
By Penny Sandoz
I have a mantra I created a few years back when I was traveling alone to new parts of the world, “Step Out Uncomfortably in Love”. This phrase creates an acronym, (the beginning letter of each word creates a word) SOUL.
When the Holy Spirit is in your SOUL, He gives you the strength to Step Out and get Uncomfortable with Love.
Today is that day. John and I will be riding our bikes in Florida from Orlando to Key West to support The Fuller Center for Housing. The funds raised are for building materials needed to provide healthy and affordable housing for those needing a place to call their home.
We step out today by joining a group of people we don’t know. For John, this is a HUGE step. John loves this line from King of Queens when Doug tells Carrie, after she forced him to go out with new friends, “I hate people I don’t know!” Ha! Well, John has been married to me 36+ years and he has had to step out uncomfortably in love and meet new people ever since.
With the Holy Spirit is in our SOUL, we CAN Step Out Uncomfortably in Love…. and meet people we don’t know.
We step out today sleeping uncomfortably atop blow-up mattresses on church floors for ten nights. Not only are we on air mattresses, but all of our linens (pillow included) had to fit into our small carry-on luggage along with our biking gear for ten days. Yep, that meant not having our two fluffy pillows we use every night to prop our heads and legs. Instead, John will be using an inflatable pillow as I was able to scrounge up a small square decorative pillow. Not to mention, the snoring we will encounter. John gave me comfort when he said he has some earplugs. In love, he will share his earplugs with me.
With the Holy Spirit in our SOUL, we CAN Step Out Uncomfortably in Love … and sleep in less than perfect conditions.
We step out today as we ride beyond our biking limits — John on his Trek carbon road bike and myself on an e-bike to give me a burst when I need it to ride a daily average of 70 miles with one being 103 miles and another 83 miles. The farthest I have ridden on my road bike has been a week of 35 mile days. John has had a couple 80+ days in his past, but has found himself comatose after each one.
With the Holy Spirit in our SOUL, we CAN Step Out Uncomfortably in Love….and ride our bikes beyond our limits.
So whether you are meeting people you don’t know, finding yourselves in less than acceptable conditions, or completing something beyond your limits… with God by your side you CAN…
Step
Out
Uncomfortably
in Love.
Matthew 19:26, “With God, ALL things are possible.”