Working with students has some rewards for those that participate in it that are immediate, such as seeing students gain a greater understanding of God and His plan in their life, seeing them laugh, seeing them compete, watching them mature… But there are other rewards as well. For instance, keeping up with those students as they move into adulthood, attending college, choose majors, careers, and enter the working world.
My Memorial Day weekend offered a couple of those fantastic moments. I got to spend part of Saturday working with Michael on the program he and I are collaborating on for our respective summer camps (he is also a youth minister). Monday, I travelled to Alabama with Brooke and Andy to spend the day rock climbing. Good times. These folks were inspiring in their pursuit of God in their lives as students, and they continue to be as they do so on the long road of adulthood.
God is good. All the time.
I would love to share a picture of my most recent trail ride with my readers, but unfortunately, my friend with the camera (Wally) hasn’t bothered to email any to me yet. If I had such a picture, however, you would find one old dude, loosing his hair and hiding his Buddha belly under a bike jersey, standing beside a group of 3 college guys and one “there weren’t any classes I liked this semester” guy. Everyone but the fat older guy has doffed their shirts, so as to display their manliness to all in the area. Everyone (including baldy) is drenched in the layer of sweat that only 3+ hours of delicious offroad goodness can bring. Off course, when you combine trails and sweat, you also get a nice layer of adhered dirt on the surface of our intrepid band of adventurers.
As you might expect, there are a few things this picture that I don’t have won’t tell you. It won’t disclose the fact that two of the five bikes that are being held proudly in the photo no longer function. Further, you can’t tell from the picture that among the ailments these bikes suffered over the course of the ride included (but are not limited to):
tacoing a wheel (beyond the repair of the spoke tool, this was somewhat corrected jumping on the wheel whilst resting it across a log)
breaking a chain (we fixed this one with the multitool)
having the front hub on a wheel come loose (my toolkit fell short of the two wrenches required to fix this one)
a rear derailleur sucked into the spokes of the rear wheel (this meant the end of the day for one bike)
What the picture you don’t see also won’t tell you is that the 5 people represent 5 different universities, but chose to spend this holiday morning together having a heck of a good time beating the trails. You can’t see that the three youngest ones were only on their second real trail ride, and did a great job of it considering the limitations equipment created. We only covered about 9.5 miles, but that means there is still more untouched trail to ride the next time we hit Dausett.
Shout outs to Walter, Andy, Michael, and Will for an awesome ride. Get those bikes fixed so we can do it again. I found us a new trail to explore in Columbus. Are you ready?
They say that whenever you fall off a horse, the most important thing to do is to get right back in the saddle. Several weeks ago, when I made my spectacular impression on the trail, roots, and rocks at Dausett Trails, I did so. I rode for another hour or so, dreading every bump. Once I got back to the campground, however, I felt I had fulfilled the obligatory post-falling saddle time, and put the bike away for a while. Healing and all, you know? Well, I decided this weekend I was healed enough. Granted, I wasn’t bunny hopping, or riding my bike down any stairs, but I did get back on it. I spent the afternoon riding with friends, new and old, on the paths of Peachtree City. Where else in the world can you put in 23 or so miles on golf cart paths and know that you have barely scratched the surface of what is available? It was plenty hot, but a great ride. We were an interesting crew, with 2 of us on mountain bikes, one on a fixed gear road bike, and the fourth on a BMX bike. Props to the other Kevin, as I think he worked harder than any of us. BMX bikes were just not meant for long distances.
It was a fantastic way to spend the day. At one point, I was talking to my buddy John about how my weight had gotten up into the mid-180’s. He jokingly (I thought) said that I would probably be in the 170’s after today. I got on the scales when I got back and clocked in at 178.4. After a good meal and some re-hydration, I was back into the 180’s again, but just barely. I see more Sunday rides in our future…
A great deal of anticipation and hype is about to stop taking baby steps and move to the far more impressive “Grande” size.
This Thursday, I get to spend some time with the folks that have expressed an interest in working with youth as volunteer counselors. They come from a lot of different places and levels of experience, and I am grateful for the interest that each of them has shown. God has truly graced me, as I have 7 counselors on the list so far, and one other gentleman that has agreed to help with music for a while. Getting to start revving the engines with these guys will start to really build the excitement for the program that is to come.
It’s been very exciting getting launched with Lighthouse Church these last couple of weeks. I’ve taken advantage of the time to get familiar with the adults that have been there forming the church. Perhaps more importantly, I’ve taken the time to chase down and get to know as many youth as I could find hanging around. There are definitely a lot of great students already attending (and working) at Lighthouse, and I know there are others that don’t know they belong here yet. I am anxious to get started on the work the God has called me to do here.
Whoever said that good youth ministy doesn’t hurt has obviously never been mountain biking as a youth activity. As a last “official” activity with my high school guys fuel group at C-Stone, a couple of other youth workers and I took them camping at Indian Springs State Park and mountain biking at Dausett Trails. It was an AWESOME trip. For most of the guys, it was their first time on a real mountain bike trail. Some struggled more than others, but all handled it better than I did on my first trail ride.
A few highlights from the ride:
- Just before hitting a little downhill (the Pine Mountain trail), I made a MAJOR point of telling the guys “Ride within your ability”. Did I mention that I said this multiple times? With emphasis? I then proceeded to lead them down the trail. There are several opportunities on this section of the trail to launch oneself and ones bike into the air at great personal risk. In a demonstration of my guidance to “ride within your ability”, this professional desk jockey launched off the first 3 hits with increasing height, speed, and abandon. There are a total of 4 hits on this section of trail. I now know my “ability” to rest somewhere between the 2nd and 3rd hits, as I discovered upon attempting the 3rd one. Takeoff went well, but somewhere between flight and landing, something went squirelly. My handlebars got cocked on landing, and I performed what I can only describe as a barrell roll and slide. The bicycle handled this unplanned horizontal encounter with the trail beautifully, with no noticeable after-effects. My hide, on the other hand, was not so free of effect. I’m trying to get a better “on-the-trail” picture from Wally, but for now, here’s the cleaned-up version of some of the damage:
The good news is, the doctor tells me my ribs should heal in 4-8 weeks.
- Throughout the ride, I would yell out any and all hazards to the guys behind me. They, in turn, were instructed to yell the hazards out to the folks behind them as they saw the hazards for themselves. In practice, this worked something like this: ME: “Roots” 2ND: “Roots” 3RD: “Roots.” etc… ME: “Drop off” 2ND:”Drop…OH CRAP!!!!!” This was usually followed by the sounds of laughter and the occassional sounds of bicycles entering the underbrush.
- One particularly amusing version of this effect was sharp turns. Michael had more trouble than most getting his bicycle around sharp turns, so folks would take extra care (read: sarcasm) pointing these out to him. On at least one occasion, Mike straightened a turn out and “ran over” an unsuspecting tree whose only crime was to grow where Mike wanted to ride. It is unclear at this time if that circular bruise on his chest was from the stem of his bike, the handlebars, or a tree branch seeking retribution.
- I was suprised to learn that a number of our young men (I’ll mention no names here) scream like girls when confronted with unexpected stuff on the trails. I find this amusing.
- Props to Andy. He kept up with me better than anyone on the ride, and as the first guy on the scene of the accident mentioned above, kept the laughter to a minimum.
By all reports, a good time was had by all. Funny how so many folk wanted a nap after the ride. I suppose I might have wanted one as well, but my discomfort from my various scrapes and bruises made sleep virtually impossible. A couple of other general observations made over the course of the weekend camping:
- When NO ONE showers, the BO isn’t as noticable. Or then again, maybe I was just congested.
- Not everyone in high school is familiar with smoke shifters and snipe hunting. I find this a tragedy of significant scale.
- White gasoline should be used in moderation as a campfire starting accelerant.
- Matches never cease to be interesting to young men.
- Frisbees and playing cards are the number one and two camping accessory.
- As always, all food tastes better when camping.
- Whenever possible, put Daniel in charge of planning and purchasing the food for your camping trip. He did an awesome job, particularly in cooking burgers over a fire in the middle of a rain storm.
I really enjoyed the time spent with these guys that I have grown to know so well over the past four years, and whose company I have so grown to enjoy. I hope they continue to feel free to call or drop by, even as I follow God’s call to a new role at Lighthouse. They will remain in my thoughts and prayers.
