Feikema Relay -- #1 on the road....

I was reminded over the weekend that the tour is as much internal PR as it is external PR.

After my 57 mile ride on Sat. a.m., I golfed in the Highland Christian School outing. I had a great day and yucked it up with some new and old friends. In the middle of the outing, I was reminded that the issue of poverty in our communities can be a thorny topic.

One of the participating congregations for a Sea to Sea volunteer project in Gary, Indiana (Beacon Light CRC), has faced many long and arduous years of trying to keep things up and running. It shares a lot of the same characteristics of the church of my youth (Creston CRC). The small core membership has put in blood, sweat and tears to help those that need help. They are the only ones in their neighborhood trying to keep a link with people living on the edge of poverty.

Many in our local community (including a fellow golfer) say we should insist they close up shop -- "We shouldn't support them, because money and effort is wasted.. their church is not growing." My heart breaks when I hear that. A bell goes off and I am stunned and speechless. If it weren't for this small body of believers, who would do the work? Who would put up with the countless hours on the phone, chauffeuring and welcoming and feeding and visiting these neighbors' "grungy" houses to minister to their needs. I hear the phrases, "If they would only just...." And in the heart of it I hear, "If they would only just be like me, their lives would be different and they wouldn't be poor and have violence filled lives."

It rings of a few parables that I've heard . i.e. Jesus talk the pharisee and the tax collector? I'm sure you can think of others.

Obviously something of God's grace and our need for it is missing in our lives if we cannot see beyond. I know I am guilty of it too. Obviously, I have just judged my fellow golfer to make myself seem more enlightened.

If others would be like me, then things would be different? I certainly doubt that. I lead a spoiled rich life with the luxury of discussing carbon fiber seatposts and aerobars, not countless hours on the phone calming the needs of a neighbor who is struggling.

Please God, I pray, give me the grace and the patience and the love to see beyond the judgement and give me the ability to stick with the spiritual struggles of these small congregations across the world who are putting themselves out every day for the poor. Let me see beyond the imagined needs of my own life and put it into perspective. Why is it so hard for me not to become petty in the face of 3 consecutive 100 mile rides?

Now I'm to crunch time...
I'm doing my last day of work and had to visit my dr. at Loyola during a long lunch break.
He injected my knee with cortisone so that I could insure some degree of alleviation of pain.

I've been managing my IT band injury with some success; but I had second thoughts about it coming around on me full tilt in the middle Iowa and 3 days of 100+ mile distances. So my Loyola dr. said he's never had a runner not finish after giving them a cortisone injection. I went for it.

I just know now I gotta get off the bike and stretch every 20 miles or so. I keep reminding myself it's not about the speed but about making it to the end. Dr. J. told me to stay off the bike this week...the whole thought of that is making me twitch as I haven't been without my bike since spring break in April.

Dirk called this a.m. to let me know he was off and riding and that is good. He started the day solo, but then he met up with some folks at the sag. He is doing well with his adrenaline.

He opted to take the first week of stage 2 that I couldn't ride and Sea to Sea was flexible enough to let him in. I think they will be pleased with that decision as his circle of friends is very loyal to him and supportive too. He has a great group of friends from many years ago and he literally has 100s of customers. He hasn't been able to publicize his participation so I'm hoping he can do more of that after he returns and get some more funds in for the tour.

So our the Feikema relay team is off.
In light of the experience of one of the cyclists' carbon fiber seatpost breaking b/c of his seat post rack, I put in a panicked call to my faithful Trek Store bike guy, Dave Eenigenburg. He assures me I will have a new aluminum seatpost to replace my carbon one by the time I leave on Thursday.

Now I just need more Co2 cartridges and maybe a hydration pack. Weather in IA for next week is predicated at rain. I hate rain. I hate camping in the rain. Today, I pray for perseverance of mind to keep it all in perspective.