Grannies in Granny_4b

I can't believe it! I had this overwhelming urge to go out bicycling again today, so I did! One of my goals is this beautiful, country valley road, but to get there, I have to go up a fairly steep, long hill. That's where I decided to go this afternoon.

It was a contest of my lungs. I don't have great lungs. I tried standing on the pedals for quite a way, but I found out that is more taxing on the lungs than sitting in low, low. So I sat in low, low, so low that I kind of wobbled my way up the hill. The muscles were okay, but the lungs were really working. Finally, I made it to the top.

Not wanting to have to come back that same elevation, I turned back down the same side, saving the beautiful valley for an earlier time of day.

I tooled around for another half an hour or so, exploring little retirement communities I'd seen but never driven through.

Now, I really am spent and content to call it a day. Thank-You, Lord.

auntpreble_blog@yahoo.com

Grannies in Granny_4

Well, today I really was in Granny. No one in their right mind would actually call them hills. They were like having a mole on your skin. Or the little nubbins on a football or basketball. I kept having images of Team Postal (now extinct) whizzing along at 60 mph. But for me it was a challenge.

I went about 2 1/2 miles very gently uphill, with lots of downs in-between. My goal was to pedal to my church to help out at the annual church cleaning. It took me 40 minutes to get there, as opposed to 13 minutes by car. But I did it! Sitting all the way.

Afterwards, I took a slightly different route to FedEx Kinko's to see the proofs of a job. I took my bike into the shop with me, because I still don't have a lock. I went home the back way, and had enough "oomph" left over to take a little side tour at the park near my house.

I decided to try a fairly steep, though short, hill standing up. I got about half way up in a high first, but it killed my abdominal muscles, so I had to sit again in granny and weave back and forth. But I made it!

Near the top, I shifted into 2nd, and my chain popped. Now what was I going to do?

For one thing, I can't lift and hold my bike with one arm while working with the other. Stooping over I know is very bad for the back. I pulled the chain a couple of times and got a fistful of grease (an exaggeration, to be sure). So, I thought I had no choice but to walk the 15 minutes home, including the downhill of what I had just pedaled up.

But somehow, I wasn't satisfied with that. It was definitely humiliating to be on foot, walking my bike. So I just thought a little bit. It seemed that what I needed was something like a nice block of wood to support the frame so I could work with the back wheel. And, in less than a minute--there it was! Not a block of wood but a nice, little wall.

I thought of asking permission from the homeowner first, but just went ahead and straddled the bike over the wall. I found out that my chain was really springy and stretchy, not like the chains I remembered from my childhood. So with a little pull here and a little pull there, a little turning of the wheel, I got it!! You can just imagine how proud and pleased I felt.

I even did a very outdoorsy, camping type thing--I got a handfull of mulch and rubbed my fingers until most of the grease was gone. I didn't want that yuk on my handlegrips!

Home was a pleasure, and I even rode up my driveway in a middle-low 2nd standing up.

Application

Psalm 147:1 Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

auntpreble_blog@yahoo.com

Grannies in Granny_3

Today I jumped a major hurdle--I got back on my bike! I left you four days ago on Cloud 9, the top of the mountain! That night I suffered so much pain in the area of my appendix, I could barely sleep. 

But I was more than ashamed to even mention it to anyone who had heard my joy over my new bicycle! Yeh, right! This is what happens to grannies when they get up on a bicycle after all these years. I do have bursitis in the left hip, sciatica on the right, overall stiff joints, and yes, overweight by at least fifteen pounds. What had I expected? Lance Armstrong--not!

Wednesday, the pain was not much better, and I had no energy at all; I felt kind of like I might be getting sick. Fortunately, it was pouring rain outside--the six day multiple storm system that stretched way west into Russia--so, I had a built-in excuse for not riding, an excuse that is, not connected to pain.

Wednesday evening I went to urgent care. The doctor was great. She's out of age range herself for appendicitis, but she said she had had hers removed just three years ago. She was thorough in her examination and sympathetic. Upshot, yes, I did have the classic pain symptoms of appendicitis in just that area (there are no muscles to speak of there), but no infection symptoms at all. The only way to tell for certain would be a CAT Scan.

My husband downplays everything, and he thought the coincidence was just too great--somehow, I had strained something by riding my bicycle. So I took a substitute Thursday and just lay very low, body, heart, and soul. Thursday evening for the second time I put on an eight hour hot pack and took a goodly portion of Tylenol.

Friday morning--all better! As in all! Yahoo!

Today's challenge was to get back up on the bike. Once on it, I saw that things were going well, so I decided to pedal over to my local bicycle shop, the one where I had purchased my bike. The trick in that was figuring out how to get there on two wheels instead of four. The main problem was the intersections. Bikes are different than cars. It's a whole different point of view.

I still have some dyslexia with the shifters when under stress, and intersections are definitely stressful. I end up making it harder to pedal when I need easier, and easier when I need harder. But the real problem was figuring out just where to get on the correct side of the street, when to follow the traffic rules for cars, when to act like a bicycle, where to cross over, things like that.

The worst time was when the bicycle lane I was in just kind of vanished beside a six lane freeway exchange, and a sign said, "Bicyclists may stay on the sidewalk."

Unfortunately, the sidewalk wasn't going where I wanted to go. So, I rode back on the wrong side a thousand yards or so, got onto the boulevard with the cars, got into the left hand lane, and turned the same way a car would. Figuring out how to get to the front door of the bike shop without dismounting was a little hard, but not nearly as difficult as figuring out how to cross that complicated intersection.

Once in the bike shop, I asked them if they had ever heard of someone irritating their appendix by riding, but they had not. So, I really don't know what had caused my pain. Just one of those things.

I bought some oil for my chain, had them tighten my hand grip with a small Allen, and then home. Home was easy, because they were all right turns.

Fifty-five minutes total, back up on the mountain, hearing the birds, smelling the wet leaves, exuberating in the freedom of my brand new bicycle. Next challenge will be actually oiling my own bicycle chain.

 Applications

I woke up this morning feeling like I was emerging from a cocoon. The first verse of Psalm 23 greeted me, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want," with the emphasis falling on Lord and not. I shall not ever be lacking for spiritual care and keeping, because my shepherd is the Lord.

Verses two and three describe the kind of good, good feeding and care the Lord provides His sheep. Then verse four speaks of death. Yes, we do encounter trials, low periods, darkness, gloom, despair, hopelessness, all these; but in Christ, these pass like the winter storms.

Christian living begins in death, the death of our own sin, and the subsequent repentance and belief in the redemptive death and resurrection of Christ our Savior and Lord. Following that our Christian walk leads us continually through the valleys of the shadow of death. But where there is death in Christ, there is also resurrection in Him. No death and dying, no resurrection. Consider these words of Jesus.

John 12:24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain."

Luke 9:23 Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me."

Living in Christ means living a constant series of deaths and new beginnings. We do the dying, but our Good Shepherd brings the new beginnings.

auntpreble_blog@yahoo.com

Personal Word--Grannies in Granny_2

Today after work I went out for my second ride. Yesterday I had done a few hills in my neighborhood, so today I decided just to do some flats.

I went for all the cul-de-sacs in the neighborhood across the wash from our house. I practised up and down shifting on both the right and left hand, not quite mastering my dyslexia on the two click shifts on each side.

I felt uneasy on the right turns, so I practiced a few of those. Soon I was purposefully weaving in and out, dodging wet leaves on the pavement, trying to get the feel of the bike, to trust it and me, trying to get a sense of balance back and "oneness" with the bike.

We had had a rainstorm yesterday and today. The air was crisp, the wind blowing. Various people were out walking their dogs. I chose a greenbelt path, and soon enough the pavement ended and was replaced by chewed up asphalt. A sense of granny-style adventure took hold of me as I hit wet dirt, broken sticks and twigs, and mud! Yes, I was off the pavement!

But it was a dead end, so I returned to the cul-de-sacs. On one of them a little girl was on the sidewalk in front of her house. She seemed to be just lollegaggling along, humming a little song to herself.

That one scene transported me back to my childhood. I remembered countless times of being outside on days just like this one "playing". What did I play? The same thing the little girl was playing--whatever came to mind.

The water in the gutters reminded me of sticks and leaves I used to send down the "river" as a child. There had been stones to pick up and throw for no reason, animals and fairies up in the clouds.

I was getting the feel of my bike and I went out onto a main street. I crossed over into the bike lane, turned into the left hand lane at the signal, stopped and waited for the light to change with two or three cars also stopped behind me.

I was in the bike lane of a main boulevard now, and I had to plan out the next light, which was my own street. I needed to cross over. I decided to press the pedestrian walk button, but how to alight from my bike gracefully? I've adjusted the seat high for full leg extension, and I have to stand on tippee-toes to reach the pavement. Aha! The curb!

I pressed the button, waited for the green, and crossed the four lane divided highway with cars stopped in both directions. I did it! A few more cul-de-sacs on my way home, then up our driveway in the lowest of the lows, my lowest granny gear, still in the saddle. I made it!

Applications

1) I am so grateful to my son for being vocal and demonstrative about his love for bicycling. He even got me out on one. He wasn't pushy, or obnoxious, or self-righteous. He just loves bikes and wanted to share that love for something he truly believes is good for people.

When is the last time I have ever shared the Lord as enthusiastically as my son shared his bicycling with me?

2) As I look back on the thirty bicycle-less years I spent, all on account of something as small as not wanting to wear a helmet, I can't help but think of the "little" reasons and excuses that many people give for not turning to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. I knew I really wanted a bike all those years; I just didn't want the helmet. How many know they really need and want the Savior, but they allow something small to stand in their way?

3) I'm sharing this account on my blog because getting my bike has been the most fun and exhilaration I have had in a very long time. It's great! I also want to share that knowing Jesus Christ and through Him God my Father in a very personal way is also very great! A bike costs money, but eternal life is free to us. Just turn to Christ, confess to Him your sins, ask His forgiveness, and believe He died on the cross and was raised again for you. I waited thirty years for my bike. Don't wait another minute to ask Jesus into your life.

auntpreble_blog@yahoo.com

Personal Word--Grannies in Granny_1

I was born and raised on a bicycle...ok, that's a figure of speech. But, bicycling is what we kids did all through my childhood. There were no tricks back then--just plain and simple no gear, then three gear, then, finally the ten speed. I was seventeen when I owned (and lost) my last personal bicycle. I did ride my husband's bike for a season about thirty years ago. (We've been married just over forty years).

I'm sixty-one now. And I just bought a new bicycle!!!!!!! Actually, I've wanted one ever since my husband's broke down. I mean like really wanted one. Even had it on a list once. I finally crossed it off the list when I fully had given up on the idea of ever riding one again.

What was it holding me back from just getting one? ......the helmet! When I was a child, helmets had not been invented. I have a very broad face and I cannot stand anything on my body that's tight anywhere. I buy my eyeglasses too big--they do slide constantly, but--very important--they don't hurt.

So, I just couldn't bring myself to try out bicycling again, all because of not wanting to wear a helmet.

And then, just this year, along came my son, Orion. He is into bicycling big time. I hadn't seen him for six months, and when I visited him last summer in San Francisco for a few hours, what did we do? He drove me all around the city and up into the hills along the exact course of his forty mile bike loop! I was glad to let him drive. It was a foggy day, and we couldn't see too much.

So I knew my son loved to bicycle. When he invited the whole family up for Christmas, we all gladly accepted. As a gift, my son rented us all bicycles for the day, and with a little cajoling, off we went. That's all it took. I was hooked. I made up my mind to buy myself a bicycle. About three weeks later, I did.

But the helmet...I had been wearing my helmet so loose in San Francisco that it had been sliding around my head a little. Plus, I was wearing it tilted back. In the bike store, I had my bike all picked out and it was up at the cash register. Then we went to find a helmet. The salesperson put one on my head, and I started screaming and protesting quite loudly. Too tight! Too tight! "It has to be worn that way," he said, "or else if you fall, the helmet will get knocked off and do you no good at all."

So we tried a different model helmet. Finally, we made a deal. He would put the bike on hold for me, I would buy the helmet and wear it around for a few hours. If I still wanted the bike, I could come back to get it.

That worked, and I bought the bike.

To Be Continued

auntpreble_blog@yahoo.com

Providence

Psalm 127:2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat-- for he grants sleep to {2 Or eat-- for while they sleep he provides for} those he loves.

This morning driving to school, I fell in behind a double tanker truck on a narrow, winding road impossible to pass. The truck was going about 18 mph, but it was exuding a very, very, very, smelly stink, like a sewer.

I always drive w/ my windows open (and the heater on if need be), so by the time I rolled up my windows, my car was filled w/ this truly obnoxious odor for the 12 minutes or so it took me to get to a favorable passing location. That was the good providence that happened this morning!

Huh? Well, at 11:00, still before lunch, a woman from the office who usually parks near me, came into my room to tell me that my right, rear tire was completely, totally flat, like on the rim.

It was already 2:45 in the afternoon before I had time for Triple A to fix my tire. He asked me to back my car, and when I got inside—Whew!! The stench was still quite strong. I opened all four of my windows to air out the car.

He fixed the tire (It was a two inch nail driven in backwards—head side first!); I had a meeting I was eager to get to; friends had stopped by with whom I was talking, and the kindly tow driver had a dialogue and agenda of his own.

So finally I paid him for the repair, reparked my car, rolled up the windows, tossed my keys into my purse, locked the car, tossed my purse into the trunk, and finally slammed the trunk behind me.

Went to the meeting; went to my room to finish up; went to lock my classroom door at 5:00 with the dusk beginning to descend, Wha-lah! no car keys! Cell phone beeping like crazy that my battery is dead! So what is providential in all this?

Well—in my distraction and haste to get to the meeting, I had neglected to roll up window number four! So, I was able to get into the car to open the trunk and see if indeed my keys were in there. The thing is, if my car had not been STINKING! I would never have rolled down all four windows for a 10 second drive in reverse!

God knew this morning how depleted my own battery would be by the end of the day, and He spared me another 45 minutes alone in the dark w/ no phone waiting for Triple A a second time. And, He didn’t even tell me that’s what He was doing. Good news is I hadn't been too misbehaved as I crawled along at 18 mph behind that stinky truck!

Assurance

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Acts 4:24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them."

God is the great creator of the universe and all that is in it. In spite of what the ungodly say, common sense, common observation, common thought, and common wisdom know this. The heart of man, however much an unbeliever denies it, knows that he is a created being. God's word also tells us that the earth did not make itself from nothing:

Psalm 19:1 ...The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 
2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 
3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 
4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, 
5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.

But, who is this God? The creation of itself does not give any man, neither shaman, child, nor physicist, a direct, personal knowledge of its creator. And so, before a personal knowledge of God comes, doubts come. Is there really a God? What is He like? Does He see me? How far away is He? Can I reach Him? Does He hear me? Does He even know that I exist?

The meek and the lowly, those with problems greater than themselves, the weak, those in bondage to sin which they themselves despise, these kinds of people yearn for a being higher than themselves. They yearn for a God who would be able to pull them out of the pit, redeem their life from ruin, and give them morning and joy in their hearts. Contemplating creation does not satisfy the heart that truly seeks and yearns after God.

The Bible is a wonderful book, because it teaches and reveals to the human heart what no other book on earth has ever or shall ever reveal. The Bible reveals the heart of God. The Bible is God's gift to the human race. The Bible shows a God who desires personal relationship with mankind as individuals even more than men and women desire relationship with Him. The Bible goes beyond creation and reveals the creator Himself.

Who unlocks the Bible to a human heart? God. He is the source of all wisdom and knowledge. The Bible cannot be apprehended apart from the giving of it by God to an individual's understanding. Step One is to Ask Him.

Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.

God reveals Himself. He who created the universe is so far above even the loftiest mind on earth that no one can ascend to Him. It is He who must descend to us. And He has descended to us.

John 3:13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven-- the Son of Man.

Who is this Son of Man? None other than God Himself.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  
2 He was with God in the beginning.  
3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.  
5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
......
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The gift of Christmas is the Word--the eternal, living, creating Son of God--become flesh, human flesh who lived among us. The Bible reveals Him. The Holy Spirit also makes Him known. The Holy Spirit is the Helper, the Spirit of God, sent by God into the world to help people apprehend the light of the Son of God and the light of the Bible.

The Son in His life on earth revealed the nature and character of the all-powerful Creator God. Jesus the Son died naked, nailed to a wooden cross, in order to save humans from the death their sin caused them. This is love. This is who God is. God gave His own life in the life of Jesus His Son.

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 
14 You are my friends if you do what I command.

The very good news for the meek, the lowly, those in bondage to sin against their wills, those who desire with all their hearts a better life, is that God lives, He is good, He is just, He is righteous, holy, powerful, and He is love. Who does God love? All who want Him. How does He love? Through His Son Jesus Christ, God's only-anointed for this task.

The gift of the New Year is a new beginning, a new day, a new time in our hearts that is called "Today".

Hebrews 3:7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: "Today, if you hear his voice, 
8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert,

Today is the time to turn to Jesus Christ to ask Him into your heart for salvation and new life. If you have already done so, rejoice! Today is also a good time to renew your vows of belief and to ask God for more knowledge of Him through His Son, His Word, and His Holy Spirit.

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Because the very same God who created the world sent His own Son, His great gift of love, to redeem the world, I know that everything will be okay. This is the assurance with which God is blessing my heart today.

---------------------------
Heavenly Father, thank You for creating the world and all it contains. Thank You for sending Your Son Jesus Christ into the world to reveal Yourself to us, to save us from our sins, and to make a Way for us back to You. Thank You for the assurance of Your Holy Spirit in our hearts that in Jeus Christ everything will be okay. I pray, Lord, that You would just send these poor words of mine out into the great sea and bring back some fish, to the the praise of Your glory! Thank You, Lord God, for this new year and this new day of peace, rest, and joy in Christ. Amen.


auntpreble_blog@yahoo.com