Opening the Book

“We live in a world where bad stories are told, stories that teach us life doesn’t mean anything and that humanity has no great purpose. It’s a good calling, then, to speak a better story. How brightly a better story shines. How easily the world looks to it in wonder. How grateful we are to hear these stories, and how happy it makes us to repeat them” Donald Miller – A Million Miles in a Thousand Years (I just finished this book so a lot of my blog will be based on his ideas that have inspired me)

We are all writing a story with our lives. Each story has the power to captivate an audience or bore one; to change the lives of those that hear it or to be just as easily forgotten. The stories that always seem to leave an audience with their jaws wide open and a passion to change the world always contain a few core characteristics:
Selfless love – A love that helps with no strings attached.
Courage – One that attacks any obstacles or fears that attempt to stop it.
Growth – Stagnation is boring. A character must mature and grow and learn.
And Sacrifice – Which leaves it all behind, security, pleasure, and selfishness.
My goal is to live a story that inspires and helps others to a better story. A story written by God.

Sometimes, the part that takes the most courage when writing a story, is beginning it. Stepping out into the unknown can be scary. I remember over spring break, entering Zion National Park. Coming in from the east side of the park, you go through, what you come to find out, is a HUGE tunnel. I always use to play a game when I was a kid where I would hold my breath through tunnels. My favorites were the tunnels on Mercer Island in Seattle (because those were the longest I had experienced, especially in traffic). So we enter in to the tunnel and I start holding my breath. And holding . . . And holding . . . And holding. I mean this tunnel is a good 3 or 4 miles long. I obviously was unable to keep holding my breath and soon started wondering if there was an end. But eventually the light cracked through and we were out. Now what did that story have to do with anything? That is a great question. When you first start writing an intentional story with your life, sometimes you can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. The light behind you quickly vanishes and soon you are just in darkness driving for miles. That kind of feels like where I am at right now.

For those of you who are new to this story (not that I am any more experienced to it), I am going to be biking from Seattle to Denver (possibly to Washington D.C. depending on how much support i get) with an organization called Fuller Center.  Many bikers will be pedaling the 3600 mile journey from June 10th to August 14th. Along the way we will be building and repairing houses for the organization and we each are asking for a dollar of support per mile we ride to go help support the building of these houses. It's an amazing opportunity! And I am excited to share it with you via this blog.

There is a lot to figure out still as I get the wheels rolling. I still need a lot of gadgets for my bike and for my trip to ensure safe travels. I need to train. I need to figure out how to get myself and my bike to and from the starting destinations. And most of all I need support. (which if you would like to help please go to this link - SUPPORT HERE)

I look forward to keeping you updated on the road up until the start of the trip as well as along the 1700 mile journey to Denver. I'm sure God will give me a lot to say! Ta Ta for now