ThE RiDe

During the “free day” at the Annual Conference, I skipped the tour of Vienna to visit my Oma (grandmother) and family. She was completely surprised! Her love language towards others is to feed them till they are ready to burst and she laid it on thick that day making all my favorite foods (salzstungle, fleisch suppe, and schnitzel).

My Uncle Johnny and cousin Jurgen were eager to take my friend Cec and I on a motorcycle ride through the countryside. I was not eager to go and tried to opt out; but to no avail.

Ten minutes later we were on the road and I was hanging on tight to my Uncle John.

I quickly remembered why I did not enjoy motorcycle rides. I felt out of control and fully exposed to the environment around me. I strained my neck around my Uncle to try to look at the road ahead. That only made me more anxious as we drove through curving, forested roads with many blind turns. “What if” worst-case scenarios kept playing through my mind.

Partway through our ride, my Uncle pulled over and took us on a walk through the village we had entered. I forgot my anxiousness over the ride and took in the scenery around me…it was amazing. What lay below us were green, rolling hills comprised of vineyards and forests. My eyes feasted on the beauty around me. We had driven through that countryside and I had missed it all because I was anxious about what I could not control. That thought made me realize how many other aspects of my life I anxiously try to control, when in reality they are not mine to control.

Lord! Thank you for conversing with me and teaching me in the everyday. Thank you for taking me on that ride and reminding me you are in control of my life. No amount of anxiousness about what is ahead will help; if anything, it causes me to miss you and your glory about me.

The second part of my motorcycle ride with my Uncle went quickly. I relaxed.
Amazing how much I enjoyed it.