← In Totality with Megan Ashley
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We're building something special, and we would love for you to be a part. So hit pause. Go to www.patreon.com Megan Ashley and join today and I'll meet you there. What's up, you guys? Welcome back to another episode of In Totality. I am your host, Megan Ashley. I'm so happy that you're back. It's been an interesting week. It's been an interesting time. During podcast weeks, if you guys don't know, I kind of like bulk record now. And so during podcast weeks, I am extremely tired, but this morning I didn't really get a whole lot of sleep. Last night we had Jay and Jordan and I were up until almost 2 in the morning kind of having like a debrief and team meeting, just talking about the future of, of In Totality and the docu series and all the things. And so I didn't get to bed until about what, almost 2am and I had recorded all day. Like, I didn't stop recording episode like I did In Totality Episodes. And then I did. I was invited to do a friend's podcast later on that night. And so I didn't even get home until about 11 o'. Clock. But this morning I'm like, I feel energized. And I was thinking about what I wanted to talk about today. And it's, it's kind of funny because I actually, I was like, let me take a pulse on what people think about this topic. And so before I get into it, I don't want to, I don't want to spoil it, but I kind of put a little message out on threads just to get a pulse of what people thought about the topic that I, that I wanted to kind of approach today in regards to what the Christian life is like. But before I get into that, Jordan and I celebrated Jackie's birthday and, and so this is our second year spending her birthday with her. Right? And now, mind you, we've been friends for a few years now and, or a couple years now, and we have traveled and we've, we've traveled a lot together, but her birthday, we, we have decided like, we're going to go to the same place. And so last year we went to this beautiful place in Cabo. And so this year we're like we're going to go to the same place. And last year was really fun. It was filled with activities and all the things. Um, but last year, it was more of her kind of planning what she wanted to do. And I kind of helped in a little. In a. In a way. But this year, you know, Jackie and I's relationship has. Has grown significantly. You know, she is. She is my best friend, one of the closest people in my life. And so this year, I was like, I'm going to, like, got to take your hands off you. Just tell me what you want to do. I'm gonna make it happen. I'm gonna make it happen. Whatever you want to do for your birthday, I got you. And so she's like, let's go back to the same place we went last year. And I'm like, okay, cool. Like, what do you want to do? Like, what activities do you want to do? And me, if I'm gonna plan something, I gotta, like, plan. I gotta have, like, a schedule, itinerary. And Jackie's kind of like that, too. Like, she likes. Like, she likes to chill and relax, but she kind of likes to have, like, a. Like, a plan. And so we're on the phone before her birthday, and we're kind of figuring out what she wants to do, what activities she wants to do. And so last year we went ATV, whatever they're called. Like, they're not ATVs, but they're like, UTV. That's what they're called. They're UTVs. It was so fun, but we also weren't expecting to get as dirty as we. As we were. Right. And Jackie has beautiful long locks. And last year, her hair was a lot longer. And so it took us about two hours to just wash her hair. Like, she. Like, she needed. Like, it was both of us trying to help her wash her hair. And so we were on the phone with Jackie, and we're talking about. We're like, hey, you know, like, what do you. I'm asking, like, what activities she wants to do? And she's like, you know, I don't want to do the whole UTV thing again because I don't want to deal with my hair. It's too dirty. We were dirty. Like, I don't want to do all that. She was like, what if we do? Like, I saw this, like, bike ride. And so I'm. I'm laughing because when you guys. When I get to the end of it, you'll understand why I'm laughing. But she sends me this picture or this link to this bike ride, activity, or adventure. And so she was like, yeah, it's in. It's a bike ride. And. And so she sends me the link, and the first image of the link is, like, these people who are just jolly on the bike, they got their helmet, and they are just full of joy. Full of joy. They're riding around. I mean, I promise you, I thought. I. I pretty sure I saw the ocean behind them. So I'm thinking this. There's, like, a beautiful path carved out by the ocean. I'm like, this is great. Like, cool, you know, Little. A little. But they were electric bikes, right? So that. So in my mind now, hear me, y', all electric bikes. That wasn't false advertisement electric bites. But in my mind, I'm thinking motorbikes. I'm thinking mopeds. I'm thinking. I'm not thinking bicycles. I'm not. I'm not thinking that. I'm thinking moped. I'm thinking motorbike engine. I'm thinking my feet are up, the thing is moving. I'm not doing nothing. But just with my helmet, and I'm go. I'm just, you know, I'm holding on. That's what I'm thinking. Okay, so keep that in mind. I need. I'm inviting you guys into what my expectations were. So she sends me this now. And mind you, I see the bike. I see it. I see the helmet. I see the bike. I see the pedals. All I saw was electric. My mind deposit that and interpret it as moped. I'm not thinking it's that bike. I'm thinking something else. Because, mind you, the little. The little thing says bicycle, Then it says electric bike. So I'm thinking, oh, the picture is showing me a regular bike. The moped, they just didn't show me that. Okay, so. So I'm like, cool, I'll book this thing. I. I literally. You have an option of doing an hour or two hours. So I'm looking at this, the options, and I'm on the phone with Jack, and I'm like, all right, so what you want to do, girl? You know, we. What we doing? We doing an hour. We doing two hours. She's like, let's just do two. I'm like, for show. It's a motorbike. It's a moped. Why wouldn't we do two? I don't want to ride. I want to get the longest amount of time on this thing, right? So it's booked. I book it. We get to Cabo. I have all I Have my. Our itinerary. I'm good. I'm talking to my man Victor, who's helping me out at the resort. We got. We got the schedule. We got all the things. The day comes where it's time to do the bike, right? And so we get up and. And we. You know, I have a little devotional time every. I love. I love vacationing with Jackie and Jordan. You know, we wake up and we do our own thing. Ain't nobody. Ain't nobody bothering nobod. Jordan is over there doing her thing. I'm over somewhere outside praying or reading something. Jackie is somewhere discipling and reading Bibles, coming up with a sermon, something. You know, everybody kind of just does their own thing, which I love. It's a very calm, calm group. And so we get up, we get breakfast, and we. And we get ready for the bikes. Now, mind you, y', all, it's part of our tradition that we. We got T shirts, right? So we. Yo, we do T shirts for birthdays. We. You remember them T shirts in the 90s where it was like the graphic tee and it had your favorite artist like, plastered everywhere on the shirts? That's what we do for. For. For the birthdays. That's like our thing, right? We did it last year for Jackie's birthday, and we did it this year again. We had some dope T shirts. So we standing in front of the mirror. We hot girls, okay? We standing in front of a mirror with our T shirt on. We taking pics. I'm like, cool. You know, I got. I think I had some Nike, like, some easy, like, Nike running shorts. Jackie got some jean shorts on. Jordan got some nice Nike shorts on. Like, we're cute now. We know we're going biking. So it's like, I want to make sure my feet don't get dirty. But again, I'm thinking moped. So I put on my big Yeezy foam runners. Foreign. It's funny when you understand what happens. But I put on these easy foam runners, right? Because I'm like, I don't want. I don't have no tennis shoes that I really want to get dirty like that. And the foam runners is like. You spray them down. They rubber shoes, so whatever, right? Jackie got on some fresh new neon New Balances. Fresh Jordan. I don't know what Jordan had on. She had on something you had on your. She had her on some brand new Nikes. Some brand new Nikes, right? She. So we're fresh again. I don't think we. We knew what we Were signing up for. So we get to the. To the bike place. Now we ride into this resort because it. The bike plate. The bike place was at another resort. So we ride into this resort, they open up the gates. It's like, all right, Period. This is not. Oh, this is like my Tiffany haddish. Oh, this is nice. I'm like, this is pretty. We go down this little. Like, this little. Well, it was kind of. It was a little ghetto at first because it's like we went through the back of the resort where it was like they were unloading stuff. So it was kind of weird. But after we get into that place, we go down this hill, and we're headed towards the beach. And I'm like, this is like the picture. They're by the beach. Like, this is great. Because you guys know, like, the closer you are to the beach, the more wind you have, the cooler it is because of the water, all the stuff. And it's. It's new. Why we decided to pick the hottest time of the day to do a bike ride. Not using wisdom. Okay. Not using wisdom. So anyway, we get to the thing, and then. And they. And they give us our helmets. And. And he's going. And when I tell you all, we are just happy to do something fun, we're not listening to anything this man is saying. He's given us instructions, rules, regulations, safety protocol, gear shift, brakes, pet. I'm not listening to anything he's saying. I'm over here. Like, shoot, we taking. I'm taking pictures. I'm. I don't hear a thing this man said. I heard him say, this is how you break two hands. And that's all I heard. Okay. I just need to know how to break. That's all I heard the man say. Now, we are pretty short women, you know, I'm not that tall. I'm only five two. Jordan is about five, three, four. Okay, I'll give you four. She's about five, four. Jackie is a tad bit taller than me, so she's got to be like, five, three, maybe, right? So we're all pretty sure we looking at these bikes, like, now. How are we supposed to get up there? How do you suppose that we get up there? We're like, sir, you're gonna have to lower these seats. That seat was so high. Now, mind you, if we would have did our research, we probably should have opted to have the seat higher. And I'll explain why later. But we. Yeah, it's like. It's like six in one hand, half a dozen other Jordan's like, I don't know. Put my seat down. And I'll Again, I'll explain why later. So we get on the bikes and. And we. And we, you know, they. They take us through back to kind of how we came through. But then he's taking us away from the beach. I'm like, well, why is he doing that? That's not what the pictures. That's not what the picture said. Why is he taking us away from the. From the. From the beach? So we drive up or we bike up. We got to get up the hill to get out of the resort area. So we. We bike, and it's not bad. It's like kind of biking through a neighborhood, right? Like, you just, you know, you're pedaling. I'm like, okay, what I thought it was going to be, but okay, we. We. It's not bad. We're pedaling again. I thought moped, but they. They said bike, and that's my bad. So what. We're pedaling and we. He takes us through, like, kind of riding around the resort, and then he takes us out of the resort, and now we're on, like, a paved path near the road, right? And. And so we're pet. And we're. I'm like, this is great. We are having a Hollywood jolly time. It's not even that hot yet. We're talking, laughing. We're pulling out our phones. Like, we are, girl, this is fun. And the instructor's ahead of us, so the instructor goes with us the entire time because he knows the route, right? And so he's. He's going in front of us and. And we're all laughing, like, riding up beside each other, like, moving around each other. We're having a blast. Only. Yeah, the only. Literally the only footage that we have of ourselves biking that we. That we. That we took is in the beginning, okay? So we're. We're biking and. And. And we're on this path, and all of a sudden he takes a turn, and now we're like hopping a. Like, like we're in someone's backyard, basically. And it's again, y', all, we're in cabo. It's deserty. Okay? So I'm like, okay, what was his name? I don't even remember his name. Gosh, I wish I were. It was at this point for sure, we didn't forgot the man's name. We didn't call the man sir at first. In the beginning, he had a name. By mid bike ride, I said, now, sir, that was his Name for the rest of the bike ride, I don't remember his name, but I'm like, where are we going? So we. So we're. And now we're kind of like in a dirt, gravel area, but it's still not that bad, but it's. It's different. I'm like, okay, it's a little different now. Now we approach a gate. We approach this gate, and we stop, and he gets off the bike and he unlocks the gate, and he says, keep on the path. And I said, well, where are you going? What do you mean, keep on the path? Who is waiting? Like, I don't know you, sir. And you're. You just. You just unlock. You put a code in to unlock this gate. And you want us to go ahead of you. I need to be able to see what you doing. Like, are you coming with us? And so I'm kind of like, okay, but I'm looking behind me, and we're. We're on. We continue to go on the path, and he locks the gate behind us, and he speeds up to get in front of us. This is where things take a turn. Okay. Gradually, as we are on this path, it is significantly getting hotter because we are going further and further away from the water. Now we are in the crevice of the desert. I mean, we are in the thick of the desert. The road goes from being super, super smooth to now we are in sand, dirt, rocks, sticks, cactuses. Okay? The view was so pretty at first, and now the view looks like the. The Valley of dry bones. Okay? This looks like we. We. Elephant graveyard. If, you know, Lion King Simba goes from. What is the place Simba was born in, Pride Rock, to elephant graveyard, all because you wanted adventure, all because you want to live a little bit, right? So now we are in elephant graveyard. We are in the Valley of dry bones. And I. The whole time, I'm like, lord, what I. What I can't have is for a rattlesnake to come. And that's what I'm thinking. That's the environment that is given, right? So what I noticed was, is that what started off so jolly, so joyful, so fun, the laughter, the conversation started to dwindle. Okay, it started to dwindle. What else started to dwindle, Megan? My legs. My legs started to dwindle. I. I was pedaling so easily, and now I'm realizing, oh, I don't know. I don't know if I. We've only been on this bike ride, y', all, for 20 minutes. I signed us up for two hours now. All right, sir. And now the path is getting harder. We're going up hills. Now, mind you, again, it is an electric bike, right? But at first, when you're on an easy path, you're just pedaling. It doesn't feel hard. So now I'm starting to actually experience the. The. The. The motor and the battery in this bike, because something gonna have to help me move. It ain't me. Hey, my legs are giving out. Okay? I am. Y', all, listen, I went to the doctor not that long ago. He said, megan, if there was a picture in the definition of skinny fat, it'd be you. You are out of shape. You are not healthy. You're skinny. You're a small girl, but you are unhealthy. So why did I think I was gonna get on this bike on. In Elephant Valley, right? And. And think that I was going to be able to have the stamina do so great. Thankfully, we're on these electric bikes. So the. So the. You can feel as I'm starting to pedal, especially as we're going through, like, up hills, it's like, I'm pedaling. But you. You have, like, a kick. There's, like, the kick coming in, like, the bike, the motor, and the battery is helping excel the pedaling, right? So now we're about 30 minutes in, and I'm looking. I'm looking at Jordan. I'm looking back at Jordan. I'm looking back at Jackie, and I'm like, y' all don't want to stop? Nobody wants to take a break. We get off the bikes, and the first time we get off the bike, and it's like, okay, you hop off. You're fine. You hop off. We kind of set the bike down a little bit, and, you know, we're like, oh, sir, you know, can you hand me our waters? We just need a little. Little thirsty, me and our water. So we get our waters, take a drink, and we're like, all right, you know, nice little break. That second leg, it got significantly harder. Now, not only are we going up steeper hills, but the sand on the. Now, mind you, y', all, the path. When the Lord said the path is narrow, when the Lord said the path is hard, he wasn't lying, y'. All. The path was narrow. One per you. It ain't two people riding alongside each other. You're not. You're not here fellowshipping. You're not fellowshipping. You're on the path alone. Because in the dirt, people have decided to either go on the right side of the path or the left side of the path. But what you can't be is in the middle of the path. You want to know why? Because the dirt is pushed up in the middle. So you either got to be all the way to the left or you got to be all the way to the right. I'm telling you, all this will preach. It's gonna preach. Okay, so we gotta pick a side. Now, I'm telling you, I was on the left side. Don't take that spiritually. Now, I was just on the left side because that's happened to be where my bike guided me. So I'm on the left side. But if I was trying to get on the right side, it would. It would have cost me my life. My bike would have said. It would have did one of them. Okay, so you got it. So we have to be, like, behind one another. Like, there's no riding alongside, really, because you need space because the path is very narrow. It ain't broad. Now, is. Ain't a broad path, is narrow path. So now it's dirt. And when I tell you, it's like the further we're going, the hotter it's getting. And I'm looking around, and I don't see anything but dirt and cactus. Like, there's. There. I don't see water anywhere. And there I looked up and I said, there ain't a cloud to be found. Not. Not. You know how you see a cloud where it's like a little. Like a little bit. Not a sliver. There's nothing up. Yeah, like, we're so. So it's getting hotter because we're going higher, too. We're not going low. We're going up. I mean, we're headed to the sun. So again, these are probably questions that we could have flushed out. And he probably. For all I know, he could have told us all of this. I was not listening. I was not. I said, look, sir, whatever you talking about, we look cute. Give us a helmet. I'll get to pedaling. I don't care. I'm not. I promise y'. All. He could have told us all of this, what to expect. I didn't read anything. I saw the picture. I said, sign me up. I saw them holly jolly white brothers and sisters on that bike, and I said, sign me up. I'm going to do it. It's going to be great. So now we're about to probably 45 minutes into this bike ride, and we had just got done climbing this major hill, and we are starting to you know, we're. I mean, it's bad, y'. All. So we get off the bikes. But this time, we didn't get off the bikes with grace. We took them bikes and said, get off me. Get off. We took those helmets and said, get off. We were so done with this bike ride, y'. All. I. It's so hot, guys. It's not like, not only is you okay, so there's no wind. So it's still. You want to know what else there was? Not a sound to be found. We aren't saying anything to each other. Nothing. We threw them bikes off. And all you heard is, all right, let me say that. Let me see. I mean, I'm walking around in circles, praying that the Lord sends a wind. I said, lord, now if there's any time that you can send the rain, the wind, a dove, a pigeon, send something that will give me a gust of something I need. It's so hot. It's so hot. And at this point, I'm starting to get discouraged at that point, about 45 minutes in now, I'm discouraged. I'm discouraged because we were just having a great time. Now I'm discouraged because I'm not enjoying this. And then I started to think, you know, jackie, why the heck do you want to do this for your birthday? What? What? Like, why? What. Why is this celebratory? You know what I'm saying? Why would we want to do an activity like this? Most people go ziplining, parasailing. You know what I'm saying? Snorkeling. Here we are doing a 10k. What is his name? What's the bike guy? Not Neil Armstrong. I know. That's the astronaut. What's his name? Lance. We over here being Lance Armstrong in this Cabo desert. So we say, okay, y'. All. Like, in my mind, too. I'm thinking like, all right now, y', all, because I tried to cancel this bike ride. I didn't tell you all that, but I actually tried to cancel the bike ride the day that. The day before. And they were like, ain't no refunds. I say, yeah, I bet. Ain't no refunds. All right? So now I'm like, we got to finish the ride, because I don't like wasting my money. So we got to finish this ride. So we get back on the bike, and mind you, the instructor, he's. He's encouraging us the whole time. He's like, it's okay, y'. All. You. Y' all got it. Just, you know, keep going. We're almost there. So then we get to our next stop. Now, this. This. This little leg, our third little leg was really hard. And we approach another gate that he has to unlock. And I'm like, well, why you gotta unlock another gate? Should we be coming to the end? We get off the bikes again. We throwing them. I mean, Jackie's bike's going to the left. Jordan's bike's going to the right. I almost kicked my bike just to get it away from me. I don't even want to look at you, okay? And he's unlocking the gate. We're drinking our water, and then we start to debrief. We said, hold on, we need a team meeting. We said, all right, y', all, how you doing? You doing bad? Okay. You doing bad, too. Okay, cool. I literally, y', all, I said, I have to do whatever I have to do to not die. So what I'm going to do is I'm taking my shirt off, right? I can't. I was like, I can't do it. If I keep this shirt on, I'm a pass out. So I take. I take my shirt off and, you know, I. I have, like, sports gear on underneath, right? So I. I take my T shirt. I was like, I can't do it. I. I ha. I. This. This T shirt, this thick fashion. T shirts that we had on ain't doing nothing but trapping the heat in. In our bodies. I'm like, I gotta take this shirt off. And so we have a little debrief, and we're like, all right. So, like, are we, like, coming. Do we have to go back this way or are we, like. Like, are we coming to the end of it, or do we gotta go back this way? So we're asking the instructor. We're like. And he. When I say his English, bless his heart, he's. Oh, his English was not. Was. Was not. And that's not his fault. We in his country, you know what I'm saying? He don't. That's not his responsibility. We should be trying to learn his language. You know what I'm saying? He see, you know? See, you know. You know what I'm saying? That's it. That's as much as we was really getting out of the instructor. And he was very kind, very sweet man, right? And so we're like, do we have to go back this way? So we're, like, pointing. We're like, do we have to go back this way? And he's like, oh, like, he's smiling and nice, and I can't understand Anything he's saying, and I want to so bad, but he's just kind of smiling and answering me, and I. And I can't understand. And so he keeps saying, little more, little more, little more. And I'm like, a little more what? What? What? A little more. What do you mean, a little more? A little more what? And so he unlocks the gate, and he's almost. A little more. Almost there. A little more. I could kind of pick that up. And so we decided at this point, this is no longer a leisure activity. At this point, it's spiritual warfare. Like, at that point, it was spiritual warfare for me. I am going. Like, I am going to have to invite the Lord into this experience, because I promise, y', all, I'm about to pass out. And Jordan over here is prone to passing out. Jordan loves to pass out. It's her favorite pastime to pass out. She loves it. So in my mind, I'm terrified that Jordan's gonna pass out. I'm gonna pass out. And. And mind you, Jackie has been back here the entire time. Jackie has never made her way up to the front of the classroom on this bike ride. She's been back here, so I'm concerned for her, too. Okay. And she got these jean shorts on. I know she's not comfortable, so I'm just concerned for the whole bunch. And I always take on the mama bear role, so I'm just worried. I am worried for our. For our hearts, our minds, our souls, our bodies at this point, right? So we. So we. This is. Now. That was our third leg. We get back on and in. The instructor kept saying, almost there, almost there. And so we. We get back on. I think that was our. Was that our last stop, or. We had one more stop. We had one more stop after we got through that second gate. Jackie, I actually take that back. Jackie actually gets in front of us, okay. Because we're not. We're. We're. We're still in the hot desert, but it wasn't as many uphills. Like, we're kind of, for a while, just going straight, right? And we realize. We realize. We realize with the gears, the gear that we were in determines how much the. The motor was going to kick in, right? And so we were in the gear that's called, like, ETB something. And it was like a standard gear. But I do remember vaguely, as I was kind of not listening to him, I do remember him saying something about a turbo. And so I'm struggling, y'. All. Again, we're on that third leg. And I'm struggling. And I was like, let me just see what happens. If I hit turbo, I hit Turbo. And now the bike is doing more of the work. And I say, thank you, Jesus, because I. I don't know if I was going to make it. So I yell to Jordan and to. To Jackie, turn Turbo. Hit Turbo. Hit Turbo. So we hit turbo. And Jackie's like, shoot, here come Jackie peddling up. And she going past me and Jordan. But then Jackie didn't pick what side of the road she wanted to be on. She wasn't being mindful. And she kind of got in the middle, and her bike threw her right into a bush. I mean, all I saw was half of Jackie's body out the back wheel and half of Jackie's body out of the bush. The rest of Jackie's bike and the front half her body was in the bush, and she just stood there. She didn't get off the bike. She just stood there like this. The instructor had to come and eject her from the. They had to tow her out of the bush. That was our fourth stop, y'. All. Now, mind you, every time we stopped, the instructor looked very confused. Like, why are we doing all this stopping? He looked very confused. And we are looking at him confused on why he's looking at us confused. Sir, we're about to die. We gotta stop. So. So Jackie's. I was actually grateful that she ran into the bush because that gave us an opportunity to stop. At that point, I was like, okay, y'. All. He said. I remember that asking the instructor again, like, how much longer? How much longer? Please, please tell me the truth. How much longer? And he said, about five. I don't know if he meant five miles. I thought he meant five minutes, but I believe he meant five miles. Right? And so I'm like, okay, y', all, we got this. Come on. Let's just. Let's just. Let's. Let's do this. Let's knock it out. So we get on the bikes, back on the bikes, and it gets. It's still hot again. It's getting significantly hotter because we're getting significantly higher. And at. Jackie decides she's going to turn on worship music. That was great for her. I couldn't hear it. Couldn't hear a thing because she's back there. It's in her back pocket. I don't have my phone because it kept falling out of my pocket. So the instructor had it. I don't have anything. I have me, my thoughts and my heart trying to be postured. Towards the Lord. That's all I had. Okay? So I literally just start praying. I'm on the bike, and I start praying, and I'm like, lord, I believe we're gonna die if you don't help us. Something. Like, I'm gonna pass out. I'm. I. I'm. I'm breathing in hot air. I'm not getting any type of relief. We're not going down any more hills because everything has been, like, going up or going straight. There was no, like, downhill where we could get some win. I was like, lord, if you. I was like, please, I need. I. I need a relief. I need you to, like, I need a little bit of. When I need a hill, my legs. Have y' all seen that? There's, like, a meme where the monkey is, like, walking in water and his legs are kind of like, my legs are shaking. My legs are weak. I am weak, right? Weary. I am. When I say weary is the most appropriate word. I am weary. Mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually weary. So. So we get. So as I'm praying and I'm. And I'm not even exaggerating, I literally had to, like. I'm literally praying because I'm like, this isn't fun anymore. Like, honestly, this isn't fun. So as I'm praying, literally within, like, 45 seconds, and I'm not even. I'm not joking. Within 45 seconds, our instructor, because he's guiding us, right, he makes a right turn. He makes this right turn, and we go downhill. When I tell y', all, I could have cried. I don't even know. Maybe a tear did come out or something. But I was so. I was like, thank you, God. We went down a hill, and then we. We merge over to the right, and now we're back on a road. On a regular paved road. It was like we went, like, we turned out of Elephant Valley, right? And we go back on a paved road. Kind of like how we started, like a paved street. And it just is downhill for that from there. And in our view, all the way, like, in our sight, is the ocean. And so it starts the. The wind starts to pick up significantly. One, because we're going downhill, but two, because we're getting closer to the ocean. And we are just. At this point, we are breezing down the. Like, we are cruising on these bikes. And as we are going down the hill, I'm assuming this is, like. Well, in my mind, I'm like, okay, yeah, this is the end of the bike ride, because now it's just easy in my mind immediately, I, I started to think and I felt like the Lord was like, this is like the Christian walk. This is like the Christian walk. You have an expectation that because you say yes to Christ, it's going to be easy, that the path is going to be paved perfectly with no bumps, with no friction, with no turbulence, with no nothing, that you're just going to get on a moped. You're not going to have to do any pedaling. You can kick your feet up and just be taken to your destination and enjoy this beautiful journey. You see a picture of someone else's life, an aesthetic of how they have positioned or propped their walk to be right. Like that picture that I saw of those people on the bikes having fun and by the ocean and smiling is no different than how you see people on social media who say that they're Christians and they're on jets and they're on vacations and they have the beautiful family and they have, they, they. Their highlight reel. You see that and you think that's what you expect. You're. We're no different than signing up and, and, and being given the opportunity in the, in the space to hear truth. But because we're just so excited to get that picture, we're not even listening. We're not even listening to what we actually should be expecting. Just like the info, I mean, all the information was there. I just chose not to read it. I signed a contract that I didn't read, a waiver that I didn't read. And we are no different as Christians. We get into it thinking that God is going to make everything easier, that everything is going to be better. But here, here's your, here's your contract. Here's your contract. Here's your list of expectations. What I realize is that just like the motor in the bike, the battery in the bike, that is no different than the Holy Spirit in our lives. But guess what? That battery and that, that motor doesn't kick in unless I pedal. The Holy Spirit is a helper. He helps us. He doesn't do the work. Now there is, there are, there is work that the Holy Spirit works in us and does for us. But we still have to participate. There was no way that we were going to get on those bikes and get anywhere if we didn't pedal. The same for us as Christians, we gotta participate. We have, we have to move our feet. We have to pedal. But the difference is, is that the Christian has this motor, this battery to help them get further along, to get them further to do what they can't do on their own. I got further with this motorbike, but if it was just a regular bike, I wouldn't have made it. But I was able to accomplish something that was hard. I was able to endure something that was hard. I was able to. To. To persevere through very hard circumstances. Why? Because I had the motor and the battery no different than my life. I've been able to endure hard things and endure suffering and endure persecution and endure trials and tribulations and sufferings and all of that. I've been able to endure it because I have the Holy Spirit and to help me, to empower me, right? The Bible says in Romans 8, Romans 8, 10, starting at 10. Now, if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring you your mortal bodies to life through the Spirit who lives in you. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is the same spirit that lives within us to empower us to do the impossible. You cannot be a Christian without the Holy Spirit empowering you to do so. Hebrews 12 was like one of the scriptures that kept coming up to me because there were so many times during this bike ride, every time that we got off the bike, I wanted to quit. There was a time. There was a time where I literally was like, all right, if I decide to just give up, how they gonna get these bikes back? How are we gonna get back? Like, I started to think on that. I'm like, if somebody passes out, like, how long is it gonna take to get. It felt like we were on a race. And so Hebrews 12 says, Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and sin that easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and the perfecter of our faith for the joy that was laid before him. He endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the. Of the throne of God. The. The. The thing that kept. I'm like, I gotta endure the race, fixing my eyes on Jesus. The moment that I decided to fix my mind on the Lord during that bike ride is the moment that things like, I was able to endure better. I had. I had a. I. I fixated my mind on him. I didn't fixate my mind on my circumstances. I didn't fixate my mind on how hot it was because the more I thought about how hot it was, the hotter it got. The more I thought about how uncomfortable I was. The more uncomfortable I got, the more I thought about how my legs were in pain, the more the pain was very prevalent. The more I thought about how much I could not wait to get off of this bike, the less patience I had. But when you fix your eyes on him and you fix your mind on him, you have a different level of endurance to finish the race. Do you know that if we would have got off those bikes or we decided to go back, it would have been harder to go back the way that we came than to finish? I started thinking about all the hills that we went down, the steep hills that we did. If we would have quit and had to go back, it would have been harder to go back. The Bible says in. In Philippians 2, Philippians 2:12, it says, Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence, but even more in my absence. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who is working in you both to will and. And to work according to his good purpose. You got to work it out yourself. You have to participate in the work. You have to work out your salvation. You don't have to earn your salvation, but you do have to work it out. You cannot earn it, but you must work it out with fear and trembling, knowing that it is he that is working in you the will to work and do his good works. He's working that will and that desire in you to endure and persevere and to do what he has called you to do. He's working that will in you. You're not always going to want to do it. The second we started pedaling is the second that it. That we could get further. Doesn't mean that the work wasn't so hard. Doesn't mean that. That the circumstances changed, but the way we were experiencing the circumstance changed. If we would have took that same route with no battery, no motor, it would have been a lot worse. It would have been impossible for me, maybe for Lance, he could have did it, not Megan. I could not have done it. What I was experiencing on that bike ride was so parallel to what I've experienced in my Christian walk. And it's so. It was so fascinating to me because I had put this. This little question out on threads, and I asked everyone, I said, what were your expectations when you became a Christian? And when. And did those expectations align with the biblical expectations that we should have of Christianity? And almost every single person said, I thought it would be easy. I thought it would be easy. I thought it would be easier. And in looking at the bike advertisement I thought the same thing. Oh, I thought, this is gonna be fun. It's gonna be a breeze. We're going to be by the ocean. We're going to, we're going to have a beautiful scenery and we're going to be on mopeds with our feet up. But no, we, the reality was, is that we were going to have to participate in the journey. We were going to have to press towards the mark. We were going to have to endure, we were going to have to persevere, we were going to have to suffer, we were going to have to be uncomfortable. Doesn't mean the entirety of that. That ride was that way. The majority of it was. But there were some beautiful parts of that ride. In the beginning, it was great. There were some parts in the middle that weren't as bad. The end was beautiful. And it also reminded me of one of my favorite scriptures in Romans. For the, for the sufferings of this present time doesn't compare to the glory that would be revealed to us. Let me tell y' all one thing right now. Nothing. The second we got down that hill and we were headed towards the ocean and that wind came and I didn't have to pedal as hard because we're just kind of gliding and cruising down the hill, I couldn't even, I mean, I remembered the suffering, but it wasn't like it. All I could do was just enjoy the fact that I wasn't in suffering anymore. The Christian life is so much like this, this bike ride experience. There were a few quotes that I was thinking about in regards to the Christian life and I just want to read a few of them. One is by Adrian Rogers. The Christian life is not just hard, it's impossible. Only Christ can live it through you. Just like that bike ride. Had we not had the battery in the motor, that, that two hour bike ride would have been impossible for me. It would have been impossible. But because we had the motor and the battery in the bike to advance our pedaling, to advance us, it made it possible. This is the same thing. You're, you, you're, you're not going to end well without Christ life. The Christian life is impossible when you try to do it independently of the Holy Spirit. You need Christ to be a Christian. It's not just showing up and getting the cute picture or or, or having the. Just going to church on Sundays or, or listening to a few podcasts or reading a few books or listening to a few sermons. But it's life dependent on him, life in partnership with him. Dallas Willard said, the gospel is not opposed to effort. It's opposed to earning. That doesn't mean that you don't put effort in, but it means that your effort doesn't earn you anything. But it's just part of the walk. It's part of the call. Paul David Tripp said, God doesn't just want to save you from hell, but he wants to empower you for the hard road ahead. Jesus didn't just save us from our sins, he saved us from our sins. And he left us his spirit. He left us his spirit. The spirit, the same power that raised Christ from the dead. He left that spirit to dwell on the inside of us, to empower us to do the hard things, to do the things that our flesh doesn't want to do. So your road, our road for the bike ride was this Desiree Road. But in life, it could be forgiveness. The road of forgiveness is hard. It's impossible to do without the Holy Spirit. Kindness. Your road might be kindness. That's hard to do without the Holy Spirit empowering you to do so. A sanctified, pure life. That could be your road, too. It's hard and just like we did. Listen, guys, there have been times there, there are going to be times where you're going to want to get off the bike. We got off the bike. But let us lead by example to encourage you to get back on, finish the race. Maybe you, maybe you're listening to this right now and you've gotten off the bike and you're just sitting in the sand in the desert, in your mess, and you're scared to get back on because it's getting harder. You don't know how much longer. You don't know when relief is around the corner. But just like we had an instructor, we have a guide. We have God who knows our path. He says, for I know the plans that I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future. That's a promise that you have. He doesn't carve off a plan for to. To destroy you. He's there encouraging you, just like our instructor was encouraging us. You got this. Keep going. Almost there. And the Lord is saying the same thing to you. He's not so much saying, you got this, but I got you. We're Almost there. Press towards the mark. Stay vigilant. Two last quotes and I'll end it. This is from one of my favorite. My last two were from my favorite preachers and communicators. Tim Keller says, we may not always understand the route, but we can always trust the guide. We didn't understand the route when we were in Cabo in that desert. We didn't. We didn't know the route, but our guide knew the route. He had done that route several times. He probably knew it with his eyes closed. He knew where the hard parts would be. He knew where the, the uphills would be. He knew where the downhills would be. He knew the whole thing. And we had to entrust ourselves to his guidance to get us to where we need it to be to get us to our destination. And I'm telling you, it's the same thing for the Lord. He is your guide. He knows the path. Trust Him. He knows the days that are behind you and the days that are ahead of you. He knows the uphills. He knows the downhills. He knows the hard place, the rocky places, the smooth places. He knows it all. And trust yourself to the one who knows your path. Paul Washer says, the path of glory is not a road paved with comfort, but with crosses. Jesus told his disciples that they would have to pick up their cross and follow him. And that's a daily thing. Every single day. You're going to have to pick up your cross. The path of righteousness, the path of a Christian life is a path paved with you picking up your cross. It's going to be hard. Let me, Let me help you. Let me give you what the Bike Adventure company didn't give me in the picture. I'm going to give you an accurate depiction of what the Christian life is. It's hard, but the promise we have in Revelation 21 is that it won't be hard forever. This is temporary. So hold on. Hold on to God's word. Have proper expectations. Read his word so that you know what to expect. There's so much. There was so much disappointment simply because that we didn't. We didn't read the instructions. We didn't set our expectations. We didn't. We didn't. We didn't have proper expectations. So there was so much disappointment. And how many of us are like that? How many people do we know that have fallen away from the faith all because they didn't have proper expectations? They thought it was going to be easy, and it's not. But we also have a promise that we, we serve a God who promises us to never leave us or forsake us. Not only physically is he not going to leave us, but emotionally, mentally, spiritually, he will not forsake us. Hold on to the promise. Endure. Stay on the narrow path. Stay on the right side of the narrow path, the hard path. That is the Christian walk. The path is narrow. It's hard. You gotta endure. You. You have to go through suffering. But there's promises that we have that we have to hold on to to help us endure and finish the race. Finish those who endure to the end. That's what we're called to do. Endure to the end. You're not dead yet. If you're watching this, you're. You're still very much alive. So that means keep enduring. And when you wake up the next day, if the Lord wills you, keep enduring. You keep pressing towards the mark. I hope that this was helpful to you. I know that in the beginning, you know, we were kind of just joking and laughing about the story because it was quite literally funny. But it's so interesting to me how the Lord is so kind to show up and reveal Himself, even in something as simple as a bike ride. As much as I was annoyed about this bike ride, at the end of it, when he started to reveal how this is so similar and parallel to the Christian walk, I was actually grateful for, encouraged me and encouraged my faith. I know Jordan and, and Jackie and I, we were on the. The van back. I'm sure Jackie probably has a whole sermon that she can preach and explain, probably way better than I could. But we all talked about how we had to press into the Lord in this. And it was just beautiful to see how, like, we don't have to do anything apart from Him. That was beautiful to me. And so I hope this was encouraging to you. I hope you were able to laugh a little. But I also hope that you were able to be encouraged that we have a guide who is the King of the universe, Holy, righteous God, who was so kind to send his Son, his only begotten son, to live a sinless, spotless, pure life. He was guiltless, yet he took on the wrath of God, bore our sins, our shame, our iniquities, died on the cross, was buried, rose from the dead, and left his spirit here to empower us to be Christ followers and promises us that he's coming back and he's going to make all things new. So I pray that this encourages you. I love you guys. See you next time. What's up? You guys, I hope you enjoyed this episode. Thank you so much for listening and I hope you felt encouraged in some way. Be sure to like and follow into Tality Podcast everywhere you listen to your favorite shows. Follow into Tality on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and be sure to turn on your post notifications so that you can be the first to listen whenever there's a new episode.