The day finally arrived & was it ever a whirlwind of a day to say the least! I barely slept at all last night, got about 3 ½ hours of sleep and then was up by 2.15am and getting ready to leave for Realife to start on the trainer at 3.23am. I had an awesome set up – set up my laptop and watched a few sermons: Judah Smith, Carl Lentz, Elijah Waters on one side of the screen while at the same time having some previous years Ironman World Championships youtube video’s playing on the other side of the screen. This kept me going for a few hours while I was clicking away the miles on the indoor trainer.
Throughout the day I had different riders join me, which made the riding very fun and kept the time going by fast. Wade & Charlie did a great job of organizing a crew of about 8 riders throughout the main portion of the day.
The original goal was to ride 200 miles, get back to Realife at mile 190 and crank out the final 10 with my 7eleven Life Group students and other friends. I could tell early in the day that I was going to surpass 200 miles before 3.30pm if I was able to have the strength to keep on going. I was able to hit mile 200 and got some more miles in before the crew of students met at Realife. As I was riding, I was thinking, God is really giving me the strength to keep going, I am going to try to hit 225 miles. 225 came and 225 went. I then decided that I was going to finish the ride at 250 miles. While I was riding, I thought to myself, why would I stop at 250 miles if I still have a little bit of energy in me? I started thinking to myself, “if I truly want this to be all about God and bringing Him glory, don’t I want to give it my all until I am literally whipped out!?” I then decided that I would go a few more miles. I ended up finishing the ride at 6.28pm, for a total time of 15 hours & 5 minutes with 262 miles. The only thing that I can say is that GOD STRENGTHENED ME and to Him be the glory!
I absolutely loved riding with the everyone…Jason, Wade, Rick, Charlie, Medley’s, Bruce, Bob, Cameron, Marcus, Todd, Cameron, Bennett, Tyler, Jon Thomas, Konner & Pastor Kurt. It was so encouraging and I definitely wanted to share with each of them what I was doing and why I was doing it. I loved being able to tell each of them about Speed the Light and Teen Challenge and why I was riding my bike.
Two verses in the Bible that I constantly have running through my head whenever I run or bike is, Philippians 4.13, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.“ & Isaiah 40.31, “But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” (NIV) I truly believe that God continually was renewing my strength and helping me move forward towards the goal of riding 200 miles. As I was riding, I couldn’t help but think to myself, I feel like my heavenly Father is proud as He is watching me as I ride my bike to raise money for Speed the Light. God continually renewed my strength throughout the day – I don’t know exactly what is going on in your life as you are reading this blog, but I do know this, when we put our hope and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, He will renew us and give us what we need to continue to move forward. Psalm 18.39 says, “You armed me with strength for battle…” (NIV) – know that God is with you and giving what you need to continue to move forward as you live for Him and advance His Kingdom.
Tomorrow, I will post more pictures from the day. I want to say thanks to those who committed to praying for the ride and all of the logistics as the day approached. Thanks to the guys at Venture Expeditions for helping with website & other aspects of the ride, so appreciate you guys and believe in what you are doing! I also want to say a special thanks those who rode during the day, your company while riding meant so much and helped me to keep moving forward. Along with the riders, thank you to those who gave sacrificially towards the goal of $7,000 as we support Teen Challenge locations in Missouri – Kansas City, St. Louis, Cape Girardeau & Neosho through Speed the Light. If you would like to give, you can give online by clicking here or you can give by mailing a check to James River Assembly – 6100 N. 19th St. Ozark, MO 65721 and writing, “STL – Steve: 200 Mile Ride”. Thank you so much for your support, check back tomorrow for more pictures from the day. Have a blessed evening!
Steve
