Hey I just wanted to keep you posted.
I just got back from a big trip down to Anaheim and Long Beach from Azusa.
God really took good care of me on this trip. Thank you for your prayers particularly in the area transportation provision and communications. I have seen breakthrough and just God moving in these areas right along side the amazing friends I have been building new relationships with.
On my 39 mile bike trip to Anaheim I left prepared, the right supplies, proper tire pressures, and an extra tube. It was really beautiful heading down the San Gabriel River Trail. Although eventually I was very tired and just wanted to see the end of it, all in all my first leg which took me to my friends house was great. I got to see a lot of the countryside that I really wouldn't have seen any other way. Ok so a lot of it wasn't countryside in the way that you and I know it, but still it was great.
About an hour after I arrived in Anaheim at my destination. I was taking a look at my bike and I had another popped tire. I was just so grateful that it wasn't in the middle of my ride. That would have brought my spirits down a bit more and stolen some momentum.
When I arrived in Anaheim, I took a nap, and then went with my friend Tyler his girlfriend and their other friend to go hang out at some outdoor mall. A real relief for me since a lot of my time since I got down here has been going and going. I was really grateful for the invite. It was a good night despite the California passenger syndrome that I seem to have caught briefly. I was seriously in the back seat clinging to whatever i could with my eyes bugging out focused on the road. Whew! Glad I'm still with you!
So I got up the next morning and took off on my bike after a lot of stretching. The previous night I had put my last tube on my bike and it wasn't long before I had could tell I was losing air in my tire again. This was to be a shorter ride than the previous day. I had to pump it up quite a few times in order to keep going. And I got really far this way, I knew I was supposed to be down here so I was determined to keep going. Also I know zero people between Anaheim and Long Beach, which is about 15 to 20 miles; not bad.
So eventually this tire just wasn't holding the air any more and I was going to damage my tire or rim by trying to ride it flat. So I got off transitioned to walking. I had hit a point where I had been traveling over this long bike path through the length of this park and that had ended so I had to cross a street that I had been riding parallel to for a while. So I crossed over Carson St. not too excited over the prospect of walking what was left of the trip. Would Steve and Michael and everyone else even be there still when I arrived?
Within the first block of starting to walk my bike after crossing over there was a bike shop. It was more messy than any bike shop I had ever seen. All around the thin path from the back door to the front were chest deep piles of bike parts; frames, wheels, rims, ect. I had little cash on me. I waited a while, but then when the owner of the store came in I asked him if he had any patch kits. He had one left. I had never used one. I had never even bought one. I asked him how much it was. Four dollars he said. I couldn't understand what he was saying, it didn't hit my brain til later that he saw the pickle I was in and he wanted to help me.
I had three dollars in my wallet and so I reasoned that I needed to head to the bank. As I was leaving I had decided I also needed a new tube liner to possibly prevent more popped tires. I got around the corner with directions to my bank and then I remembered the ziplock full of change that I had as well. So in the end I had a dollar less than I needed, but the shop owner still gave me the tube liner and the patch kit. And I was able to make it to the holy grail (the meal we have with the homeless community) although a little late.
There is more but I can't blog all day. God is such a good father. I got a lot of rest and was well fed during the rest of the trip. And I had a ride back to Azusa. Plus so much more blessing. And I ask for blessing upon you my family and friends. I love you and miss you.
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