Daily Catch-Up

Friday:  1) We arrived at Hope College and checked into our dorm room in a lovely old building complete with tall oak baseboards and ceiling beams adorned with mouldings.  2) We were greeted by the brother and sister-in-law of Dave De Ridder, the youth pastor from our former church when we lived in Visalia, California 25-30 years ago.  Even though we had never met Dave’s brother before (I think his name is Steve--I’m revealing my weakness for remembering names—my apologies if I have that wrong!), it felt as though Dave, himself, had tracked us down; not because they resemble each other’s appearance, but because Dave took the time to tell his brother who then tracked us down to pass on Dave’s greetings to us.  3) I took the splint of my leg.  It was SO stiff from being immobilized for three weeks.  I spent the evening in our dorm room with my leg elevated.

Saturday:  1) We enjoyed a pancake, and sausage breakfast at Pillar Church, the location where the Christian Reformed Church split from the Reformed Church in America back in 1857.  In a unique, reconciliatory spirit, the church has recently enacted joint membership in both denominations.  On my way down the stairs to the pancake breakfast, (left hand on the hand railing, right arm using my crutch) the hand railing on broke.  After a gasp from me and a church member (custodian?) who happened to be right there, we all breathed a sigh of relief that I did not fall down the steps with my newly un-splinted leg.  2)  I was greeted by Henrietta Byker at one of the support stops.  Henrietta is the wife of my Dad’s cousin and lives near the Sea to Sea route through Western Michigan.  I had met Henrietta a few times throughout my life and we had a nice visit in the parking lot of the public library.  3) We gathered with the bicyclists at Calvin Church where we had lunch before riding as a group into Calvin College.  They ran out of food due to the increased number of riders who joined us for the short ride (39 miles) from Holland to Grand Rapids.  They ordered Little Caesar ’s Pizza and when it arrived, many riders swarmed around the unopened boxes.  Someone wisely announced that the riders who had already eaten should wait until those who have not eaten had gotten their pizza first.  Truthfully, I was appalled that such an announcement had to be made, but such is the nature of hungry riders!  4) We got to connect with Mary Dracht, a friend from our days in McBain, Michigan.  Bill and Mary rode the 2008 Sea to Sea tour and we met up with them in Sioux City when they biked through northwest Iowa that summer.  Sadly, Bill passed away this year and his absence was palpable as we greeted one another.  Bill and Mary took care of us well when we lived in McBain.

Sunday:  There was a “celebration rally” at Calvin College.  I joined the parade of bicyclists on the balcony as we circled the arena with their.  It was hard to keep up with my crutches, but after completing the lap, I told Rudy that it wasn’t as hard as climbing that 10,200 foot pass in the mountains!  It was a sad weekend to not be riding. 

Monday:  We camped at a wooded state park in south-central Michigan.  I was sitting around camp, telling Jane Brouwer about my long-distance consultation the night before with Shelly, my friend who is a physical therapist.  I had asked various people over the weekend if they new of a local physical therapist who could give me some tips for getting off on the right foot (pun intended J) with increasing my mobility.   No one new any PTs so I was doing my best to stretch my muscles and move my joints.  Jane looked me in the eye, as she is so good at doing, and said, “There is a physical therapist in camp right this minute.”  Before long Jane reappeared with Melissa, the PT.  Melissa was in camp for an hour to visit some of the people she had ridden with on the 2008 Sea to Sea tour.  The 30 minutes I spent with her were filled with getting my black-and-blue, swollen ankle to fit into my tennis shoe; stretching exercises and putting weight on my leg for the first time.  Because of her conversation with another rider, I picked up a bike trainer in Sarnia, Ontario (I’m writing this on Thursday morning) which I can use to reacquaint my leg with pedaling.  I am very thankful for that “chance” meeting with Melissa!

Tuesday:  I helped Carrie with a SAG stop again on Tuesday.  It was cloudy and the rain came down just as we packed up.  We had lunch at the nearby Subway since they were so gracious in letting our riders use their restroom even though they did not buy anything there.  Thanks, Carrie!  We stayed overnight at the Imlay City High School.  Some people camped inside, while others—including us—set up our tent in the fresh air outside.  I was very impressed by Larry, the head custodian at the high school.  He was so helpful with such a great, great attitude.  He graciously offered me the use of a wheel chair, but instead I accepted his offers to get bags of ice for my ankle.  Sitting in a wheel chair would have felt like I was taking steps backward in the healing process!

Wednesday:  Our Canada-crossing day started out with threatening thunderstorms.  The greens, yellows and reds on the radar lit up a direct line from Lake Michigan to Lake Huron, as if to mark our route for the day.  Some riders left early with the hope of beating the storm while others stayed back waiting for the storm to pass.  Rudy left before the storm but not very early.  A half hour later he called to let me know that he had taken shelter under the awning of a restaurant not yet open for the day.  He waited longer than the others for the lightning to pass before setting out again.  By the time the riders reached the ferry crossing at Marine City where we would cross into Canada, the skies had cleared.  The St. Claire River waterfront was beautiful.  I took my camera out, only to discover dead batteries.  L  The border crossing went off without a hitch, even for the rider who inadvertently left his passport on the gear truck!  We had a warm welcome into Canada and a feast at the Sarnia Christian School.  We enjoyed the hospitality of the aunt and uncle of Rudy’s former sister-in-law as they invited us to sleep at their apartment.  I was pleased to be able to take a bath/shower for the first time since breaking my leg.

Thoughts:  I keep hearing people use the word “blessed” and “blessings” as they talk about various things.  Some people would have used that word in my previous paragraph about getting a shower, or about the physical therapist in camp the other day.  Believe it or not, I find myself somewhat uncomfortable with this language and I’m not sure what to think of this.  I don't mean to offend those of you who use the word regularly, as a matter of fact, I'm thankful that you do use it as it prompts me to think about  it. 

 

Someone said it was such a blessing that the bad weather skirted around Sarnia last night such that we encountered nothing worse than a little rain on the tents.  My initial thought is this, What about the people who encountered the serious weather in our place?  Would they say it was a blessing that it hit them and not us?  Can something be a blessing if it occurs at the cost of someone else?  Or . . . if someone says they are so blessed to have their extended family still living nearby, what does that say about the person whose family lives far away?  Are they not blessed?  And is it a blessing when family members stay close to home even if they stay there for the wrong reasons?  Some would say that it’s a “blessing” that my accident wasn’t worse, but to realize that “blessing” I had to have the accident in the first place.  Is it a blessing that I fell and broke my leg?  It’s a “blessing” that my leg is healing, but along with the healing comes scarring and swelling.  Can “blessings” be directly accompanied by apparent “non-blessings”?  Does a bad event turn into a blessing only if we identify something good that happens in its context? 

 

I sometimes wonder if we use the word too loosely. 

 

I'm just thinking out loud here . . .  thanks for bearing with me.  For now, I’ve settled on using the word “thankful” when good things happen.