Westward Bound: Day 3 (Givers and Takers)

Ahh… safely in our hotel room in Kearney Nebraska. The weather generally cooperated, though we put on and took off our rain gear several times today. We did lunch somewhere in Des Moines.  It was a grand adventure.  We found ourselves at what is likely the only exit that doesn’t have convenient food services.  There were two “sit down and stay awhile” places nearby but nothing like a Subway or other common lunch fare.

As we were gassing the bikes, I noticed a “Taco Truck” parked on the corner of the lot.  If you know me at all, you already know without me telling you that we ate there for sure. After topping off the bikes, we found a place to park and walked to the window. We met Zack, a “local” who was waiting on his lunch and struck up a conversation during which the attendant in the truck handed him his food. As he took it, Zack told her that anything we ordered he’d pay for.  I did a double take and thanked him.  Wow, God blessed us with Patriots who wanted to show support and gratitude two days in a row. I was floored.  Zack was a “Giver”.  He expressed with his words and his actions his support for the Military and for others.

Fast forward to our hotel lobby this evening.  In most locations of this hotel chain you can find freshly made cookies at the front desk. This was true with our hotel tonight.  Dad and I were nearly salivating at the chance to dive into a Dark Chocolate Caramel cookie, but asked the clerk to get us napkins so we could pick them up without touching other cookies on the plate.  While he was gone, a woman approached us, loudly proclaiming to the person she was with that she was going to get another cookie.  I told her that we were looking to take the “black ones”, you know, kind of a “dibs” thing.  She corrected me saying, “they are brown”, stepped in front of me and took one of the remaining two right off the tray and smugly walked away.  I was amazed and walked back to our room dumbfounded.   Cookie lady is a “Taker”.  I don’t know her reasons for not showing honor, love and respect to another human, but it left me disappointed for her.

I’ve been thinking about what I could’ve done differently and can’t find a better response then walking away. I’m not sure I’d have represented Jesus very well in that moment. I know it’s just a cookie, but we are tired and everything is amplified. Not an excuse, it just is what it is. Now, an hour or more post, cookie snatch, I’ve come to the realization that God put her there in that moment for me to learn of her needs and pray for her. No, this isn’t a “look at me, I’m an awesome Christian” moment, I’m just keeping it real.  I was miffed, walked away so I wouldn’t say something stupid, and now after the fact, God has been revealing to me that because we’ve crossed paths I can pray provision, plenty, and that she never again feels like she has to take something before it’s gone or she won’t have any (orphan spirit).

Here’s a couple of photos from the day.  I snapped one of Dad just ahead of me while we were riding.  I keep my phone mounted on the handlebar for use as a GPS so it was fairly simple to turn on the camera and click the shutter. I snapped these photos of our rear tires to show you the difference between a standard bike tire after 5000 miles of highway driving and a car tire mounted on a bike after about 12000 miles of highway/street driving and about 3ooo of mountains.  Dad will have to buy a new tire shortly after we get home, while this car tire has a great deal of life left in it.

This mural was on a wall here in Kearney. I noticed it on our way back from dinner. It’s a reminder there are a lot of great humans, “Givers” left in the USA.  I hope you one of them and your skills aren’t rusty.

Note the 10 Commandments on the right side.

Bike tire with big flat patch worn in center.

Car tire, lots of life left in this one.