I had a great day of rest. We could sleep in as late as we wanted. I was awake shortly after 7 😀. It was raining so I thought I'd wait it out. It didn't stop so I checked the weather and it wasn't going to stop for a couple of hours. I was thankful we had put the tarp up last night. I got up and got a cup of hit chocolate/coffee and worked on some Sudoku puzzles. I think I did at least five (easy level). We had brunch at about 10 am and it was French toast!!!! With strawberries, blueberries, whipped cream and bacon!!!! I think that was a first on the trip, it was a nice break from the usual Sunday fare of pancakes. I would think that French toast would be a lot easier to prepare as well. There is no church close by, so we had a camp service. The message was on the metaphors of biking as related to life. There are endless ways to relate the two. One way mentioned during the open mic sharing time was a wheel. God is the centre hub of the wheel. In order for a bike to ride smoothly that hub must be exactly in tune, in the centre of the wheel. God needs to be the centre of our lives in order for our lives to go in accordance with his will. The spokes, and there are many spokes, are like the Christian community. They need to all be there and working properly for us to be close to God. Also if you notice, as you get closer to the hub of the wheel, the spikes all get closer together. This is how it should be in life; as we draw closer to God we should also be drawn closer to our christian family. We are the tube/tire of the wheel that is supported by our Spokes (Christian family) with God at the centre. You can keep going with the analogies there. Also we can draw analogies from the C's with the arrows that we follow. The C stands for Christ and there can be turns and there can be signs in life verifying that you are following Gods will, there can also be signs that it is time for a rest stop to be rejeuvenated. When we are on a narrow shoulder and it takes a lot of concentration to stay on it, is as in life to stay on the narrow path instead of the wide one; it is easy to fall astray but we need to keep our eyes focused on the goal. Also another analogy can be driven from riding in a pace line. We can ride by ourselves into the headwind (life's challenges), but it becomes much easier to bear when you share the load with others, letting them be the lead of carry the load for a while. These are some of the examples that were shared by several people in the service this morning. After, we participated in Communion together, which was a great experience to have in such a setting. A thought to ponder, Jesus served the first communion to Peter, who would deny knowing him and to Judas, who had/would betray him. We then received the parting blessing and sang the doxology, Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow. Shuttles were offered to the closest town of Rimouski and another to the beach to go Seal watching and sight seeing. I decided to stay in camp, but I kept busy. I had over the last week written a list of cyclists and volunteers, leaders doing the entire trip, and the different towns/cities we stopped in or will stop in. Amazingly the numbers match up exactly. There are 57 people that were part of the tour from White Rock to Halifax and there are 57 towns/cities that we stopped at, beginning with White Rock and ending with Halifax. I bought a white board at a dollar store (last week) and so today I took pictures of each of the 57 people holding the whiteboard with one of the cities we stopped in. When I make my photo book I can put it in. I wish I had thought of it earlier, then I would have had a picture of everyone participating, but that didn't happen so I got the group of people that I got to know the best; The ones that I have travelled the whole way with. It's not that we did more than others, as everyone did what they were able to do, but it's that we have grown closer with each other than the ones that have come for a shorter time. All the people that committed any time to this trip have made sacrifices, have made huge accomplishments, and most of all, we have all shared the love of Jesus by helping those less fortunate than us. To God be all the glory, for great things He has done, through us. Tomorrow begins our last full week of riding, and sign up sheets for bike boxes and shuttles have been put up and the countdown is definitely on. I am really excited to see family again but I am also really excited to start making a photo book of all the memories we've made on this trip. Please pray for all the people that we hope to bless through the money raised, the experiences shared, the awareness given. Please pray for us as we've been blessed in countless ways. Please also, support Sea to Sea if you are able, this goes to World Renew's Disaster Response Services and to their work with those living in poverty in many third world countries, and also to Partners Worldwide and their work to give people the hand up to start a thriving, sustainable business across the globe. God bless you, one and all!
WEEKLY TOTALS
755km
35h
21.6km/h
3094m elevation