Crossing the Mojave Desert 🔥

Today was WARM!!! It got up to 122° at the “heat of the day.” I stayed on 66 through the long stretch of the desert until I ran out of road! 😳 Rt. 66 was CLOSED at Kell Baker Rd. East to Essex for bridge repairs. I had to take Kell Baker Rd. North to I-40 and back to Rt. 66. Just added frustration to a very hot day. The day stayed tolerable with my “cooling vest” and lots of water. As plain as the desert is, it has its own beauty.


There were no meetups today. Yesterday’s abundance made up for it. However, tomorrow I plan to see portions of my family who live in Las Vegas, NV. Therefore, I rode off of Rt. 66 up to Laughlin, NV and stayed overnight, preparing to ride to Vegas in the morning. I stayed at the Tropicana Laughlin (yes, a casino) that offered a very reasonable rate for a very nice room.

The thing that had me “stunned” today was the road closure that I didn’t expect. Life sometimes throws us “road blocks” for one reason or another. Today’s reason was so that they could make repairs to the sacred road. It seems that road blocks happen for a sundry of reasons. Sometimes the blocks keep us from what we want to happen or what we think should happen. Many times we think the blocks are the way God is telling us that we should or should not do something. Whatever the reason, they exist.

Chapter 14 of Paul’s letter to the Romans talks about a stumbling block. “Let us therefore no longer pass judgement on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hinderance in the way of a brother or sister.” (Romans 14:13 NRSV) In this passage, Paul says the stumbling block is in the judgement of others. I think of how that relates to how we envision a “road block.” If we think of how a stumbling block causes one to fall or lose focus, then you can understand how I felt running up against a sign that says “road closed.” I was very frustrated because it added almost 45 minutes to my very hot day.

Challenge to St. James and Self: If you have ever hit a proverbial “road block” in your life, did you overcome? Were you frustrated? Think about how you may have been a stumbling block or a road block for someone else (intentional or unintentional). 

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This Week!

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