Making what's hard a little easier

On Saturday I rode 62 miles (a "metric century, that is, 100 kilometers) in the Skagit Spring Classic. I was joined in my ride by two friends from Our Savior, Mark Tai and Joel Mailand. The ride started out pretty easy, in the flat countryside of the Skagit Valley. Then we enjoyed the beauty of Chuckanut Drive. After that, however, it got harder. When we turned south we got hit with a triple whammy - an uphill climb against a strong headwind on chipseal pavement. It made for tough going. We got into a rhythm, however, and made good headway even over Bow Hill, until we hit the flats again. Then as we headed south toward Bayview we face a massive 20 mph headwind. Pedaling as hard as we coule we could only make about 12 mph. At the end of the ride, however we enjoyed a spaghetti dinner and a good ride home as we relived out adventure.

It would have been a lot harder to do that ride alone. I would have had the four hours in the car up and back without any company. I would have had to fight the headwinds on my own. I would have face fatigue and discouragement without anyone to help me through it.

Earlier last week I saw a couple from Our Savior do something much, much harder than ride a bike 62 miles. Randy and Lisa Doyle laid their newborn son, Djeran Will to rest on Thursday. They were surrounded by faithful family and friends, Randy's parent's Pastor Dan Gerken from Good Shepherd in Tacoma, and many friends from Our Savior. I was so blessed to see the members of Our Savior who came to share Randy and Lisa's sorrow. One of them talked after the service about how God uses us to comfort others after we have gone through something like this. It thought of 1 Corinthians 1:3-4: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." It was a tremendous example of how doing something hard with friends makes it easier.

My ride in June will be a lot easier because I know I won't be doing it alone. I know that all of you will be with me in your thoughts and prayers. I plan to carry with me each day the names of those who sponsored my ride that day, and I will lift you up in prayer as I ride along. Togther we should have a great time, even if it is hard to keep going once in a while.