Day 17

by   August 24, 2021 with No Comments

By David Freeze

Managing the route!


  It was very late last night when I got to Fort Davis, and nearly 10pm when I got in the room. Most everything still got done, but I will admit to dozing off near midnight when I was proofing that day’s update. Knowing that it would get daylight later this morning, my alarm got a snoozing, something I never, ever do.


    I rode back through town this morning and out on part of the route that I missed last night when Mindi Fires picked me up. I didn’t realize that had I kept riding, I would have had a huge hill to climb coming into Fort Davis. In a day that seemed to have no ending, I would have missed my motel had she not picked me up. The owner said he was about to close. This was one time, in retrospect, that I did the right thing getting that ride in the pitch dark.


  I did take the time to plan today’s route last night. For the next few days, there are serious supply issues, so many that I am having trouble sorting through them. My plan today was to ride the 56 miles to Marathon, so small that it has only about 500 residents. But it has at least a couple motels, the one that I chose is the Marathon Motel and RV Park. I have a very nice room but major problems with WiFi. I am going to submit the story and photos and then ride downtown for some food. Much better than I did last night.


    Recapping today, I wanted to see what Fort Davis looked liked and found it full of interesting shops and restaurants. It also has a unique attraction, the Fort Davis National Historic Military Site. Fort Davis is the best preserved frontier military outpost. It has lots of buildings and I could have spent have a day there. The fort was used from 1854 to 1891.


    Attached to my motel was a deli and sort of community gathering place. This place had my favorite egg, cheese and potato burrito ready made. They are so good! My favorite store was the one selling barbed wire art. The old bank and courthouse, both still in use, were spectacular. Someday, I will come back and spend a day there.


      I had yet another tough climb up and out of Fort Davis, and continued on US 118. The scenery was wonderful, the grading of the road and its shoulders were not. I also realized this morning that Texas in this area looks just like Montana. Always mountains on the horizon, appearing to be miles away.


    My only other town today was Alpine, a beautiful and busy place but still at only about 5,000 people. Nice people and while there, I called and made the deal for my room tonight. It was 32 miles from Alpine and I rode it in one minute less than 3 hours. One significant hill in the middle, but lots of good riding on US 90. I noticed a bigger presence of border patrol agents in the area. My mileage today was 56.


  I still stop at every historical marker, and I saw one border agent hiding there. They always seem to have long sight lines where anyone crossing the road would be seen.


    Just as today, if I had continued past Marathon, I had 55 more miles to go for a place to stay and supplies. Tomorrow may be similar but I will research it tonight.


    Mindi Fires is now a significant sponsor for my coast to coast journey, and I want to  welcome Wayne Cobb to the group as a new sponsor.


    A cloudy day, with a little drizzle, never got past the low 80s. Hoping for another like it tomorrow. Join me back here to see what happens!

A Season of Brokenness

by   August 23, 2021 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

     If you are in a season of brokenness, you may not want words of advice. You want breakthrough! I understand. I sure have been there. During those difficult seasons of my life, much of my day would be spent going through the motions, watching and wondering how others kept going about their daily routine as if everything was normal. For me – nothing felt normal. 

     You may be grieving, sick, discouraged, facing a difficult circumstance, in a broken relationship, or dealing with broken expectations. If so, read this with your heart, and let God apply it to your life. If you are not in a season of brokenness, read it with your mind, and use it to encourage others along your path.

       I haven’t walked in your shoes. I haven’t traveled your path. But… I can tell you what God has done for me. Here is some of what I have learned in my seasons of brokenness:

     *Brokenness shows God’s provision. Even the strongest can be broken. It is not a sign of weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9 – My grace is sufficient for you: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.

     *Brokenness shows God’s plan. It is part of life. John 16:33 – In this world, you will have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

     *Brokenness shows God’s purpose. Your tests become your testimony. 2 Corinthians 4:17 – For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

     *Brokenness shows God’s providence. We don’t have all the information. Our knowledge is limited. God knows why. We don’t. Deuteronomy 29:29 -The secret things belong to the Lord.

     *Brokenness shows God’s power. We can’t fix it. God can. Psalm 147:3 – He heals the broken in heart.

     *Brokenness shows God’s proximity. He is near! Psalm 34:18 -The Lord is near to those with a broken heart.

     Vance Havner wrote, “God uses broken things. It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to give rain, broken grain to give bread, broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume. It is Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever.”

      Having been through seasons of brokenness in my life has more equipped me to help bear the burdens of others as they travel through difficult days. You see, my brokenness has become a weapon of usefulness, and my setbacks were actually  setups!

      Oh, how my heart hurts for those of you who may be struggling in your season of brokenness.  May your good days slowly begin to overtake the ‘not so good’ days, and one day when you least expect it, I know the sun will break through the clouds and begin to shine in your life again.

It’s Monday

by   August 21, 2021 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

            When I opened my eyes this morning I thought, “Well, I better get moving, it’s Monday.” I have to admit, I wanted to roll over and keep sleeping. I got myself up and started to get ready. I teach classes online. It’s a great job; I only have to get the top half of me ready. I usually wear sweats and slippers on the bottom and a shirt and tie on top. If my wife sees me dressed like that she gets a good laugh for the day.

            This morning as I started to set up my online classroom, I noticed that the internet wasn’t working. It went out last night but I thought surely it would be working by the morning. I had five classes and I wasn’t going to miss them. My option at this point was to drive to church and teach on my laptop.

            I had to get fully dressed, pack up my things, and drive as quickly as I could to church in hopes that I could make it for my first class. The clock was ticking. I was a few minutes late and the company locked me out of my first class. I wasn’t terribly shocked and thought that I would have more time to set up everything for my next class.

            I logged in and started to set everything up, only to discover that I didn’t have my camera with me. My laptop doesn’t have a camera. I jumped back in the car and drove back home to get the camera and return to the church in time to have my second class of the day. I made it. My classes went smoothly.

            When I finished my classes I was emotionally and mentally drained. I had to run an errand while I was out. My stomach was complaining about when breakfast would arrive. While I was driving I thought to myself what a crazy and stressful way to begin the week. I took a deep breath and decided I wasn’t going to allow one missed class to ruin a good day.

            As I was making my way home I noticed trees and limbs down. A little farther down, I saw utility trucks parked and men working. Then there were cable and AT&T trucks. There were people dragging limbs out to the road. Then I saw a house where a tree had fallen right through the middle of it. A once beautiful two-story home, now demolished.

            I knew we had severe storms in the area the night before, which was why the cable was out. I didn’t know so many other people were dealing with such terrible problems. I saw the man surveying his once beautiful home. My heart sank for him and his family. I heard from a neighbor that there was quite a bit of damage in another neighborhood not too far from mine.

            I sat quietly on my porch this morning having my quiet time. I realized that my little hiccup was nothing compared to what some people were facing on this Monday morning. I prayed for the family that lost their home. Here are some other people I prayed for this morning: some friends who are fighting COVID, some friends who are fighting to keep their marriage alive, all the students and teachers heading back to their classrooms not knowing what kind of year they will have with this virus, the people who are in the path of the tropical storm that was coming ashore, the people living in Afghanistan, some people who have never believed in Jesus as their savior, and others who have walked away from their faith.

            Losing my internet and missing a class seemed so unimportant compared to what others were facing. I texted my pastor about my morning, and he texted back that Psalms 145 was a part of his scripture reading for the day. I read it twice. There was so much there to meditate on. God’s love, His protection, His worthiness to receive our praise, and His abundant provision were just a few of them.

            No matter what kind of day you’ve had, I want to encourage you to remember that God loves you and has His eye on you and your situation. He is with you and He will see you through whatever you face. He loves you profoundly. If you have walked away from Him, He is waiting for your return. He will quiet your fears, take away your doubts, and forgive all your sins and failures. God promises to be with you today, tomorrow, and every day if you will put your faith in Him.

Doug Creamer has a new book at Amazon: EncouragingU: Summer Stories. Contact him at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com

Twenty Year Journey

by   August 20, 2021 with No Comments

By Roger Barbee

Twenty years ago this morning I awoke in an ICU ward in Fairfax Hospital. The night before I had had two nineteen-inch titanium rods screwed to my back because that afternoon a building I was taking down collapsed– pinning me beneath it. My broken back had to be stabilized, thus the rods.

I remember a little of  that morning: Seeing through the fog of morphine a friend who had flown on a red eye from California to see me; The ICU nurse’s long, black, curly hair that fell over my face when she leaned in to ask me a question; My body still carrying the dust and dirt from the collapsed building; My family huddled in fear and worry; But not much more. Snippets in memory that may or may not be accurate run together with what I know to be true. But what I know to be absolute is that that morning and many after it held doubt and fear and dread until I, as Mary Oliver writes, realized.

Like the narrator in her poem, The Journey, I realized one morning or at one moment or with a particular encounter that it was time—time for me to expel all the bad that I had allowed to enter into my life.  I realized that at times during those four years, my dark time, I ignored what I knew to be the truth and allowed the voices to continue tugging at “my ankles.” But as Oliver writes, “One day you finally knew/what you had to do, and began,…” And like most beginnings, mine was full of slow progress, but “Little by little” I improved, and I eventually left the “Old man” that Paul writes about behind. But like all journeys, mine was not just me placing a foot in front of another. I had begun journeying, but I was not walking alone.

After I set aside the leeches in my life, I was able to reckon myself and take an honest sounding. This sounds selfish, but when you find yourself so miserable that the only option seems to be to continue your denial or to admit that you have been at the bottom of a dark hole, digging and digging, all the while wondering why you cannot escape and see the sunlight and feel its warmth, it is then that you set aside the shovel those takers had given you and deeply consider where you are.  Finally able to lean the shovel against the hole’s side,   I began to stop going down and began to move up, ever so slowly. It was on that going upward that I saw my true friends and learned to allow them to help me.

One of the best advantages of any journey is the people you will encounter. You will meet them in unlikely places and in unusual circumstances. Because your journey is one of renewal, you will move slowly, so you will see and hear more. While your journey may not be one of steps,  you will still discover that your frantic pace to satisfy others has ceased, and you now see and hear what you had not experienced before. The ground you are traveling over becomes a sharing place for you to hear the stories of others, to smell the air of an autumn day, to feel the sun’s warmth through a  window, to hear a child’s laughter, and more. You are alive.

My journey continues because of family and friends. While I could list all of them, there is no need to because they each know what they did to help me as I finally leaned the shovel against the hole’s wall. The hole, by the  way, is still there, however, and it will never go away. It is a reminder of life’s danger, but I have learned to accept its existence and walk around it.

When measured in years, twenty is many. But when measured as a journey, it is short. Therefore, wherever you are on your journey, enjoy each step that brings more people to share it.  They are the balm for your sore and tired feet.

Time, Precious Time

by   August 17, 2021 with No Comments

By David Freeze

Have you ever thought about how time is rushing past us? Does it get faster as we get older, or are we just more aware? I think it’s the latter. One of the worst phrases I’ve ever heard is “I’m just killing time.” Why would you do that?

Since this is a running and fitness column, I’ve had some fast races, enough of them for four straight state champion recognitions. Those fastest times came when I was in my early 40s. I can only remember being that fast, and there is some wonderment still at how my body was able to do it. Most of my training runs now are not really training for anything except to keep in shape and think through what’s on my plate for the upcoming day.

With increased clarity, I know a lot about time. Not racing time so much, but what time really represents. Most of us like to think that we get wiser as we get older, but I think that I get slower as I get a little wiser. Is it my body reshuffling resources? That sounds logical.

So, before telling you what to do with your time, I will tell you what I plan to do with mine. I’ve long said that I love challenges and the quickest way to get my attention is to throw one at me. One example is the day that Ed Dupree, from his hospital bed at Novant, said to me, “Will you run across the state for me? It is one of the few regrets I have, never getting to do it.”

I couldn’t shake that request, knowing that I would take Ed’s challenge within minutes after his words were spoken. My first concern of course, was how to make the time for the road. By nightfall, I had a plan, knowing that I could move this or that and even swing by home on the route to meet one commitment.

The No. 1 common thread I hear in discussions with readers about my bike rides goes something like this, “I wish I could do something like that, but I don’t have the time.” There seem to be two options that have to be considered. Either use lack of time forever as an excuse and never chase your dream, making sure you can fuel yourself with regret going forward. Or set about scheduling just how you will do it. Not necessarily talking about a bike ride but realizing that one day most of us will have a chance to look back on our lives and recount something like this, “I didn’t get to do the things I wanted to. I was good at work and watching TV and keeping the yard mowed. Now it is too late to take time to do my thing.”

My favorite points when talking with a personal training client are twofold. No one will be impressed when your time runs out and your obituary reads about how good you were at work. And at some point, you need to make time for dreams which is really time for yourself. When you do these things, you will be better for others around you.

Two choices I have made, and hope they always remain in place, are simple. When given a choice whether to take time to do something new or stay back with more of the same, choose to break out and do the new thing! Count me in the group that plans to slide into the grave with the body used up, not “killing time” on the way to unfilled dreams.

And finally about time, it is by far the best gift we can give. Track where a person invests their time, and you’ll know what is really important to that person. Invest time in yourself as a means to investing your time in others, the most important and meaningful thing we can do!

Check for upcoming events at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org .

Lay Down With Me

by   August 16, 2021 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

Lay down with me

This is a difficult column to write. Not easy, but applicable to our lives, for sure. Grab a tissue and hang with me. (Yes, I know the title is grammatically incorrect, but it will be okay.)

Several years ago, my brother went through two weeks of suffering as he was in the valley of the shadow of death and then went on to be with the Lord.

The prognosis was given within hours of taking him to the emergency room, as the doctor returned to us and said, “It’s not good news, Mr. Miles.”

My younger brother looked right to me – and needed for me to step into action. I did the best I could. I worked non-stop making sure everything – and I mean everything – was taken care of. I was going to be there for him during this difficult time. He would not – and I mean would NOT – feel alone as he faced his final weeks on Earth.

The days began to pass. His words became fewer – sometimes there were none – his eyes would follow me around the room as I helped him in every way that came to mind, like conferring with doctors and hospital staff or holding his cup and straw for him as he seemed so grateful to be able to have a sip of water. I made sure his physical environment was just right – blinds adjusted, tray area neat, lights on or off, and door open or shut. Anything that I thought would help.

On one of his final days, as I straightened the sheets and fluffed the pillow on his bed, I heard him whisper – almost inaudible at first and very labored – but I leaned in close and figured it out one word at a time. Lay…down…with…me.

Tears filled my eyes. I quickly released the side rail on the bed that had separated us, and climbed in beside him. He edged slightly closer to me, and I felt his body relax as I held one of his hands and wrapped my other arm across his chest. It seemed that time left me at that point – not sure how long we stayed in that position – but I wish I had stayed even longer.

Reality crashed down. I had been doing important things for him – very important things – but in that moment, “Lay down with me,” took precedence over every single fiber of my existence. I became not just a helper or an advocate for his needs, but I was a participant in what he was experiencing, creating one of my most powerful and priceless memories ever.

Lay down with me. The incorrect grammar? Yes, the correct version would be to say, “Lie down with me.” But a meaning of ‘lay down’ is ‘to put something down.’ So, what may have been imperfect grammar on that day ended up being a perfect message from God:

We sometimes need to ‘lay down’ some things – put some things down, even though they may be important and need to be done. Because most of the time, they are not more important than the “with-me’s” in our lives.

Why share this story now? A few days ago, my grandsons were once again ready to play Monopoly. Their conversation: The 10 year old – Maybe Mama GG could play. The 13 year old – No, she always has other things to do.

My thoughts as I heard them from the kitchen: Is that how they think of me? I always have other ‘things’ to do? Really? Don’t they realize how busy I am? These ‘things’ must be done!

Then, a still small voice – from God and my brother in heaven – reminded my heart, “Lay. Down. With. Me.” My “with me’s” needed me, so I decided to ‘lay down’ the dish I was drying, and let the Monopoly game begin. (Yes, those games can last a long time, but someday I may wish it had lasted a little longer.)

How about you? It may not be a child that needs you. It may not be a sick friend or family member that needs you. It may be totally different circumstances than mine.

And…it may be Jesus, who just wants us to ‘lay down’ the ‘things’ that we are convinced must be done first – and instead – spend time with Him.

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