Determination

**I wrote this Sunday morning, and am finally able to post it up here. I've sent it out to a few people via email already, in a slightly longer form. I'll be sending it out to everyone else on my email list in the next few minutes. If you don't get it and would like to be on my email list, just let me know. mike.c.scott@gmail.com**

Determination. I've spent the past couple days reflecting on that word a bit. I haven't had internet access since I was in Eureka, so this email has been a couple days coming… Plenty of time to think while I'm biking. But, before I go on, I'd like to suggest that you take a min or two to just sit back and think about what determination means to you.

Determination. When I think of determination, and being determined, I think of being decided, having an ultimate goal, something that you're trying to attain or accomplish; maybe a task that you want to complete or you want to lose weight or something. I have determination to complete this bike ride and bring in support for the work of Military Community Youth Ministries. My mom and a couple of her friends are determined to walk a marathon in November.

Because of our determination, we take time to prepare and focus on accomplishing and meeting that goal. I spent many hours biking before I flew out to Washington, and many more writing emails and talking to people to raise support for YFC and MCYM. My mom and friends are walking miles upon miles every week in preparation. I am sure that you all can relate in some way; something that you are determined to accomplish, where you are taking steps to meet your goal.

In the NET translation of Psalm 108 verse 1, David says, "I am determined, O God! / I will sing and praise you with my whole heart." I think so often, at least for me, I set my eyes on trying to accomplish the goals that I can see directly in front of me and loose the long distance focus on Christ and eternity.

It's like trying to focus a camera on a flower that is right in front of you and the mountains that are miles in the distance at the same time. One of them is going to come out blurry. You have to decide which is better to focus on.

Even this morning, I was reminded during our team's worship service (there weren't any churches nearby in East Glacier) that the Christian life is not a sprint but an endurance race. You have to set your focus on the end or you get caught up and distracted by the things nearby and close at hand. You have to be determined to sing and praise the Lord with every breath.

All that to say, God has been working in my life during this trip so far, though I still have no idea where the $91,000 is going to come from that I have yet to raise to meet my $100,000 goal. As I mentioned to a guy I was talking to last night, if you have an extra $90,000 lying around, I would really appreciate your donation. I know that every one of those dollars will make a huge impact in the lives of military teens in Europe who are desperate for relationship, especially the life altering relationship with Christ. But even if you only have 1, 2, 5, or 10 dollars available for this ministry, every dollar will make an impact.

Today we biked along the Koocanusa (Koo-Can-Usa) lake, a 60 mile long resivore created by the Kootenai Dam. It was incredibly beautiful. The lake is named for the Kootenai County (Koo), Canada (Can) and USA.

That brought us, of course to Eureka, MT, where we are staying with the First Baptist Church. It was great to be here and talk with them. Though, the fellowship group here this evening was pretty small; all of their kids are at camp and i think i heard that a lot of the adults are on a chior tour/mission trip of sorts. But it was still great to fellowship with the ones that were here!
Last night, in Libby, on of the guys at the church made balloon animals. I asked him to make me a giraffe, which I then attached to my bike bag today. Henry enjoyed the ride. :)
This was the view as we were coming into Eureka. I've really enjoyed the mountains, and I'm sad that in just a couple of days we'll be moving into the plains of eastern Montana and the mid-west. But, I'm sure it will have it's own beauty.

I also had the chance to talk to the VBS group in CA again today. They are a great bunch. As I told them, the team has biked (almost) the distance from LA to San Francisco and back again, now. And we're only 1/6th of the way done.

Now, it is again time for bed. It's amazing how the time slips away from me.


PS On the right, you will find a list of links to all the blogs that the team has. I'd encourage you to check those out as well and get a different perspective on the trip.

Friends,
Today we moved into our third state, Montana. Like I said yesterday, I'm pretty excited about that. I'm actually writing this on the night of the 25th, but I don't have internet at the moment, so I'll post it when I do.

We are staying in Libby tonight. My host is a very nice lady, about my grandma's age. It has been great to talk to her. She has two grandsons in the Air Force. Both of which have lived in Germany, one is still there. I think I'm going to keep my post today short. I am pretty tired right now.

Oh, a quick update on my Achilles tendons: it's odd, they seem to be going back and forth between which one is causing pain which day. But, as long as I'm keeping the Ibuprofen up, the pain hasn't been bad. Today I was able to push quite a bit harder on my bike, and it felt really good, though, I think I'm going to slow back down, because you miss so much when you're flying along at 20+ mph. 15 is a much better pace, I think; able to stop and take pictures more easily. So, tomorrow I'll probably slow back down.

It'll be nice though, we've got a pretty short ride tomorrow, 'only' 60 miles.


By the way, Jonny and Fiona say hi and they are doing well. Just in case anyone is interested. :-)

An exciting day

Well, today was a pretty exciting day. We finally made it out of Washington State! And now we're almost out of Idaho! Only about 5 miles to bike from Clark Fork to the border with Montana.  Today was also exciting because I finally hit 1000 miles biked since I bought this bike. But, on the other hand, starting tomorrow, we have the three big states which account for almost half of our trip in days!

Also, I think I may have decided that as beautiful as Washington State was with the Cascade Mtns., deserts, ocean, and everything else, this area of Idaho has been even more scenic. Today's ride took us through Sandpoint, ID and along the northern shore of Lake Pend Oreille. It was absolutely amazing how the mountains jut right out of the water. I have a few pictures, but yet again, I am borrowing a computer... Hopefully I'll be able to connect my laptop soon to upload some pictures for you all. I'm also planning to get an email out here in the next day or two.

As always, thank you all for your prayers and support. I know this is going to make a huge impact in the lives of the military youth in Europe. I get so excited telling the people I meet about them. 

A great day

Hi all, today was a really great day! We did a nice 92 mile ride, and my heels didn't bother me almost at all! Thank you all for your prayers. It' been really interesting, as I've continued to progress across the US, I've met people who have been on my blog already and have been praying for me, the team and YFC. It has been a real blessing.

I also got to talk to a bunch of VBS kids in California this evening. That really made my day! I'm really looking forward to the opportunity I'm going to have to talk to them each evening over the next couple days. The kids are pretty excited! The winning team is going to get to throw water balloons at Ms. Karan!

I need to get going though, we're sharing the computer at the moment. Tomorrow morning, we leave Washington for the last time, and the day after we'll be in Montana! We're prettyexcited to be moving on to a new place and new people.

On our route yesterday (Saturday), we passed a forest that had burned down about 20 years ago. Instead of cutting down the burnt timb er and replanting the forest, though, they decided to allow it to just regrow naturally. It was really interesting seeing mostly just small trees amid a forest of dead tree trunks. Kind of eerie. But at the same time it is cool to see the way that God set up creation to work and grow out of so much damage.
One of the views on the way up to our highest point of our ride (Sherman Pass). I'm glad to have that hill behind us. We've just got one more plateau tomorrow, a couple days of flat, the Montana Rockies, and then we'll be in the planes. I'm really not sure if I'm looking forward to those or not.... The flat will be nice, but the view won't change much.... But, I say that and am reminded that i'm not on this ride for the views, though they are a nice benefit. I'm here for the military youth.
Our team at Sherman pass!
And last but not least, the view last night from the front patio of the house I'm staying at last night and tonight. It's amazing to me how God designs each sunset in a completely new and wonderful way!

Also, a side note, we're working on getting everyone's blog addresses posted on each other's pages. I need to get all of the URLs, so be looking for that in the coming days.

Update

Now that I have successfully added a few posts to the blog, I wanted to give you all a bit more of an update on past posts. First off, thank you all for your prayers, especially for my physical condition. My Achilles tendons are feeling better, though, my right one was still giving me pain today. My sister, who is in school for Athletic training was able to give me some tips. Ibuprofen and ice... So I stocked up on 200 tablets of ibuprofen, but I'm still looking for an ice gel pack. Hopefully we'll be able to find one this Sunday.

Other than that i feel pretty good. Today I took it pretty easy, though, as I plan to do tomorrow, before our day of rest. So, I think that might help. One thing that was really nice though, as I was hanging back with Jonny and Fiona for the day, Jonny pointed out, that this really isn't a race. There's no sense at all pushing through each day and trying to finish 2 hours early each day, when we can take a few minutes to really stop and take a few pictures, talk to people along the way and just enjoy a pleasant ride through God's creation. I think I'm probably going to make that more of my philosophy over the next days, though, I would like the opportunity to ride with some of the people towards the middle and front at times.

Anyways, God has been good so far, as he has continued to bring in support for Youth for Christ, we haven't had any injuries to speak of (other than the minor bumps cuts and bruises, and sore muscles), we've made our objective each day. Our bikes eiter have not had problems, or he has provided ways for us to get them fixed. It really has been great so far and I am really looking forward to what the next 56 days bring!


Blessings,
Mike


P.S. In case you haven't noteced the extra stuff on the right side, I've got links to some related websites that I would encourage you to check out for more information. I also have a slide show of pictures flipping through of more than what I've posted here.

Yesterday we stayed in Riverside, here area few pics from the evening.
There was a youth event in the next town over (Omak, WA). We had the chance to introduce the group, tell about why we're doing this ride and talk to a few people here and there more personally. We also got to listen to a live performance of the band Issacar (spelling?). They were pretty good. I had a chance to talk to one of the guys in the band. He has a great heart for ministering through music.
I also had the chance to make a few friends there in the town, between my host family that we stayed up talking and having a good time with (maybe a bit too late.... especially for getting up at 6)
I also had a chance to meet this wonderful young lady. She made quick friends with everybody on the team. Though, she was a bit shy, she was kind enough to allow me to get a picture with her.

A funny thing

A funny thing happened yesterday. We started our climb (relatively easy day) up to Loup Loup pass, but about an hour into the ride we stopped for a short break. We started moving again, but Bryan (our group leader) had some troubles, went to stop and toppled over, because he didn't get his foot out of the clips soon enough. woops. Well, in the process somewhere, his chain fell off the gears...

I was a little ways up at this point and went back down to see what was going on and if I could help. As I came up, I unclipped my right foot to stop, but as I came to a stop my bike decided to go left instead. Obviously I wasn't ready for that.... Not only did I fall over, and not only was it right next to Bryan, but I even went into the ditch on the side of the road.

I was later questioned about my diving experience, I told them it was great, just needed more water!

On our way up to Washington Pass (a couple days ago, now), we found enough snow for me to very easily stand my bike up right. It was quite the climb up there though, with some absolutely gorgeous views. Unfortunately, i hadn't yet perfected how to have my camera handy enough to pull out while I'm riding.... But, one of my three jersey's allows me that functionality.... so I'll work on som more pictures of the ride.
Here is a pictures of some birds we found at the Pass. The animals have been so incredibly trusting. They'll come right up to you. This evening in Republic we've gotten well within 10 feet of several deer, including a nice sized buck. They were just munching away on the grass in the front yard of one of the houses.
This is Stuart, Zach and me. Stuart is from Ireland, he's 62!! The elevation says 5477, but overall, with the ups and downs, we did a total of over 7,000 feet of climbing. I don't remember the exact figure... But it really was a tough day.

Well, I found internet access at a public park in Republic, WA. So, I'll take a few minutes to post a couple messages here and put up a few pictures, before I get eaten alive by mosquitoes...

Here's a pic of how we wish were riding across the US... Well, sortof. It would be nice not to have to work as hard as we are and sweat as much as we do, but it really is rewarding, the opportunity that it provides us to talk to all kinds of people.

The group that owns the motor bikes here is a Christian mortcycle group that is here in Republic for the weekend for a rally. They're mission organization goes to rallies all over the world to talk to the bikers about Christ. Some of their stories were amazing!

A quick post

We're about to head out to a youth event in Omak (spelling?), WA. We're staying in Riverside, WA tonight. It is such a beautiful place. Oddly enough, it really reminds me of the southwest US...

Anyways, the one thing I really wanted to say right now was to ask for prayers for my Achilles tendons. For some reason they both started to hurt pretty badly today. I've been icing them since I got here around 3:30 (it was a short day!). I'll try to post more later; maybe even some pictures.

In Twisp

Hello all. I'm in Twisp, WA this morning, on the other side of the Cascades from where I was yesterday in Marblemount, WA. we had a pretty greuling up hill climb to Rainy and Washington Passes, but every single person on the team made it and then was the pay off. About 18 miles of down hill where you could coast comfortably at 40 miles an hour. I got a few pictures that I'll try to post soon. I haven't had wireless to use the last couple days, and right now I'm borrowing the churches computer....

I've got a climb each day for today tomorrow and the day after, then we've got our day of rest on Sunday and a couple days of flat more or less thereafter, before we start the Rockies (which look to be easier than what we did yesterday!) I need to get going, it's already 8 in the morning here and we need to get on the road.

God bless, and thank you all for your prayers and support.

Headed out

I'm headed out right now to go over to washington park here in Anacortes where we'll dip our tires in the pacific ocean and start out towards Maine. Thank you all for your prayers and support for myself, my team, MCYM and YFC International.

Anacortes

After church, getting my bike put back together and going out for a short ride with Paul (one of the my teammates from England) to make sure everything was in order, my host family took me out for a drive around the Anacortes area. I wanted to just post a couple pictures for everyone to see. I've been told by many people that this area of the US is beautiful, and I would have to agree with them all.
Thanks to the clear weather today, I was able to see Mt. Baker (top, to the North East), Washington Park (center), and the San Jaun Islands to the west (bottom, out in Puget Sound). Obviously, this was all right around sun set. I was also able to just barely make out Mt. Ranier to the south, but it was a bit too hazy for a piture.
I'm looking forward to getting underway on Tuesday. I've already had the chance to talk to a couple people about the work of Military Community Youth Ministries in Europe, and I'm looking forward to meeting and talking to many more people across the US. I've got 51 host families that I'll be staying with yet.

Arrived in Washington

I made it safely to Washington with all of my luggage and bike. For the most part it was a pretty smooth flight and I was able to get a little bit of sleep on the flight from Philly to Seattle. But, now it is 1 am and I need to be in bed...

Tomorrow I'll get to go to church with my host family and then start the adventure of getting my bike put back together!

On my way

Dear Friends,
In just a few hours I'll be boarding my plane to Philadelphia and then on to Seattle. That'll give me enough time to arrive in Anacortes, WA, get my bike rebuilt, make any last minute adjustments, etc., and get ready for to start biking on Tuesday morning. I'm really looking forward to that!

I wanted to first let everyone know that from now on most of my updates will be to my blog and not via email. I will make an effort to get at least one email out each week, but the blog seems like a more effective way to communicate with everyone. Here is the link again: http://mcsc2c@blogspot.com If you would prefer an email or other communication, please, let me know.

Also, more importantly, I want to send another quick general thank you to everyone who has and is supporting me and YFC in any way. Whether that is by partnering in prayer (I know I will need it!), with finances or simple notes of encouragement that have come at the times when I've needed it the most. Thank you, all!

I also wanted to make sure that everyone knows that through your generosity, I have raised over $8,100 towards the mission of YFC to military teens in Europe. I posted a blog entry a couple days ago, mentioning how God was unbelievably faithful in his provision for this trip. I'd recommend that you go read the post (Link), but in short it covers God unbelievable provision to cover the required $6,500 of fundraising even before I realized he had done it! And just to prove his point he had an extra $4.50 in my account! He is good.

Anyways, I need to finish packing the last couple things and go to bed. I've got a long day of flying ahead of me tomorrow.

Thank you again for all of you prayers and support!
In Christ,
Mike

P.S. There is a new Sea to See official blog page if you'd like to follow our progress there as well (http://www.yfcseatosee.blogspot.com/)

6500!

Friends,
I just have a few minutes to be online while I'm away from home until tomorrow evening, but I took the time to check on the status of my fundraising for YFC. I can't tell you how thankful I am for the generosity of so many people. Thank you!! I know that God is going to do amazing things with this money.

Actually, I was just talking with my roommate, and realized how God has worked this out, He is so amazing! I thought I was still about $600 short of the required $6500, but realized that He had already provided the 600 through the commitment of the VBS program in California, which I have yet to add to my donations.

I still don't know how he is going to raise the remaining $93,500, but just as I said when I started down this path back in February, God is faithful and he has reminded me of that today!

Thank you all again for your prayers, encouragement and support. It will make a huge impact on the lives of the military youth!
In Christ,
Mike

It's getting close

Dear Friends,
In just one week, I'll be flying to Seattle and going through a final checklist before I leave from Anacortes, WA on the 17th! I'm still hoping and praying for support money to come in. I need to have $6,500 pledged before I leave Germany on the 14th. Which I'm much closer than I was a few days ago (now over $3,000!!) Thank you to everyone who has supported me in prayer, notes of encouragement and financially so far!

If you are still planning to donate, at least let me know approximately how much by next Thursday, so I can add that to my website as an "offline donation"/pledge.

I'll be working through a pre-ride devotional that YFC has for us over the next days. I'm pretty excited about it.

Also, if you're interested in contacting me during the course of the ride (June 17 to Aug 15), the post below this one will tell you how to do that.

Thank you all for your prayers and support!
Mike

Contact information for the bike trip

All,
In case you want to contact me during the course of my bike trip there will be several ways to do that.

First, I will have my cell phone with me, though I may not answer all the time.... :) Send me an email if you would like the number.

Second, of course there is email. Feel free to email any time. I'm not sure how much time I'm going to have to be on the internet, but I will try to get back to everyone who emails, and I appreciate any notes of encouragement!!

Third, is the traditional, though now seldom used snail mail. Here are the instructions I received for that medium, if you're interested.

Mailing Locations--The following are dates and locations where you may have something mailed to you. Please allow enough time for it to get there prior to our arrival. Please label each mailing with:

Your Name
YFC Sea to See Ride Across America
c/o (Church or Location below)
Address of Church of Location

June 21	First Congregational United Church of Christ 205 N. Maple Colville, WA 99114
June 28	Bison Creek Ranch P.O. Box 144 East Glacier, MT 59434
July 5	First Lutheran Church 916 Main Williston, ND 58801
July 12	Red River Area YFC Box 3021 Fargo, ND 58108
July 19	St. John's Lutheran Church 500 W. 3rd Street Northfield, MN 55057
Aug 2	Bay Presbyterian Church 25415 Lake Road Bay Village, OH 44140
Aug 9	Calvary United Methodist Church P.O. Box 311 Newcomb, NY 12852