Tuesday, May 20, 2014

A lot can change during a trip around the pump track...

I feel like I'm filling up my "Everything Else" category lately with posts like this (which I guess may warrant the creation of another post label) but I've been pretty stoked since a lunchtime session yesterday at the local mountain bike trails.  My week typically begins with a conference call with my colleagues in Malaysia which, along with pretty much constantly being tethered to my email, leaves me some extra comp time in my week.  I usually take off early or save up time and skip out on an occasional Friday but this week I decided to take a long lunch and meet up with one of the associate pastors at our church for some two-wheeled fellowship.  

Josh (just by the name you know he's a cool guy already) is someone I met through our small group and has a passion for dirt jumping among other things.  We've been talking about hitting the trails on a Monday afternoon (his day off) since we met back in January but just haven't gotten around to it even though it's only a short bike ride from my office (at least according to the cyclists I work with).  We ended up deciding on a day that was clearly predetermined, something I later realized and am still floored by, even though we should expect big things to happen when we're focused and "in the flow of the spirit" as John Ortberg so eloquently puts it in his book The Me I Want to Be (thanks mom, finally read it after 2 years).

After a few detours along the "clearly marked" route from work, I arrived at the pump track and met up with Josh who was chatting with a dude named JD that he'd apparently just met although I never would have guessed it.  After introductions and a few cracks about the "Jehovah's Witness" rack on the back of my bike (a man's gotta get his lunch to work somehow!) I lowered my seat and joined in on the fun pretending I was rollin' on a vintage 24" Robinson Pro Racer with Thunder in Your Heart playing on repeat in my head.  With the 3 of us being over 30 and out of shape, a couple laps led to some serious panting and an extended break, from which I was the first to emerge. 

Upon returning from my 30 second lap the conversation had taken a sharp turn from bikes and how to clear the tabletop to God, Jesus, and the problems of organized religion. It turns out 2 of the 3 of us had gotten out of the good graces of Bible college for being in possession of various types of smokable things, proof that even our mistakes can be used by God to connect with others.  The conversation continued for quite a while and concluded with an invitation to attend an upcoming service at the church (which not so coincidentally is right down the street from JD's house) followed by our pastor clearing the aforementioned tabletop.

I was really intrigued by how things transpired as I tend to freak out when I think about starting spiritual conversations and assumed Josh had worked some pastor magic on 'ol JD.  It turns out he had just noticed something different and asked if we "were part of some church group or something" since we weren't dropping F bombs and talking about hot chicks (caught us on a good day) in between going off the sweet jumps.  It was an overall awesome experience and great reminder that no script is needed, we just need to rely on God in all things (even our brokenness and imperfection) and allow his light to shine through in our daily lives, whether it's in the office or out on the trails...

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