CMA Christian Motorcyclists Association
One thing I have noticed over the years of riding is that you never know what’s going to happen five miles up the road, or sometimes before you even get out of the driveway! Life truly is, as described by Forest Gump’s mother in the movie “Forest Gump, “You never know what you’re going to get.”
One day I had to visit a patient and decided to take the bike to his house as I knew he loved all things mechanical. I had just had the thousand-mile service performed but discovered when I went to get on the bike that there was a nail in the back tire. I could have gotten angry; instead, it was more of a disappointment and lesson to learn about motorcycle tires. Better days were ahead; I got the tire changed and was back in the wind in no time!
Once, when filling in as Road Captain, I led a group to Stunt Wars, in Orlando. Everything was going smoothly, traffic across Orlando was bearable, and the weather was perfect. We got to within about a mile from our destination and as the leader, I missed a turn. We ended up going into a cul-de-sac, so I did the only thing that made sense. I maintained a good attitude, smiled, and waved at all the followers as we passed each other! We all had a big laugh and it only cost us about two minutes of lost time.
The last memory I’ll share today concerns when a group of us rode up to Cedar Key from Crystal River. It was a partially cloudy day, I think about a 30% chance of rain, and twice we ran from being very warm and dry to being very cool and wet. The bright side of the ride was that we all maintained a positive outlook; and when we arrived at our destination, every one of us was refreshed and cool! It pays to have a strong, positive attitude when riding as we often face challenges along the way.
In the Bible, in Philippians 4:12, the apostle Paul teaches, “I have learned the secret of being happy at any time in everything that happens, when I have enough to eat and when I go hungry, when I have more than I need and when I do not have enough. I can do all things through Christ because he gives me strength.” Now that is having a strong positive outlook!
See, when conditions of our lives are less than favorable, we have a choice. We can choose to give in to the problem we are facing and begin focusing so much on the setback that we can’t actively be a part of the solution. However, when we put our faith and trust in Jesus as our Savior, He teaches us to not worry about the small stuff, and the fact of the matter is that it is all just a bunch of small stuff!
In The Wind, Denny Dingler
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