Railroads take people places. My lovely girlfriend Emily hopped on the train with me last Thursday in St. Paul, MN to ride the rails out to Montana. Leaving roughly two hours late, could put a damper on the start of any adventure, but some 22 hours, one cup of coffee, almost missing the "All aboard!" call in Havre, and an extremely expensive cold chicken dinner we rolled into Whitefish, MT. We came to town for my buddy Zach's wedding. Right on!
Rodeo! Dust filled the air. Large thighs filled small Wranglers. Miss Montana's voice filled our ears with The Star Spangled banner. Tears filled the eyes of mamas, papas, and sentimental local boys. It was a perfect night to watch real men ride horses that were kicking and jumping like four year olds playing soccer after drinking espresso. The clown had jokes. The crowd had hats and mullets. Strapping one hand to the back of a cow that is the size of a small car (and probably has more power) only to be thrown from it face first into the Montana soil sure sounds like fun. As Toby Keith said "I shoulda been a cowboy."
Rafting on raging rivers really makes me smile. It was a semi-normal Sunday afternoon in the Flathead Valley - after church meet the pastor and his family at the river, pump up the raft, grab paddles, life jackets, and a few friends and try to make it home for dinner. With clouds rolling overhead and water rushing through the canyon, 58 degrees F sure felt cold. August is supposed to make you sweat not shiver. For better or worse, I got to paddle a two-man, inflatable kayak down Buffalo Rapids. I've paddled this stretch of river sort of successfully two times before. They say "Third time's the charm" but I still don't like inhaling water, smashing against rocks, and doing a 2.3 second inventory of all life's responsibilities while wondering what it will be like standing at a wedding with a cast on my leg. So, the semi-normal Sunday afternoon turned into one for the memory bank and all limbs and lives are still in on piece.
Remembering your hometown while riding a bike is just like ... well, riding a bike. Thrift stores, coffee shops, old friends, and sunshine will make any Monday a fun day. Romping through the woods on a familiar trail, smelling Indian paintbrush and white pine, burping up a little bit of breakfast, and following that favorite ridge walk to the summit put the icing on the cake for Tuesday. With the sun shining and temperatures rising, Wednesday was on the lake in the afternoon.
Real relationships are formed when you risk your life with friends. For Zach's bachelor party, we we did what we always do - jump off stuff. The water was warm, and the sound of laughter echoed off the walls all the way down the lake. Back flips, front flips, swan dives, back slaps, and high fives were the theme of the night. How many moments like this have we had together? Building a bond that is stronger than gorilla glue holding a coffee cup to the roof a Ford Tempo our friendship has involved danger, fear, and encouraging each other to jump. Real relationships involve trust, require risk, and are rewarding. Thanks for a great night Zach.
I was reading 2 Corinthians 5 the other day, and two more R words came into the picture - reconciliation and righteousness. This right here is what life is all about.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Consider what this is saying to you today. Think about it. How are "R" words our words?
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