The question that gets asked often of me is why ride your motorcycle to Alaska. Here's the answer:

I believe very strongly that God speakes to us. You probably all do as well. I believe that God speaks to us in His Word, but also through the Holy Spirit that indwells each Christian. We hear Him primarily in our thoughts. I also believe that a lot of messages that we think are from God probably are not. It is a very difficult thing to sort out all the thoughts in our mind and decern which are from God and which are not. The primary discipline to figure that out for me is solitude. Solitude would include a number of things. Quiet would be an obvious one. Our brain is constantly recieving input from people, books, TV, radio, CD players etc and it overwelms the input of the Holy Spirit. I become confused with all the input that comes into my brain in a normal day. Another key is being alone. A motorcycle for me is a perfect place to travel and see the creation around me yet be alone inside my helmet, on my bike. Also being away from responsibility for a season. Being responsible as a pastor, husband, father, and friend is very important to me. It takes up a lot of my thinking time figuring out what to do and say in the various roles that I am so that others are blessed by my life and leadership.

Another discipline besides solitude is writing. I seem to be able to hear my thoughts and sort them out much better as I write reflectively. It works like the old cream separator that I used to crank by hand as a kid separating the cream from the milk. There are so many thoughts that I have that are mine. They come from my past, my education, my prejudices, etc. I want the thoughts that are the words from God to be very clear to me as coming from God, not from me, from you, from the world, or from the devil.

So that is my reason for these seasons of motorcycle trips that I started on last year and hope to continue as long as I can keep a motorcyle upright, and then I will get a three wheeler! Love ya all. Dee