Return to Bluff Road.

 

A little over 20 years ago, Bluff Road nearly took my life. A head injury that had me surviving by about 7 minutes. You can read all the details of that here.  It knocked me off the bike for two years while my internal injuries healed. And I never really got back on the bike. This season I’m back in training for a century (100 mile ride) in September.

Tomorrow morning, early, about 24 hours from now, I go back to Bluff Road for the first time in 20 years to reclaim my passion for cycling once and for all. I’m nervous about it. Can’t lie. I’ve done a decent amount of riding over the last 20 years. But never back to that road, that exact spot that is burned into my memory. I decided earlier this week that it was time for me and Bluff Road to have it out once and for all and put it behind us. And I’ll be riding the same hand-made Italian bike frame I rode that day.

You’re not a bad road, Bluff. But you’re reign over me needs to end. See you tomorrow.

JDV

Photo credit: http://justsomegoodthoughts.wordpress.com/2014/05/07/winning-in-the-great-competition-of-life/

A dangerous prayer.

The Masked Rabbit wrote those three words “a dangerous prayer” in response to a post I put up about a worship song that really moves me to examine my willingness to answer my calling.  A dangerous prayer is one which you want to pray, but what if the answer is something you’d prefer not to do.

“Lord guide me to answer your calling.”

“Lord tell me if I should leave my job to follow you.”

“Lord take all of me to be used for your glory.”

These are beautiful things to pray.  But they are dangerous.  What if God guides you to give up something you’d rather not give up?  Leave a job that’s making you some serious dough?  What if the answer you’re praying for is one you’d actually pray to avoid?

I have to be honest.  I’ve avoiding saying a prayer because I wasn’t quite sure I wanted and honest answer from God.  I’ve done that a lot.  Lawyers are funny people.  The big secret at trial is that there are no secrets.  Every one knows what questions are going to be asked, and what answers will be given.  Deviations from the script are relatively rare.  This is how I pray.  I like to ask predictable questions, make predictable requests, all in anticipation that I will receive predictable responses from God.

“No need to tithe my child, pay off debt first.  And eat out a lot.”

“Stay in your job, even though it means you can’t make it to your kid’s church events on Wednesday nights.”

“Me taking all of you looks almost exactly like your life looks right now… but you might have to toss in a blog or something.”

So my prayer today is for help from God to pray those dangerous prayers.  And follow those dangerous answers.  To have some guts.  A sense of adventure.  I don’t really believe that God would wreck my life.  But any changes are kind of stressful, right?  But change is amazing!  Especially when it is sponsored by the creator of heaven and earth.

Lord, give me courage.  Courage to pray the dangerous prayers that I refuse to pray.

We were built to be heroes.  And sometimes being a hero is dangerous…