusory involved that God orchestrates. We see through the hills to the glory and majesty of the Lord.....that sustains us....and if we look closely today.....we will also see the coming of the Lord.
My wife and I have taken up bicycling. We went to Dick's Sporting Goods and got outfitted with bikes....helmets....a few other accessories.....and a truck hitch to haul the bikes to various trails. We're going to be newbies on this for a while but bicycling is certainly serving it's intended purpose so far for exercise and enjoyment.
We found ourselves in Ohio today and shared an interesting experience. Being new to longer bike rides, I have a tendency to pay too much attention to any 'downhills' at the beginning because I know that they will be 'uphills' on the way back. So we both noticed....what we thought was ....a noticeable downgrade at the beginning that seemed to continue for a couple of miles, therefore I expected a workout as we headed back to the truck.
I was ready to huff and puff a little as we were in the last stretch but it never happened and before I knew it my wife said...."There's the truck!" What happened to the uphills? Now I know that there is a bit of optical illusion involved.....as I said....we're real new to this....but we had a similar experience last weekend on Martha's Vineyard, Cape Cod! It appears that being new to bicycling I may be a little overly apprehensive at the beginning of these rides.
If you have read more than a few of my posts you might expect where I'm going to go from here. I just sat on the bike for a while and pondered the Christian walk. Somewhere in these past posts I remarked that if at the beginning I knew now how hard at times it would be....and how discouraging at other times....I don't know that I would have continued.
Yes....there may be hills ahead but Isaiah tells us "Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain." (Is 40:4) It's not an optical illusion...the hills are there....but there is something illusory involved that God orchestrates. We see through the hills to the glory and majesty of the Lord.....that sustains us....and if we look closely today.....we will also see the coming of the Lord.
