I love it when a plan comes together...especially when it's not my plan

Yes, this is another blog about God. Jesus. Lord. Father -  the one that created all of this and the one that sets in motion each and every cog and gear in this unbelievably complex and gigantic puzzle. This post is about His amazing timing in this place we call home.

Tonight I am writing on the topic of timing and how, if left to our own devices, we will generally tend to screw up the timing of one thing or another throughout the course of our day.   Even you punctual people have to admit that if someone were telling you exactly where to be and precisely when to be there, you could have had better timing, for at least one instance in your life.

Tonight was like many other nights driving Uber in Indianapolis.  I went online a bit later than normal after a wonderful movie date with my beautiful bride, and wound up mostly being around downtown for a majority of the evening. Around 1:15 or so I start to think about shutting it down and heading back home; mind you I am still downtown so I begin to do what any good Christian would do at this point, and pray, that the Lord will provide me a trip somewhere north.  I tend not to be greedy so I usually pray something like this:

"Dear Lord, thank you for a profitable evening. I would like to head back home, so if you'd like to give me a trip north, that would be great, if not, that's great too. Your will Lord, not mine, Amen."

[Please reference my earlier blog about praying this prayer, being the last car in Broad Ripple on one evening, then having to drive some dudes to Greenwood.  Bummer!  I put this note here so you can see that even though I am a Christian, I understand that God's timing is not always my timing, and it just did not work out in my favor (that I know of) for that particular evening.]

Back to the topic at hand - I say "Amen" and sixty seconds later I get a trip heading north. "Hooray, I love it when a plan comes together."  After dropping off a few dudes and their dates in Broad Ripple I'm like, okay that was convenient, I'll go towards the strip and see what's happening. Maybe head home, maybe hang out. Who knows.
I park in front of the giant comb at Monkey's Tail for a minute and another request rolls in.   This couple is going a few blocks off the strip; or are they?  The guy lets himself out a few blocks away and tells me I'm taking his girlfriend back downtown to her apartment. Back downtown?!  What?! This wasn't my plan.  Now I'll have to drive back home with an empty car! (it is 2:15 by this time, and I'm not in the mood to wait around another 45 minutes for closing time)

I drop off this girl at her place and before I can finish my thought and get a game plan of what to do next, I turn onto Mass Ave to find it...,,,.deserted. Completely and utterly deserted.  I drove 3 blocks without having to touch my brakes, and if you've ever driven on Mass Ave, Uber or not, you know that is no easy accomplishment.

Another minute or two goes by and DING!  Oh hooray. A request:
"Hi Cole, this is David with Uber, I just want to confirm you're at 608 Massachusetts Avenue..."
  -"hi David, yes we're at Pizzaology" 
"Great, thanks for confirming, I'll be there in just a minute."

I park in front of Pizzology, stopping in the middle of Mass Ave to open the door for my passengers, because this is what I do and because I can get out of my car on Mass Ave without being honked at!
I hit the [Begin Trip] button, and to my wonderful astonishment, their address is Zionsville,

All I can say at this point is, "I love it when a plan comes together, especially when it's not my plan."
The Bible talks about "enduring" and "endurance" and I think sometimes this is read too much into; like we should have some big struggle that we have to fight through so that we can share our testimony with others and they will want to know God more, because we are enduring this great battle.  Sometimes, friends, enduring is simply not hitting that "off'" button the moment you feel like it. Sometimes enduring is waiting on the Lord's perfect timing, even when you don't feel like it.  I could have easily gone offline in Broad Ripple and made the drive home by myself, but I didn't. I decided to let the Lord work in me and through me, and because of this I feel that he blessed me with a small glimpse into his perfect plan.

We are all cogs in this great machine, sometimes letting someone else be in charge is the most difficult part, however; it is what we need most - to let go of our control and allow God to use us as pieces in his amazingly timed, perfectly crafted plan.

Timing is everything.

Correction. God's timing is everything.  God is in control and he has everything timed perfectly, like the most accurate and precise clock ever created.
Sometimes that timing works out for us to enjoy and be excited over it; sometimes it works out for us to be sad and disillusioned by it.
Either way. I never cease to be impressed by God's perfect timing.

Tonight God's timing worked in my favor to see a friend and get them a safe ride home.
I just finished up an Uber trip on the north side when I was heading back south on Michigan Road.  Just as I was driving by the complex where my friend and her husband were wrapping up their party, they texted me to ask for a ride.  Sometimes it is the little details that baffle me, and sometimes it's the bigger picture (see '2015' post)

Whether it is working in your favor or not, revel in God's perfect timing and know that he knows what is best, every second of every day and he will not fail.

2015

Tonight while driving, I accepted a request that turned out to be from a friend I haven't seen since 2005. I am ecstatic about 2015 because I feel like this happening, with this person, exactly how it did is God showing me that he is in control, always has been, and always will be.
I hope that I can be more dedicated, more humble, and more willing to let Jesus work in me and through me in ALL areas of my life this coming here.
Here's to 2015 and everything that will happen.

The ride of a lifetime (from June road trip to Canada)

Yesterday's ride with some folks from Fresh Air Experience was exactly the kind of riding you would imagine in British Columbia. Rolling hills into the country, a strong wind from the north, an unfortunate storm blowing in with gray clouds and rain in the distance. With about 1650 ft of climbing and a top speed of 57 miles per hour, it was truly the ride of a lifetime. 


I think my favorite part was after quite a few wonderfully amazing tire squealing down hill sections someone says "we haven't even gotten to the best one yet!"
The final downhill was 3 kilometers of blindingly fast, brakeless curves back into town, and this Indiana guy ended up getting 10th overall out of 90 people that have ridden that segment!

Unfortunately the rain today kept me from a second, faster attempt. Will I have my chance to try again? I can only hope.    I was having too much fun to take any pictures, so I'll try to get some next time.  Until then, you'll just have to imagine.

Thursday June 10

Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana

Wow, North Dakota is wide. Like really wide. Like add wide as Kansas.

And you know what we say about Kansas, Andrew Abegg. 

Wednesday June 11

Made it to Chicago in 2.5 hours

Listening to our road trip playlist on spotify and Into Thin Air by John Krakauer (audio CD)

Drove 430 miles before getting gas with about 80 to spare, averaged 30mpg in the loaded down Subaru, currently averaging ~31 through the hills of northwest Wisconsin.

Found New Glarus beer and a plethora of other awesome porters and stouts.
Hooray for Spotted Cow!

Remembering my trip to the Wisconsin Dells with my mom as a kid: getting sick and going to the hospital, Wisconsin Ducks, gigantic waterparks. Great job driving all this way Mom!

Things I've noticed:
-Minnesotans are very friendly
-Minnesotans talk very slowly

12 hours of driving is a long way to drive, but not so bad when you have an awesome Co pilot.

Alexandria, MN looks like awesome biking territory!
And indeed it is! (got to ride with some super awesome dudes) 

A huge thank you to Jake's Bikes for putting me in touch with Craig Andrews and a huge thank you to Craig for putting me in touch with Ralph!
Had a fantastic 25 mile ride with a really cool group of guys around some of the lakes here in Alexandria.
Only stop #1 and I already want to pack up and move away to the land of 10,000 lakes.

Updates in Uber'land (written back in...May?)

A few new happenings since the opening weekends of Uber...the concise and precise version

• I drove a girl who taught Katie's art class when she did a wine and canvas night with the Zionsville Mom's group (this was a pretty lucky pick up as I was not really near their location and it was a prime time of evening)
• I took a few people to Center Grove (which is a haul and you probably won't be coming back with passengers.)  Prayed that I would find some way to make money on the south side. About halfway to CG a friend texted me from the southside needing a ride.  Unfortunately timing didn't work out and I was headed back north with an empty car.  I thought about sticking around on the south side for a bit, and I asked God to give me some sign if I should stay.  I drove a couple minutes down the road and had a request from Beech Grove to head across town.  Shortly after I dropped that guy off I had a request to go from Southport, pretty far west, and it ended being a $40 fair.  I met up with my friends eventually, took them home, and then had numerous other requests from the near vicinity.  South was blowing up that night!
• On Wednesday, 3/19, I got up early (~4:45am) and after sitting around reading my Bible and asking some important life questions on 1 Timothy 5 I got a request from an auto shop in Zionsville.  After a brief conversation I learned that the owner of the shop was looking for someone to help get his clients from his shop back home after dropping off their cars for work.  The fare wasn't much, but it was a very promising conversation and hopefully some lucrative future business.
  (follow up to this - owner did not work out and said "I have worked long and hard to get this business up and running, I'm not interested in promoting anyone except myself,"  to which I walked out scratching my head wondering if he had missed the whole concept of Jesus first, others second, self last. And yes, I know this business owner is a Christian.)