My New Bike – 82 Colnago Mexico

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I saw this super grainy, black and white photo of a bike for sale online. It was nearly impossible to tell what it was (you can see the picture in the flickr set) but I could tell it was 1.) my size, and 2.) looked kind of like a Colnago. I called the man selling it and he explained to me that he’s 67 and hasn’t ridden it years. It was, in fact, a Colnago. My Spanish isn’t that good, so I had my friend B call for me. I got a call back from B and he was on his way to go look at it. It happened to be only 18 kilometers away from where he was staying in Alicante, Spain.

Without even calling me to check in, B bought the bike on my behalf. Like any good friend, he just knew that I would want an 82 Colnago Mexico in near new condition! (Thanks B!)

While there B learned that Vicente, the original owner, was once the mayor of his town and that he had bought the bike brand new in the early 80′s. He said that when he originally bought it, it was such a high end bike that the local paper did a story about it.

Now it’s on it’s way to me…I feel in some ways like I’ve been given a chance to look after this piece of cycling history. But I’m not buying it to treat like a museum piece…I’m hoping that most of it’s kilometers/miles are ahead of it!

B sent me these pictures today…This is exactly the way it was taken out of Vicente’s basement. I’m going to have to wait a week or so to get it cleaned, tuned, and running so that I can hit the road! I’ll post more pictures when I get it cleaned and shined…


Barcelona Protests

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I don’t have any commentary on this right now, but this article talks about the protests happening in Barcelona right now. The picture in the article was taken about 5 minute walk from our front door.

BBC News – Barcelona: Angry crowd pursues Catalan MPs

I think that these protests and the increased sightings of dreadlock mullets go hand in hand. (you may only get that joke if you have been to Barcelona)


An Atheists Explanation to His Child

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I came across this article via twitter (@hopefulskeptic) and thought that it was interesting thing to think about. It’s an atheist father explaining in a letter to his 11 year old daughter why he doesn’t pray. I obviously don’t agree with the conclusions of the author, but I do think his perceptions of what Christians pray for and who the God we pray to are worth reflecting on.

I also think that it’s worth receiving the criticism that praying for things that only benefit ourselves or our desires is selfish…I don’t think this because I don’t believe that God answers small prayers. I say this because I think that it’s worth us really being thoughtful about what we pray for. I would hope that my prayers more reflect what God desires on earth, not the way that they may reflect my desires on earth…

Enjoy…(tongue in cheek)

Without a prayer | Psychology Today


On Community

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I think I’ve realized that I thrive being in community…in work, play, and life in general. When I don’t spend time processing with other people, getting feedback, sharing ideas and frustrations, and being around others I start to misfire. I just feel funky and out of sorts.

Even going days with a lot on my mind, a lot to do, and future pressures in my head without a context to process them makes me feel like I’m taking crazy pills.

I don’t know what it is about today, but today is one of those days where I just feel off. I feel on edge, angry, and selfish…I don’t know if it’s mounting pressure from something going on inside or something I ate, but I hope that I can shake this off without causing any more damage.

Is God a Helpless Parent?

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Maisie has been really sick the past few days, and thankfully she’s feeling better now. Two nights ago we had one of the most difficult nights that we’ve had as parents. She had a high fever, headache, and was throwing up…all symptoms that parents don’t like for their little ones to have. We called our doctor and began giving her what he said to give her. It just wasn’t helping instantly like I wanted it to.

But as the night went on she wasn’t getting any better, and I was worrying more and more. We have heard lots of stories lately of kids getting meningitis and Maisie had a few of the symptoms. Not only did we feel a bit helpless about not knowing what to do, there is also the element of us living in a different country and dealing with the reality that we may not even know how to do what we would want to do.

This all added up to one strong feeling that I don’t like having: helplessness.

I mean, I’m supposed to be a father. A protector. And I felt helpless. I just stood there by the bed, probably with my mouth open a bit in confusion and my eyes as big as pancakes, wondering what to do.

It was in this moment that I had the inspiration to write this post.

I wondered, “God, do you ever feel confused like this when looking at your creation when it is in trouble?”

And I realized that I was making one of the most common mistakes that we as people do in the way we related with God. I was projecting my humanity…my broken humanity in this case…onto God. We often have a tendency to think of God as being like a human on one of our best days. But the reality is that God is other-than, and not human. Scripture says that God’s ways are higher than our ways…His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

To say it another way: we, as humans created in the image of God, have many of the same attributes of God. The ability to create, to love, to forgive, to judge, to discern, to feel sorrow, etc. I heard someone once say: “What God can do infinitely, we can do finitely.” (And I would add…because of our brokenness.)

But the point is that God is not a human. And humans, no matter great we are or may become, are not God. The mystery of the good news of Jesus is that God invites us to join Him in re-creating the world despite the fact that we also carry the potential to harm this world. It is only because of the Spirit of God working in and through us, that our efforts that our good ends up lasting eternally. I know that may sound a bit depressing, or maybe even offensive to some, but I can’t imagine us being able to re-create the world according to God’s ways without God as our sole conductor. An orchestra where each musician tries to play it’s own piece isn’t a beautiful sound. Even if each musician is playing a beautiful piece. The musicians need to look to a conductor in order to stay in harmony with one another.

This post has become classically tangential…

So, what I’m wanting to say, hopeful briefly, is that God doesn’t stand by the bedside of our problems like a young father wondering what to do. God is both before our worries and after our victories. We can draw peace and confidence from Him. He is both other than and near. And invites us to learn from him so our lives can find harmony…both with Him and the world around us that he invites us to restore with Him.