Tonight is our last night in Missouri. You have no idea how good it feels to have typed that out. As much as I hate West Virginia, I hate Missouri infinitely more. Today should have been a short day of flat easy riding. Instead we had 20 mph head winds and an escaped convict who stole a cop car was on the loose. Here I was just thinking local law enforcement was filming the next Fast and Furious, when really we were just a couple miles from a stolen cop car and a lasting stay behind bars.
So yes, today was awful for riding. No cyclist in their right mind would go out for a ride in what we went through today. That being said, today was a great day for me mentally. However, before we get there I'd like to apologize for the lack of revisions in previous blog posts. I slept through the majority of my four years in high school, therefore I rely on quick wit and sub par comedy to get me through writing. Punctuation and correct spelling is an after thought.
So after reading a friend of mine's blog I was inspired to just write down a list of things I've learned. They could be about me personally, my faith, the trip, other states, or random knowledge you may never need to know till you're stupid enough to ride across the country.
1. No state in the United States compares to Texas. Done. End of Conversation.
2. Nothing can save you from the pain of a bicycle seat in your butt for seven hours. I found hell and it's where my butt meets seat.
3. West Virginia is where cell phone service goes to die.
4. Coca-Cola is the nectar of the God's. Anyone who says differently can drown in a vat of your soda of a choice.
5. I have the best friends in the world. I hate them all. But they're still the best.
6. I miss everyone. Literally every day. Georgetown and College Station are the greatest places on earth and I miss both of my families from each place. Side note: Family isn't just a term for those with the last name Melikian.
7.(They'll probably start to be more serious) I love to blog and write. I'm not great at it but I love it. So I'll probably write my own after this trip is all said and done separate from Wendie's Wish. I process and learn better when I get them out there.
8. I am a man of faith. Though my actions may say differently, I am. I suffer serious conviction on what the Lord calls of me every day, especially on this trip, and most days I'm beat to a thin nothing spiritually. So it begins to become an after thought of everything else I do, and that is the saddest truth of life.
9. Wendie's Wish is not a memorial or memory of my mother. It wasn't created to be and never will be. That's a hard truth for a lot of people. And if Wendie's Wish is made only to give a good feeling to others and to be inspired without action by something a 20 year old kid and his friends did, I've failed. On a deeper note for me personally. If it only makes an impact in this present life (though this will often be the case and it will still be a great success to see that family come out of a bad situation), I personally have failed. But if I am able to make eternal impacts for the Kingdom in loving and serving than I can rest sound that I am where I am called to be.
10. At the end of the day, interviews, newspaper articles and magazine articles don't mean a thing if what I stated above isn't true. Which brings me to my next point.
11. Wendie's Wish is most definitely not about me or anything I can do. I'm not that great and the last thing I want is for people to make me to be great.
12. I'm stronger than I should be. What I mean by that is I've always been an endurance/aerobic athlete. I can endure pain longer than most and it leaves me with a lack of dependency. I need dependency. Because I can carry myself longer and harder than most people I meet I forget that Jesus saved me so I could be dependent on him and do more than I could by myself. That's pretty cool.
13. (lighter note) My friends are superior to me. This trip is proof of that. I know because my best friend Cameron Foreman keeps claiming to be out of shape and he keeps laying it to me on the bike. Not to mention Evan Hibbs is an aerobic machine. He just can't be beat.
14. Wendie's Wish is a product of what the Lord has done. Anyone that disagrees or thinks differently has obviously never met me. I'm not capable of near as much as what the Lord has made capable through me.
15. Before the last two years I had a heart for people with hurt. But it was just a heart for those people, almost filled with pity. Now I have been that person. And I'm not upset about it.
16. My family rocks. My sister wants to do inner city missions and God bless her she'll leave Texas to do it (read number 1). My brother loves this organization and will do anything to see it succeed. My dad will disagree with half of this post because he thinks I'm "extraordinary". My sister-in-law thirsts for biblical knowledge more than just about anyone I've ever met and THAT is the biggest blessing in knowing her.
17. My girlfriend supports me more than anyone I have ever met and it's driving her absolutely insane that she can't be in the middle of all that's happening in Wendie's Wish like she gets to be in College Station. I count myself pretty lucky to have tricked her into sticking around.
18. This trip is much harder than I thought it would be. Not because of the mileage, but because we're on our own out here. Also something I don't regret. These guys are my family.
19. I hate biking, but I love the time I get to pray. Student Life is probably the most rocking camp out there because it's being soaked in hours of prayer. My family and friends should be killing their personal ministries and I'm sure FBCGT youth is on fire right now (This is even without my prayer). Big things are going to be coming as soon as I can get back and get them on paper and organized for Wendie's Wish.
20. Lastly, I miss youth ministry. It is the greatest blessing of my life to get to teach and grow with students as they learn about a God who loves them and cherishes them and has a better plan for them than they have for themselves. It is an even bigger blessing that the Lord uses someone like to me to do his work, because I'm pretty sub par, and that's how I know the gospel is alive and well.
That's not all I've learned this trip but I figure 20 is enough. I know tonight wasn't a lot about riding and cool stories of thunderstorms. But it's what happened within me in today's ride and I wanted to you get to experience that. Can't wait to be back July 6th. I miss Texas, y'all!
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