Buena Vista Bike Fest & Team YL

There were about 70 on our team that joined the other 700+ in beautiful Buena Vista, CO! The weather was amazing and I'm sad to be back in OK with a high of 97 degrees.

Here we are before the ride. My brother did 100 miles and the three of us girls did 70 miles!!!!

Then finally, here we are after the ride. The end to a beautiful day!

Now, I'm back in full swing. Summer is right around the corner. I feel it (well, I've already stated how stinkin' hot it already is here!) Our schedule is about to radically change. I'll save that for another post. For now, I'm getting these pictures posted since they finally all loaded!

Colorado Bound

Well, I fly to CO in the morning for our big Team YL ride this Saturday! I guess we're still riding even though it snowed there this morning.

Sometimes I wonder if trips are even worth the effort. Mind you, I'm writing on the heels of packing bags for all three girls, getting them down for bed (this includes dealing with their emotions of Daddy already been gone for 3 full days and Mommy leaving them for 5 days) and then finally thinking about packing my bag. Tired yet? I'm sure by tomorrow I won't be carrying all that I am right now as I'm closing up things around the house. I just needed to unload a bit before I load up for my trip.
If any of you are curious about the ride, you can check out this site. Also our reason for doing it which I talked about a couple posts ago!
I'll write upon my return!!!!

Mac

I would sit and watch the Mac commercials and laugh (a little.) But today, when I was transferring pictures using a flash drive from my old PC laptop, I realized that I was living the commercial. I slid the flash drive into the usb port of my dell only to watch a bubble pop up at the bottom notifying me of something while the top left corner had a gray box with a little flashlight shaking back and forth until all of the sudden the big, proud box popped up offering me choices of what I wanted to do with what I just put in!!! Making me laugh as I copied what I needed to onto it, I then slid it into the Mac and then it ever so quietly popped up unobtrusively onto the desktop for me to acknowledge at my convenience. After going through this process numerous times.....I had lots to transfer....I was the stinking commercial!! I just watched the two men (laptops) talk to each other :)

I did go on a bit longer than I wanted to. All I really wanted to announce was that I inherited a hand-me-down PowerBook and I love it. It was funny because I sent out an email announcing that I needed people to reply to help me in my process of updating my address book and said that no one really had to say anything. But, because I mentioned the reason for this update was because I had received a Mac, you wouldn't believe the comments!!! I laughed as I opened most (from Mac lovers, of course!)

Anyway, I'm not all with it on the rss feed thingie yet with Safari, so hopefully I'll catch up on reading blogs eventually :)

Sanctification

I need to remember that this process from becoming a believer to starting our eternity after death is called sanctification and it is not instant. Sometimes I wonder why I'm not better at some of the things I've spiritually been practicing for a couple, almost three decades.

Here's what wikipedia says about Sanctification:

The term denotes both inanimate objects set apart for special purposes (e.g. the Solomon's Temple vessels) and the change brought about by God in a believer at the point of salvation or justification which continues throughout their life and does not end until the believer reaches the afterlife, unless complete holiness is possible in their “vain” life on earth in the final days before the Second Coming of Christ.

In our instant-fix society, this long and grueling process is difficult to accept. I've been practicing patience for quite a few years now, and yet my children make me feel like I have none and never really had any to know how to use it if I did. Maybe it's not just patience, but also self-control. I don't think I need super Nanny to come over or anything like that, because I just need the Holy Spirit to come over my sin nature more. I know He will it's just....am I allowing Him? We have free access to the fruits of the Spirit and yet sometimes I feel like I'm like joy, what's joy?

I have recently started a routine with the girls on Sunday nights where we ask God to help us with one fruit of the Spirit each week. Then we go around in a circle and pray for the one to the left. It's been a fun thing to start even though the results are not quite clearly seen yet!

Team YL

I don't think I've mentioned yet on this blog that I'm a biker girl. If you've seen my blog address....it is: rider meyer girl. I chose this becaues I snowboard (often referred to as riding a mountain), road bike and mountain bike. I like to ride horses and roller coasters....so there's the story behind ridermeyergirl.

Now, onto Team YL. My husband works for Young Life. You can read about that here. Well, last year we were on a bike team to help raise money for the ministry. We are doing it again on May 17th.
Please help me now by clicking TEAM YL and following these easy instructions:

1. Click the link on that page that says, "Want To Support A Rider?"
2. Complete the giving form.
3. Put "Rachel Meyer / Team YL" in the line that is labeled "Sponsoring."

Here I am with my siblings!!! They are all on the team this year!!

Even if you don't give financially to this cause, we would love your prayers for the ministry of Young Life. I feel like many of the struggles I write about on this blog are because of being in ministry. We covet your prayers!! Thanks for taking the time to read this post (which is so different from what I usually do on here.)

Word Verification-shmerification

I feel drunk that I can't type the word verification on the comment form the first time. I'm not an automated computer that's trying to leave a comment, but does it have to be so hard? Anyone else smelling what I'm steppin' in?

AhlljjeX oh, darn...Ahiljjex ....oh, I guess my comment isn't that great after all!

Weeds

While I'm on the subject of diseased trees, I may as well write out the other analogy that has more profoundly affected me. I see weeds just as I see sin. I don't have to plant weeds in my flower beds or yard. They just come. I don't have to spend money and time planting them to have them come grow and begin to take over all things pretty. They come uninvited.
Do I ever have to teach my children to sin? NO. They just know how to do it. Because like weeds, it's just there. We are born with a sin nature.
I have to spend money to buy nice flowers and plants. I have to care for them so they don't die. I equate this to the efforts I need to put forth in my spiritual life. Also, to deal with weeds, we pull them at their roots to get rid of them. We spray weed killer on them. I don't have to make sure and water and give plenty of sunshine for a weed to grow....they just grow. I do however, have to water and give plenty of sunshine to the wanted flowers and plants.
Spending time saturated in the Word and spending time at the roots of sin will help me to have a maintained life, like the garden I so desire *grin*