More from Rich Dixon

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Last time we ended with one of those simplistic cliches:

We decided to take the first step and trust that He’d show us the next one.

Hard to believe, but we really did complete Day 1, 38 miles from Lake Itasca to Bemidji, with no plan for Day 2. There was a photo with Paul Bunyan and an interview with a local journalist/photographer.

So we told the story. The reporter, who happened to be a cyclist, asked about tomorrow’s route. Without waiting for a response, he exclaimed, “You HAVE to ride The Paul Bunyan Trail!”

When I wrote later about The Paul Bunyan Trail, I said it was “perfect.” And you might wonder how a bike trail could be perfect.

From RICH’S RIDE: The New Testament Greek word teleios, translated “perfect,” means “full, needing nothing for completeness.” Teleios implies being what’s intended, completely fulfilling a purpose.

As a way of getting my journey off to a positive, inspiring beginning, The Paul Bunyan Trail left absolutely nothing to be desired. It was perfect.

Remember the context. Day 1 completed, an unknown journey before us, no clue where Day 2 would take us. And this reporter makes an off-hand comment guiding us to 100 amazing miles of paved trail.

We decided to take the first step and trust that He’d show us the next one.

Some might imagine a string of coincidences…meeting a journalist who just happened to be a cyclist, who asked just the right question and directed us to just the right trail, at a moment when we really needed a bit of reassurance…

The sort of “coincidence” that happened again and again during the next 8 weeks.

We were absolutely convinced Jesus was in this thing with us. We decided to take the first step and trust that He’d show us the next one.

To be continued…