Jessie's Well Blog

Day 24

 

 

Day 24
October 1, 2015

Today I crossed the half way point on my journey.  Marilyn, Celeste and I stopped at Fowler, Colorado to take a picture.  We have enjoyed having my sister-in-law Celeste Rault travel with us these last couple of days.  She flew into Colorado Springs on Tuesday and left today.  Many of you may recall that Joe and Celeste opened their home to us when Jessie was being treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City.  We will be forever grateful to have such wonderful family care for us during those days.  To have Celeste join us for chapel services at Compassion and then travel along on part of the cycling journey was very special to Marilyn and me. 

This was a hard day of riding.  I covered 114 miles due east.  Any guesses which direction the wind blew today?  If you said from the east you were correct!  The head wind was slight in the morning but as the afternoon progressed so did the intensity of the wind.  By the 110 mile mark I was in low gear pedaling with everything I had and making 8 miles per hour.  NOT FUN!

Marilyn had pulled into a parking lot in La Junta, Colorado a little after 12 noon as a lunch stop.  After I had finished my lunch and opened the door to the RV to get back on my bike a man on a recumbent bike was outside the door and introduced himself interested in our ride across the country.  His name was Greg.  Greg lives in La Junta and is a retired rodeo bull fighter and is now an auctioneer.  He began cycling after retirement to improve his health.  Marilyn gave him a Water Cycle post card and key chain and he gave us one of his cards.  He was heading east toward downtown La Junta so we rode together and had good conversation until he turned off to his destination.  Later in the day he sent Marilyn an email saying that he had been to www.Jessieswell.org and read our story and was touched.  It turns out his daughter died of an intestinal complication when she was 11 and he and his wife provide a local 4-H scholarship every year in her memory.  He then said he passed our story along to the local newspaper and said they want to run a story on Water Cycle. 

This encounter was especially meaningful to me today as this was one of those days with such difficult conditions that my mind can easily wander to question the purpose.  I believe it’s God’s way of reassuring me that His purpose is much greater than my momentary discomfort. 

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.  Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord or fully declare his praise?”  Psalms 106:1-2