He’s Right Over There

I spent the entire day Tuesday riding along the Atlantic coast. I don’t think I was ever more than a few hundred yards from the beach—and I never saw it. I believe it was right there, behind the high-rise condos and the sea wall. I just couldn’t see it.

There were signs. Road signs pointed toward various beaches. Pelicans and sea gulls soared overhead.

A few times I thought I heard the surf. Once or twice I was almost certain I heard it. The other times, it might have been traffic noise or the wind.

Even on the bridges, concrete barriers blocked my view. That’s a curious aspect of touring on a handcycle. It’s not like I can just stand up and look, or jump off the bike and run across the street to see the beach. So there I was, rolling along literally yards from the beach. It was right over there, but I couldn’t see it.

Then we reached Daytona Beach, and the ocean’s right outside out hotel window. The beach is beautiful, well worth waiting all day to experience.

As I cranked along I thought about how my ride was like walking with God. He’s right over there, so close you feel like you can reach out and touch Him, but you just can’t see Him.

Signs point toward Him—written signs tell His story, signs in nature signal His majesty.

Once or twice I’m sure I’ve heard His voice. Other times, it’s not all that clear. Maybe it’s traffic or wind.

No matter how hard I look, I just can’t see Him, even though I believe He’s right over there.

One day, I’ll reach the end of the journey. Everything I can’t quite see now will be bright and clear and incredibly beautiful.

And worth the wait.

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42 miles Tuesday between St. Augustine and Daytona Beach. My indoor face has taken on the complexion of a boiled lobster. Before you harass me about sunscreen, Becky’s been slathering it on liberally. However, sunscreen’s not much help for windburn, the result of what Jimmy Buffet might call “warm southern breezes” blowing directly in my face for two days.

You can stop feeling sorry for Monte. He got a nice 2-mile run this morning, and enjoyed exploring his first beach. He didn’t seem impressed with the taste of salt water, and appeared confused with water that ran away and then chased him. Still no alligators—fine with me.

Wednesday we head toward Titusville, which is close to Cape Canaveral. There’s an Atlas 5 launch scheduled for around 8:40 pm local time, so if weather cooperates we might get to see it.

Local weather guys say a cold front from “the mile high city” is going to hit this area later this week. To my friends back home…would you mind hanging on to your cold front?

Check out some photos from day 2.

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