Written by: Steve Hopkins, Orange Ride
Today was another sweet ride day with the Fuller Center Bike Adventure. We were blessed with warm weather, blue skies, and beautiful scenery as we rode on a combination of paved bike path, dirt roads, country back roads and the freeway. We were provided a wonderful breakfast and dinner by a caring local church and shared lots of laughs and encouragement between riders and the support crew, but what stuck with me most today was a part of my friend Dave Sperry’s morning devotion for the group.
It is something he and I have talked about often and I am so glad he chose to share it with the group and that is having a focus on gratitude, or as Dave calls it: an Attitude of Gratitude, a state of being ever mindful and thankful for all we have. Part of our adventure is keeping ourselves fueled for the miles of riding. This entails scheduling and organizing breakfast and dinner plus multiple food stops during the ride. We don’t have to worry about having enough to eat or even where to get food as many do around the world. We simply have to figure out how to work in all our eating each day. We enjoy safe and comfortable places to stay, even if it means sleeping on floors. We may have to ride or walk a mile, but we have warm water for showers. We have clean water to drink. The list of blessings we enjoy is long.
It is my hope we can all strive to keep an Attitude of Gratitude throughout the remainder of our ride and look for the many blessings along the way. I often wonder why my life has been so filled with blessings while so many others struggle. I have decided all I can do is try and help where I can and thank the Lord for all I have.
