Let’s talk about a couple of things I said last time.
I absolutely believe I’ve bypassed divine appointments. In a hurry, too focused on my own destination, whatever. You’ve probably done that as well. I’m convinced Jesus presents us with frequent opportunities to engage and listen. In my case, I’m certain I miss many of them.
I simply don’t notice.
This DOESN’T mean we ought to be interrupting every person we encounter. Most folks are just going about their day. A friendly greeting and perhaps a brief conversation is all they want.
One of many things I miss about our multi-day tours is the conversations with people along the road. They tended to fall into three categories.
The first – What’s wrong with you crazy people riding bikes up these mountains?
Those were fun. Mostly, the silliness evaporated when we explained the mission behind our efforts.
The second, and probably most common – Tell us more about human trafficking and your Home of Hope. These folks saw our trailer and jerseys and genuinely wanted more information. Great conversations, occasional donations (though that wasn’t the point), and the feeling more people understood.
These two kinds of conversations are seeds. It’s our job to plant them and trust Jesus for what he does with them, because we will most likely never know the outcome.
The third – Someone who needed to tell THEIR story. This didn’t happen often, but when it did, I felt like we were on holy ground.
I’d look around and see one of our teammates off to the side, perhaps at a picnic table, engaged one-on-one with someone we didn’t know. And you could just tell something special was happening.
Sometimes those conversations lasted a few minutes. Sometimes a rider got left behind – because what’s a few miles when you’re on holy ground.
Often, the details of those conversations couldn’t be shared. But we all knew something important happened.
Something that made cranking all those miles worthwhile.