Post July 17th Biking

So what happened after the ride? For me it's 2 things: sunburn on my face and sore all over the body.

Let's talk about the first one, sunburn. I foolishly only applied SPF 15 because I thought it's going to be cloudy. It was cloudy most of the part, but the sun managed to find way to burn my skin. If you saw me this morning and commented on how burned my skin was, you should have seen me last night. It was 3 times as worse! 3 times! How did it get better so soon? It's the healing "magic" of aloe.

My aunt quickly gave me a piece of aloe last night and told me to get the juice and applied it over my face, let it sit overnight. I was skeptical at first because I used to apply aloe all over my hair when I was a kid, and it's really hard to get rid of the juice even after shampooing a couple times. I tried it anyways (because my cousin Berton said I can have ice cream after I use the aloe). It's really soothing and it really works!

Now about the soreness. My lower body are hurting from the trip. Last night, I barely can climb the stairs (and my room is on the 2nd floor!). While sleeping, I kept waking up every time I want to change position because it's hurting. I can see my clock that I wake up almost every hour.

Now in the past, when that happens, I would cry out to God demanding "God, PLEASE! You know I need sleep....How can I get to work tomorrow? Can't you help me out here?" Well, that doesn't sound like a good prayer, does it?

Last night I had a much better attitude. I couldn't sleep through the night, but I manage to give thanks that I had a wonderful day. Aching body is a little price to pay, and I woke up refreshed. The muscle-pain is going away (not completely, but at least it's not as hurt) and it is the LORD's day!

July 17th Biking

Last Saturday, the Prasetyas organized a biking trip at Monterey. The email calls for a casual biking, which Yanny defines as "no one left behind". They invited kids as well for the ride, so I thought it would be pretty safe for me to join.

I haven't been a sporty person my whole life. In my family, my sister and my brother are the sporty ones, not me. I'm always be the one who read books and stays indoor because I couldn't stand the heat in Indo. This year, I started doing aerobics up until Chinese New Year (Feb) and stopped exercising afterward. So, I should say I was not in a very good shape to do a long ride, but there's when grace enters the story.

With bike borrowed from Yanny and helmet borrowed from ko Chris, I bravely joined 6 experienced bikers: Marcel & Yanny, Ci Sukma, Ci Fenny, Ci Marlene, Ko Otis. God has been sooo good to us throughout the day.

Firstly we can't figure out how to load the bike I'm going to use to the bike rack, because there's no attachment from the bike to the rack. We ended up mounting ko Otis' bike to the rack instead so we can start going to Monterey. Yay for creative minds & flexibility!

Next, upon arrival, ko Otis' rear end tire was broken. The air kept on leaking out after pumping. We left the parking area and started to ride the on the trails while he went to bike shop to try to fix the tire. About an hour later, he texted Yanny telling that the tire is getting fixed and he's going to catch up with us. And catch up he did! Man, he's fast!

Third, upon arriving to the gate of 17-mile-drive, ci Sukma started to feel weak. We stopped and rest and had lunch at the site. Laughing at each other and having a good fellowship time. Ci Sukma seems to be fit for the rest of the trip. Thank God for taking care of each one of us during the trip!

As for myself, through this trip, I learned:

1. that God is way bigger than what I encounter daily. Being out in the nature simply reminds me of the great God who created universe. Monterey Bay never fails to leave me in awe of God's wonderful creation. Our God is an awesome God!
   
2. that God always takes care each one of us. Look at ko Otis' situation. Look at ci Sukma's. And there's me who rides super slow (thanks for being so patient, everyone! Especially Yanny who always watch over me from the back!) But we all manage to finish together and enjoy the trip by God's grace. He is a good God.
3. to be more caring for others. I'm in awe of how much patience these people are showing and the amount of grace they are showering me with. I bet that's one of the reason I did not get cranky during the trip ;) God, help me to learn from them.

Camping

These last few weeks, I've been battling with "depression", or so I thought. I constantly felt blue, lonely, homesick, all the negative emotions came and overwhelm my day and night. I was discontent, but couldn't name out the problem. I tried to escape by going shopping, watching dramas, playing piano, do manicure.....nothing really worked. I would forget for a while but then at night when I go to sleep, I kept having bad dreams and woke up tired.

When ci Kiki invited me to go camping with the Rustams, Wijayas and Gunawans, I was hesitating to go. I wanted to try camping since last year, but never had the opportunity. I was hesitating because the participants are all families and because I was not in a very good mood at that time and was trying to avoid people. At the end I asked for days off and my boss excitedly agreed to give me some time off.

Big Sur is very very pretty. Being out in nature, listening to the sound of the streams and waves calmed my soul. Our campsite was right by the creek, and every time I hear the streams of water I was reminded of Psalm 23, the LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. I actually slept better in the camp compare to my own room (despite the cries of the babies, I woke up refreshed).

Sand Dollar Beach

The Creek by our campsiteThe Creek a little bit upstream from our campsite



Taking some day off from work, being out in nature, hanging out with good friends and wonderful kids really lifted up my spirit. Watching the kids' interactions are actually really therapeutic for me =)

I learned to pause and to let God reminds me of how much He loves and cares for me.


SMILE! Jesus loves you!