Choose And Move!

Sometimes I think I wait too long.
The paralysis of analysis.
Or just plain procrastination.
Or too many things on my plate.  (And no, getting a bigger plate hasn't helped!)

I recently got a new pair of pedals for my bike. I've ridden with clip-in pedals for the past 7 years. I can't seem to get a straight answer on how long these pedals are supposed to last, but I'm thinking 17,000 miles was stretching it a bit. The deal with clip-in pedals is that the rider is directly connected to the bike. A little daunting at first when you realize that you are "As One" with the bike. It is truly a marriage of muscle and machine.The power transfer increases dramatically because you are not simply pushing down on the pedals (like when you were a kid), but you are also pulling back through part of the pedal stroke so you ride further, faster, stronger, etc. Ah, engineering. Gotta love it!

Trouble is, my pedals were really old and I had worn them down to a point where my knees were being affected because they were slightly out of proper alignment. My tibia was actually rotating out of place and causing tarsals in my foot to get out of whack. (Yeah, "whack" is the medical term!)

 

 You see the pedal is connected to the foot bone and . . .

The foot bone connected to the (pause) leg-bone,

The leg bone connected to the (pause) knee bone,
The knee bone connected to the (pause) thigh bone,
The thigh bone connected to the (pause) back bone,
The back bone connected to the (pause) neck bone,
The neck bone connected to the (pause) head bone,
Oh hear the word of the Lord!

ALL TOGETHER NOW!

Dem bones, dem bones gonna RIDE a-roun'
Dem bones, dem bones gonna RIDE a-roun'
Dem bones, dem bones gonna RIDE a-roun'
Oh hear the word of the Lord

But I digress . . .

The point of all this is that as soon as I went for a ride on my little red bike with the newly replaced pedals, I felt like I was on a brand new bike. The power transfer from me to the bike was much improved and gone was the looseness in the old pedals that had probably caused my knee problems. (Let's sing the song again!)

So it's my head bone I'm really talking about here. How often in life do I not choose AND move? For whatever reason, rationale, or excuse, I sometimes fail to act. You see, choosing a path is one thing. Going down that path is another thing. In cycling vernacular it's where "The rubber meets the road." In church they might say, "Putting feet on your prayers." In writing they might say, "Putting wings on your words". (I made that last one up!)

You see, it's developing that culture of "AND" in yourself AND in others. Empowering yourself to move forward (like on a bike), AND empowering others to move forward with you. Could be your spouse. Could be your children. Could be your students. Could be your neighbors. Could be your colleagues. Could be your friends. Could be your small group. Could be your accountability partner. Could be countless unseen, unknown people on down the road of your eternal life.

All those 'coulds' and 'ands' in life add up, don't they?  The powerful, imaginative, loving people God created us to be can only be unleashed to roll down the road of life if we are truly connected (like a cyclist to his bike), to who God designed us to be, AND to the Creator himself.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, 

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

 Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Did you pick up on the 'ands' in that verse? 

I choose to move AND be connected 'as one' to God.