Ride of Faith

In two weeks we are flying to Maine to begin our journey cross country.  Two weeks!  A lot has been accomplished in preparation and the thought of not having to do any more prep in just two weeks is actually really blissful.  There will be plenty that won't be bliss on our trip, including the "break in" period (fellow cyclists, you know what I'm speaking of, and those non cyclists, well, you have pretty good imaginations of the potential pain involved).  

No matter how much we train for this and ride, one thing is clear: we won't be prepared enough.  These uncertainties and unclarities pull at my mom heart and my sensibilities.  I do a lot of mitigating of expectations in my work, so how do I mitigate all of my fears?  At times I feel I'm swimming in a vat of fears of the "what ifs", and "what do we do when".  But you know, "what if" I let go of some of those unknowns and uncertainties?  What if I trusted God for good things on this trip?  What if I lived in the joy of just having each day soaring on my bike with my favorite people?  What if I absorb the "lessons" of the trail and trust God has some awesome plans He wants to unfold and has for us to discover (thanks Leann)?  

I feel incredibly lucky, blessed, happy, fortunate that we can take this journey and have this time together before Eli and Asher hit high school where we anticipate a whirlwind.   When Mike brought the bike trip up about 10 years ago, I said words of affirmation and "buy in" (but in my head, I was a plentiful with skepticism and dismissal).  Well, a decade later and here we are on the precipice of a new adventure.  Skepticism and Dismissal out, training and planning in.  Here we are, embarking on a retreat from the noise that at times seems so loud in our lives.  

Another place we, along with the Gilday family, have had the privilege of being together with way less noise in our lives is Mexico.  Our church has partnered with Homes of Hope, an organization that builds houses for families in Mexico.  In both 2018 and 2019 both of our families were able to go with our church to help build a home each year.  Below are some photos of our Thanksgiving weeks in Ensenda.

 Caniglia Family 2019

Gilday Family 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our church continues to be involved in Homes of Hope, and if you would like to donate towards a house build, please click on the below link.  

https://secure.subsplash.com/give/HH9SVP?redirectRoute=confirm-gift&amount=5&freq=once&date=2021-05-13&fund=08096016-8df2-45c7-8058-f24b2c4a03b8

Once you do, it will take you to our church's website.  From there, you will need to click on the drop down menu and select     4SQ Homes of Hope.  We plan to do more builds in the future.  No pressure, but we would very much appreciate any donation you might feel led to give, and your prayers are so appreciated as well!  These homes have and will continue to change lives.  Being a part of these builds has changed ours.

 The following statement is included because of Greg's elected position as a State Representative (disclaimer to the below disclaimer).😀

**The Ethics in Public Service act does not allow Greg Gilday to solicit charitable donations from lobbyists or lobbyist employers.  If you are receiving this request and are either a lobbyist or lobbyist employer, please disregard my request to make a donation to this charitable cause.**

We would LOVE to hear from you, or even see you on our trip! Unfortunately we don't have the time to deviate from our route with the exception of seeing my exceptional mom and brother and family at Clear Lake.  But, we would welcome a visit at a campsite, or lunch (or maybe even carrying our bags (gasp) for a few hours!). We will have our phones with us.  I do Facebook or messenger and Mike does the manly version of Facebook: Strava.  Here is a rough map of our journey. Below the photo is a link to Adventure Cylcing and there you will find more detailed extractions of each of these sections.  If you think of us, say some prayers and drop us a message if you have time!

The Northern Tier

Northern Tier | Adventure Cycling Route Network | Adventure Cycling Association

https://www.adventurecycling.org/routes-and-maps/adventure-cycling-route-network/northern-tier/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw4v2EBhCtARIsACan3nwteYBYBk9mXJg-w8A4Fuk8Dj50T2TIPq5gBAjwnEgCAOat9SAXfOUaAvO3EALw_wcB