Pedal Day 43 - NEW YORK!

"The only things we can keep are the things we fully give to God."

C. S. Lewis, given to me by Margaret

"Put yourself on the bottom shelf!"

-Anonymous

"Things that are healthy grow naturally."

-Rick Warren

"What's going on in the local church is the most important thing on planet earth."

-Bill Hybels

New York and PENNSYLVANIA too! We pedaled in three states today: Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. We went from Ashtabula, Ohio to Dunkirk, New York. Our miles today totaled 80.79. Not too bad for rain, one stop to put our fingers in Lake Erie, one flat (Jonathan), one bike shop stop, one lunch in Erie, and several photo stops! Today was a hard day, mostly because of the rain and flat tire. Poor Jonathan has had three flats in three days. We did remedy the flat tire problem today with a stop at Competitive Gear, a bike shop on Route 5 in Erie, Pennsylvania. We had just met Margaret for lunch at Diamond Cafe where Jonathan got a Pittsburger that was a much larger burger than he expected. After asking the waitress, "How do you eat this thing?" he did not have any problem putting it away!

Back to the bike shop . . . Jonathan and I both decided to get rid of the tires we've been pedaling and invest in tires that will hopefully take us the remaining 596 miles to the Atlantic Ocean without any more flats. We were thrilled when Seth and Jim said they would put the tires on our bikes immediately, which they did. Jonathan and I are now counting on no more flats!

Riding the last miles in Pennsylvania and the beginning miles of New York I was made aware of the many vineyards in this area of the country. I had no idea. We passed several wineries and one that even offered free samples. We weren't interested in the samples because we were seriously looking for an ice cream drive in! We did not find one.

Speaking of ice cream . . . Carman's Ice Cream in Loganville, Pennsylvania is, without a doubt, the best ice cream in the world! THE BEST! After we finish the ride we will stop by Loganville on the way home and I'm going to get one pint of Carman's chocolate peanut butter ice cream and eat it all by myself. I may get a second one as well. I'm going to eat it slowly and let my taste buds surf the flavor of the world's greatest ice cream and my favorite flavor! If I can figure out how to do it, I'm going to bring about twenty gallons home with me too!

Okay, for the life of me I cannot find one verse in the Bible that has to do with ice cream, not one! I'm sure there will be chocolate peanut butter ice cream in heaven though and I'm sure the Carman family will be scooping it out. You and I will eat all we want and never gain one pound! Good stuff. Still, there's no way I can use ice cream as a spiritual illustration. I can use taste, however. Carman's Ice Cream wouldn't be so great if I didn't have taste. It would just be a mouthful of cold, plain old cold . . . no flavor. Because I have taste I can overdose on that cold stuff when I put it in my mouth. I can appreciate the flavor and all the work that has been done to make it so enjoyable.

Same thing with God. "Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who trust in him" (Psalm 34:8)!

"You must crave pure spiritual milk so that you can grow into the fullness of your salvation. Cry out for this nourishment as a baby cries out for milk, now that you have had a taste of the Lord's kindness" (1 Peter 2:2-3).

I love Carman's Ice Cream. That's probably why the Lord moved me out of Pennsylvania and many states away! It would be an unhealthy environment for me to live close to Carman's. I would be eating ice cream for breakfast, lunch, supper, and evening snack before going to bed! I would even branch out and try more flavors. If you ever taste it, trust me, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about!

Once a person really tastes of the goodness of God, a strong desire to indulge develops. You can't get enough. You read about him, hear about him, sing about him, and share things about him but you still can't get enough. It's like wanting to lick the bowl! You know what I mean. "Taste and see that the Lord is good . . ." Pig out! Over eat! Be embarrassing. Slurp. Lick the spoon and the bowl. Ask for seconds, thirds . . . whatever but taste! You'll not be sorry. Put those taste buds to work right now!

Don't be a Wait Watcher!