Last week was the last adventure race of the season... Race the Rockies Urban Adventure Race in Edmonton... awesome. It is an introductory race designed to introduce new people to the sport without scaring the crap out of them.
My (awesome and amazing and buff) partner were making good time to checkpoint 2. We were with the elites, making good choices, making good time. We had found our way through the bottle neck opening across the river - we were minutes away from a much needed break and change of discipline (our butts hurt and needed off our bikes for a while). 5 minutes away from the checkpoint, navigating our final road - we asked God which way to go... and the answer was SO CLEAR... "Go back to Checkpoint 1 - you totally forgot to do it."
Checkpoint 1 is about a 10km bike ride away, and it's not flat. We were within a few blocks on our way by the first time. ARG! - but so funny. Lessons from this approximately 3 hour mistake (bike time + fatigue) include but are not limited to:
1 - The title of this blog is the question I asked my partner on the bike ride back... going back the opposite way, passing almost every team that is now ahead of you, is a very humbling thing. And I did get asked a few times "is this your first race?" "Ummm... nope."
2 - Even though they're all going the right way, they all questioned their direction because of one team going back the opposite way... 31 teams were going with the flow. The opposite way? - just us;)
3 - We were so focused on that tight river crossing that we totally forgot the next step... my partner is very detailed, and I am a big picture person. We wrote down street for street our entire day. Still, we both missed the elephant on the map labeled Checkpoint 1.
4 - BUT - our communication was awesome. We were on the same page all the way.
5 - AND - our attitudes were pretty good too - we had a wonderful day (though it ended up being 9.5 hours)... we were fatigued and dehydrated and needed real food, but enjoyed the whole day. Yes, it is tempting to give up, but we didn't let it be an option. Wow the Edmonton river valley is something, and with great company and the chance to explore it, it was a dream day.
So that's the nutshell... hope you got a laugh out of it, we sure did:)
PS - As another part of the race, we had to swim across the North Saskatchewan on September 27th... some of you (especially those I've been to Costa Rica with) know just how significant that is for me... BRRR...
Tuesday 30 September 2008
Thursday 18 September 2008
Loving a Stranger
I am no template of Christ's compassion, but I know it's something He wants to develop in me. So every now and then, because He is faithful to that goal, He shows me someone and lets me experience a bit of how He feels for them.
It happened tonight walking home from work. As I passed by a random stranger, there was a huge rush of love and compassion for him in my heart. A deep love and feeling of understanding towards him, an intricate knowledge of God's love for Him. I didn't know how to act on it in that moment, in that place, but the experience opened a door in my heart.
You see, on that day, feelings of compassion were far from my mind. As I walked, my thoughts rested on someone else and were far from loving and understanding. Someone who has hurt me and I don't know what to do about it.
In that contrasting moment - feelings of love and compassion towards a stranger vs. a lack of those feelings towards someone I know - God spoke to me. He asked me how it could be so... this compassion for a stranger and not for a friend. "They hurt me" I answered... sent me into protection mode. Active love and compassion require vulnerability, and their actions had sent me into hiding and unable to receive God's own for them.
"You hurt Me." He said... "but I died on the cross for you anyways... I love you that much. I have that much compassion towards you." He hasn't gotten jaded by my daily attempts to push Him away; my multiple promises to draw near and subsequent multiple failures to be still that long; my lack of trust and faith that sprout weeds in every part of my life.
And He made it clear in the same moment, the reason He gave me that intense glimpse into His love for that stranger. It's something He wanted me to taste because it's something He wants to develop in me. It's something He can see even when there's no evidence... because HE planted it there. He wants us to live out our full potential, even more than we don't want to live empty, regretful lives. There is an antidote... it was Him in the flesh, it is He in the Spirit, it is Him who made us and knows us full well.
Someday when I am old, it will be these experiences that will appear in memory to remind me that I had chances to make good choices for an amazing life... I hope to be writing about that journey someday, and not the one I wished I had had. The same for all of you... most of you are in the first halves of your lives, and none of you are dead yet:) - it's not too late to be still and know He's God. I guarantee He has something to say to you.
It happened tonight walking home from work. As I passed by a random stranger, there was a huge rush of love and compassion for him in my heart. A deep love and feeling of understanding towards him, an intricate knowledge of God's love for Him. I didn't know how to act on it in that moment, in that place, but the experience opened a door in my heart.
You see, on that day, feelings of compassion were far from my mind. As I walked, my thoughts rested on someone else and were far from loving and understanding. Someone who has hurt me and I don't know what to do about it.
In that contrasting moment - feelings of love and compassion towards a stranger vs. a lack of those feelings towards someone I know - God spoke to me. He asked me how it could be so... this compassion for a stranger and not for a friend. "They hurt me" I answered... sent me into protection mode. Active love and compassion require vulnerability, and their actions had sent me into hiding and unable to receive God's own for them.
"You hurt Me." He said... "but I died on the cross for you anyways... I love you that much. I have that much compassion towards you." He hasn't gotten jaded by my daily attempts to push Him away; my multiple promises to draw near and subsequent multiple failures to be still that long; my lack of trust and faith that sprout weeds in every part of my life.
And He made it clear in the same moment, the reason He gave me that intense glimpse into His love for that stranger. It's something He wanted me to taste because it's something He wants to develop in me. It's something He can see even when there's no evidence... because HE planted it there. He wants us to live out our full potential, even more than we don't want to live empty, regretful lives. There is an antidote... it was Him in the flesh, it is He in the Spirit, it is Him who made us and knows us full well.
Someday when I am old, it will be these experiences that will appear in memory to remind me that I had chances to make good choices for an amazing life... I hope to be writing about that journey someday, and not the one I wished I had had. The same for all of you... most of you are in the first halves of your lives, and none of you are dead yet:) - it's not too late to be still and know He's God. I guarantee He has something to say to you.
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