Life is Good!

Wow what an amazing week it has been! I’ve ridden a few times this week when it wasn’t too stifling hot and humid and it’s been awesome for all my senses.

This has been a week of good news and new life so maybe that’s why my senses have been more in tune while I rode. I experienced so many different smells this week. Have you ever smelled the difference in the air just before it rains? It’s a very distinct smell and always gives me a “warm” feeling. It reminds me of when I was young and we would put on our bathing suits and go out to play in the rain and the puddles in the summer. (That’s not to say I’m OLD now, just older 😁). There was just something special about the rain falling on my face and splashing in those warm puddles, barefoot of course.

Then there’s the smell of the wet pavement when I rode in an area where it rained just prior to my arrival. The air has a different smell than the pre-rain air. After the rain it’s more of a humid warm smell, than the crisp clear smell preceding it. Both are refreshing to me and are signs of life; without rain the gardens can’t grow, the birds have to search harder for water to drink, animals can’t cool off as easily, and the list goes on. Sometimes right after the rain there’s the beautiful sight of a rainbow and I was blessed enough to see one of those this week as well to remind me of God’s promise to us.

No matter how many storms come my way, and there have been many, He always brings me through. As the song says, “I’ll praise you in this storm and I will lift my hands, that you are who you are no matter where I am, and every tear I’ve cried you hold in your hand, you never left my side.”

Additional smells this week were the comforting smells of acres of corn that had started to tassle out, fields of cows including some that were cooling off in ponds, a pasture of horses, the smell of freshly laid pavement, newly cut wheat, and the best smell of all was the smell of a newborn baby. My 2nd granddaughter was born this week and there’s nothing that smells better to me than a new little bundle of joy. The sight of a new life just minutes old is so amazing. I was taking care of her big sister while we awaited her arrival and then was honored to be able to introduce her to her little sister. She’s only 15 months old so she wasn’t too sure what to think initially but her face was priceless the first time she heard her little sister cry. I’m not sure that was a pleasing sound to her, but I’m sure she’ll get used to it.

I heard sounds of laughter and of good news from Drs. about family members and happiness from my hubby as he started a new chapter in his life this week as well. Riding this week has been filled with mostly happy thoughts and I realized even more this week that my rides are different based on what’s happening in my life and the lives of those I love.

Some of my rides seem to be a way to escape, while other rides are to relax, to think through decisions that need to be made, to celebrate, or to just enjoy the ride, all the while trying to be open to what God may be trying to teach me or help me to see or share with others.

I am truly blessed to have this outlet where I can experience so many things I believe I would otherwise miss. It awakens all of my senses, yet it’s never the same way twice. Every ride is different even if the route I take isn’t. Today I finally rode on a country road I’ve been wanting to ride many times before and just never seemed to make it. The fact it has a different name at each end of it is partly why I kept missing it. It is a long and curvy road and is definitely going to be a repeat ride now that I finally discovered it!

I can ride the same road multiple times and see, smell, hear, or think something totally different each time I ride on it. It’s the same way when I read scriptures. I can read the same verse at different times in my life, and it may speak to me slightly different each time, based on what I’m going through at that particular moment. The words are the same, but it can touch me differently based on my circumstances.

One thing I’ve learned and I know for sure, the times in my past when I may have thought God wasn’t there, it was not He who had moved. I’m forever grateful that I’ve gotten past that stage with His help and that I’m at a point in my life where I can truly just give it to Him and know it will be handled. It may not be today or tomorrow, or even this month or year, but it will be done in His time, His way, if I only trust and obey. I’ve definitely seen that many times in the past several years, and it seems to me that I’ve recognized it more since I started riding. I can’t explain it, but I know it to be true.