The Eye of the Tiger

The year was 1985. I was only one. And Rocky Balboa travelled to the Soviet Union to battle Captain Ivan Drago (a Russian heavy-weight doped up more than some tour de france riders) in order to avenge Apollo Creed's death. Throughout the movie Rocky struggles with figuring out how to take on the impossible challenge of defeating Drago, all the while battling to do it the good and just "American" way. While Drago's coaches boast of the latest technology (lets just say the computer systems in 1985 did a whole lot of confusing beeping and displayed incomprehensible numbers) and trained Drago using power meters and steriods; Rocky chopped wood, fought the cold Siberian winter and did ridiculous ab-work outs in barns. In the end Rocky wins due to his overwhelming determination to see justice through (see Chris' Chinese Fortune Cookie Blog below about determination)...and that makes all the difference. Rocky TKOs Drago and makes a speech to the Russian crowd (who by now are chanting his name, along with the rest of us at home on our couches) and tells them that the way they came to love him throughout the fight, they, as a country, can come to love America the same way.

Do you see where I'm going with this yet?

There's a reason why our theme song is to the tune of Rocky--there's even a reason why Ryan even had Rocky IV with him. (aside: Some of us think it should be on the "to bring" list next year--please bring one version of the Rocky movie with you, and be ready to watch at all times.) As cliche, predictable and sappy as it may be, Rocky is in all of us. In fact, I'd say we are Rocky. We all embody the Rocky dream, and subsequently believe in it--as we should. Rocky inspires people to dream big, work hard (the right way...sorry Floyd Landis) and fight reeeeeeeally hard through the pain and toughness that we encounter because of it, and win.

This trip has seen all facets of that, too. We get jaw-dropping facial responses when we tell people we're biking across the country. But how do we do it? As Tony says, "It's the same way you eat an elephant--one bite at a time." We fight through the tougher 20 miles, enjoy the other 20s, and all fist-pound, high five, and hug like Rocky and Apollo when the day is over. And then we get ready to do it again. And sure it gets tough sometimes, like that 8 mile stretch of tar-pit Texas called a "road" yesterday, but we use each other as a backbone that Drago made reference to when he was fighting Rocky: "He's not human....he's made of iron." Together, as a team, we are made of iron. And Gu.

But we didn't do any biking today. (Our butt's say THANK YOU!!!)

We woke up bright and early to await Tyler (a worker/student/iron-man from DBU) to pick us up and bring us to Dallas to help Mrs. Cinderella Harris, an 83 year old woman having some serious repair and renovation issues that forced her out of her house after 51 years. Well the neighborhood, St. Phillips, contacted the Fuller Center in Dallas and got working with DBU and us to help get her started to get back into that house. We took 51 years of furniture and memorabilia out of the house so the contractors could come in later to look, assess and begin repairing it. (Pictures to come.) There were a lot of us, and we worked fast, and got finished earlier than expected--before 10 AM!!!

We were then shuttled to DBU for a tour, some lunch and fellowship. What a BEAUTIFUL campus. Afterwards, Tyler graciously shuttled us around Dallas for an impromptu tour as we looked for two bicycle shops for Tony to help get his broken spoke repaired. We figured since a Texas road broke it, a Texas bicycle shop should know how to fix it. Well the first shop sent us to another shop, which proved to only help Tony in that he bought a new set of wheels. Nice. During the ride all of us, expect for Tony and Tyler fell asleep. But before we did, Tony graced us with a new song to the tune of "Oh Susana, Don't You Cry for Me," whose chorus went like this:

"San Diego, don't you cry for me,

I'm headed to Savannah just my bicycle and me."

All the verses were about all of us, and hopefully they'll be posted here soon, but he had them all memorized, full of wit and thought. When asked how he came up and memorized all of this, he replied, "You find you have a lot of time when you're actually riding..." We all laughed.

Back at the shop, the rest of us bought some goodies and headed back to the First Baptist Church in Terrell, TX where Tyler dropped us off (Thanks TYLER!!). Later, Elaine from the church brought us some wonderful casserole to eat. We stocked up on carbs, played some ping-pong, did some shopping, cleaning and reorganizing and headed to the make-shift movie room to watch Rocky IV. Go Philly!!!

And even though Rocky is instrumental in our "bike across America"/"do it all for the red, white and blue," it is also so relevant to the housing ministry we're encouraging and providing. Rocky shows us that it's about getting ourselves dirty, doing it the hard way, and following our hearts to do the right thing. And like Nate pointed out a few days ago in his blog, we'll take a hard floor and a cold shower over warm showers (and anabolic steroids) to talk to you about the Fuller Center anyday. We've learned that there is a housing crisis, yes--and it's going to kick our butts from time to time, and look so discouraging that we wonder why we even try, but Rocky reminds us to keep going further--"No pain." And Mrs. Cinderella reminded us about the very same thing when she thanked us, told us how glad she was we were all there, and in the most quietest voice asked for our phone numbers so she could call us and thank us again, and smiled in a way that proved appreciative and victorious.

And it's good to be reminded of that feeling, especially on this trip. And it's good to watch movies like Rocky IV, too, because it reminds us that we're all so privildged to be here and a part of this dream...because we know, like Rocky, that doing things the right way for God will always prove victorious.

Last but not least,

Adriannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.....

I mean, Americccccaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!