When we last left Griffin in Part 2 of his testimony, he had just decided to never be involved with Biking for Babies ever again: the cost was just far too much. Ready to see where God takes him next? Read on!
I should have just shown an ounce of patience.
Barely an hour later, I got a phone call from my old boss at St. Bernard. The full-time dorm director position opened up and he wanted me to have the first opportunity to accept the job. (You guessed it, God doing his thing count: 15) I almost ruined it. I started laughing when he made the job offer. And he thought I was laughing at him. Thankfully he gave me the opportunity to explain that I was laughing at myself and my lack of trust in Him. It was higher pay then what I had previously, I had days off, meaning I could finally start school again. And the best part? I had summers off; I would never have to ask for time off for Biking for Babies again. Have I mentioned Jesus is pretty cool? Because Jesus is pretty cool.
The ride finished. Even though I had an awful time, nothing of any real consequence happened. I just didn’t enjoy this year’s National Ride. But God had made it abundantly clear. This was my mission. This is where he wanted me for the foreseeable future. I was coming back for my fourth year.
Fourth year. 2020. We all know how crazy 2020 was. Fresh in our minds. However, if it gives you any indication of how unstable and crazy my life was before 2020, it was the easiest year for me in possibly the last five. 2020 gave me less twists and curves and unpredictably than I had experienced since high school. While I understand that’s not necessarily true for most other people, it was for me. I know it certainly wasn’t the case for Biking for Babies as an organization.
Instead of our normal National Ride, all the routes did their ride in Wisconsin. I’m not exactly privy to the details of how exactly we ended up logistically moving the ride there, but we did it. And I’m sure God had no small part in it. But the challenges for me came from attempting to do school during the summer and the National Ride simultaneously. Thankfully, because of COVID-19, all my classes were online, so it was manageable, but it was still hard. I was able to get most of my schoolwork done before the National Ride. There was some stuff I had to do during the ride, but it was completely manageable because of my teachers’ cooperation and some support from my teammates during the week. And not only that, but the ride, even through the haze of 2020, was enjoyable for me again.
One of my favorite stories during the 2020 National Ride was while we were going down a backroad in the support van, and I was talking to Erin, our other support crew member. I was complaining that something that I missed about previous rides is that whenever we stopped for a break or while support crew was waiting on the side of the road for the cyclists, there would always be people that would pull up to us: asking what we were doing, asking what Biking for Babies was, etc. It just hadn’t happened yet that ride, and we were a few days in already. I kid you not: 30 seconds later, a pickup truck comes by, pulls up next to us, “hey, what’s going on here?” (God doing his thing count: 16) I couldn’t help but put a big ole grin on my face and tell him what was up. It was the highlight of my week, and that was a week of nothing but highlights.
I don’t know what God has in store for myself and Biking for Babies in 2021, but I know I’m not missing it. He has done so much work through myself and through this organization, that there’s no way I can say no. That’s why I keep coming back. Yes, there’s an amazing community that is so joyful and vibrant. Yes, the National Ride is fun. Yes, this mission does amazing work, and it will continue to do so. There are SO MANY reasons for me to keep coming back. However, the main reason I do is that He has made it abundantly clear: this is my mission. This is something that I am called to do. And when it’s been made so obvious, that there’s no room for doubt; it’s pretty dang hard to say no.
Final count in the details: God 16, Devil 0. Yeah. That’s pretty much how I should have guessed this would go down.
If you want to join our mission…if you want your life to be changed…if you are ready to get up off the couch and make a difference…please, for the sake of our world, fill out an application before Monday, March 1 and apply to become a Biking for Babies missionary.
The world needs you.
