How do I even begin to tell this story.
There are times when God’s blessings are in the form of little things that happen throughout ordinary days… and then there are days when He chooses to bless us in a way that makes a particular day rise up out of that “ordinary” status and become something extraordinary. They become those days that you go back to in your mind over and over and shake your head and just marvel at the goodness of God.
Eric and I just had one of those days. We experienced a kind of blessing that still has us shaking our heads in disbelief and awe and joy. Our hearts feel that kind of “overwhelmed-with-thankfulness” feeling that doesn’t seem like it could ever go away. The more I reflect, though, the more I recall that God has showered us with many similar jaw-dropping blessings in the past 6 months and it seems like the timing of these blessings comes just at the moment I’m starting to despair or give up hope about a certain situation or when I’m starting to worry about something. The God I have chosen to serve and strive to live my life for never ceases to amaze me with the way He is intimately involved in the details of my life. The way He graciously affirms our path when we begin to doubt our steps, or the way He chooses to use His people to tangibly show us His provision for not only our daily needs, but EVEN… sometimes…. our wants.
Some of you may know about my husband, Eric’s long-time love of motorcycles. He used to own a Kawasaki Ninja sport bike, and one of my first vivid memories of me and Eric was him taking me for a ride at the Lackawanna State Park on the winding roads. It was the first time I had ridden on a motorcycle, and I was hooked. As we rode the winding country roads, I kept yelling, “Faster! Go faster!” and he was like, “We’re going 60 mph!” Well, long story short, when he was called by God to move to Minnesota to be a part of Consumed Ministries, he had to sell his bike. During the summer months in Minnesota when he’d see other motorcyclists out on the roads, you could see that far off look in his eye, and you knew he was missing his bike 
This longing has only gotten stronger since we moved to the sunny state of North Carolina, where motorcycles are seen almost year-round. His bike lust has increased as more and more people are out on the roads now that spring and 80 degree weather have arrived. When we’re doing our “dreaming/someday talking”, we go back and forth excitedly about all the adventures we’ll have when we can one day afford to own a bike again. We know that our current financial circumstances do not allow for this luxury, but it’s still fun to dream! We talk about how cool it would be to just–on a whim– hop on the bike and ride down to the beach for the weekend… Or how fun it would be to drive into the mountains–like Asheville, and go tent camping, taking only our backpacks.
But even as we dream, God has been working on me, teaching me lessons about contentment and the value of “storing up treasures in heaven” as opposed to being so concerned about earthly comforts and treasures. How it is so much more valuable to invest in the lives of people than it is to chase after financial security and gain. I’m not saying I’ve arrived, but I’m being brought along slowly in these life lessons. Failing them, often, but wanting so much to live my life in a way that follows how He desires me to live.
So that brings us to this past Friday. My good friend, Erin who has been stationed at Ft. Bragg, came up to spend the night on Thursday to hang out with us before she is deployed this Tuesday for the 2nd time to Afghanistan, where she flies black hawks for the Army. Her parents had come down from Pennsylvania to visit and took back her car back up with them, as all her possessions have to go into storage. So her only mode of transportation was her motorcycle, which she drove up on. Of course, Eric was drooling again, and teasing her that she should just leave it here with us, and we would be more than happy to drive her back to Ft. Bragg, etc etc
Friday morning, Eric headed off to work at the bookstore, and I was off work, so Erin and I enjoyed a lazy morning of sleeping in and having a pancake breakfast. Halfway through my stack, Erin says suddenly, “I have something for you”. She went to the guest room, and came back out, holding a red folder. She sat back at the table, and slid the folder across the table to me… “open it”. When I opened the folder, there in front of me was the title to her Suzuki Savage 650 motorcycle. And the notorized paperwork that she had signed transferring ownership of her bike to a Mr. Eric Beavers. As I sat there in complete shock, trying to form words, I think I ended up saying, “Holy Heavenly Goodness”, which is a weird phrase, and I don’t think I’ve ever used it before. She was laughing and loving every minute of my stunned response. Finally I said, “Erin, I promise we will take such good care of your bike while you are in Afghanistan, and will return it to you in pristine condition, and we will get good use of it for you until you get back!” To which she explained further that no– this was not a temporary transfer. This was a permanent, no-strings-attached, free-and-clear GIFT to us. As I started to cry now, she told me that she wanted us to have this bike. She couldn’t think of a better couple to give it to, because she knew we’d enjoy it so much, and she knows we’ve talked about wanting one and it was her complete JOY to give this to us. She said there was nothing we could do to protest or fight it, as the deed was done.
With tears streaming down my face, I told her how this was so much more than her giving us a bike. How my initial weird phrase of “Holy Heavenly Goodness” was actually so accurate, because to me–that’s exactly what this was. This was my Heavenly Father showering down a gift on us. This was God saying, “You think I can’t provide for your needs? Watch me give you a motorcycle for free! I can even provide your wants if it is in My will.” Erin told me how she knows it’s hard starting out in a new ministry, and she really wanted to encourage us to keep going… to not give up investing in the lives of people. This, coming from someone who has given up years of her life to serve our country and the people of Afghanistan, even if it means living in a tent in the desert and being so far from all her family and friends. She is such an inspiration to me. Having her bike propped outside in the parking space between my car and Eric’s truck is this bittersweet reminder of Erin’s presence here even though she will be so far away for a whole year. I know each time we ride it, she will be in our prayers and in our hearts.
So, since she brought 2 helmets, we decided to hop on the bike and drive to the bookstore to surprise Eric with his new wheels. We went all out and even stopped at Party City to pick out the biggest red bow they had. I said I felt like I was on the Oprah show, going to someone’s work to surprise them like this We had it all worked out that I would go in the bookstore first, and get Eric to come out by telling him that the bike was making some weird sounds and Erin was outside trying to figure it out, so he should come out to help her I had a camera hidden in my one pocket of my leather jacket, and the envelope holding the keys to the bike and the title hidden in the inside of my jacket when I went inside the bookstore. Eric smiled when he saw me and said, “I had a feeling she’d take you on a ride today and you’d come see me… where IS Erin?” I led him outside and there was Erin standing beside the bike with the big red bow right on top of the bike. Eric stopped in his tracks and had this slow smile of unbelief on his face as it sunk in what was going on. He looked from me to her to me to her and then I handed him the envelope. I snapped a ton of pictures of his reaction and then him hugging Erin, and then the 2 of them standing on either side of the bike, beaming. (Pictures of this will be posted eventually…they were taken on Erin’s camera)
The giver beaming, because of the joy in the receiver; the receiver grinning from ear to ear because, as he said, “This is by far the best gift anyone has ever given me, and I don’t even know what to say”. What CAN you possibly say to someone who gives you their motorcycle?! Who does that? When does this kind of thing ever happen in real life?
The funny thing is, that very morning, I had decided to write out my goodbye to Erin in a letter, as I knew if I tried to say all I wanted to, I’d be a blubbering mess of tears, and i really wanted to be strong for her. So the last line of my letter said, “And maybe by the time you get back, Eric and i will have a motorcycle too, and we can ride across the country together!” Little did I know!
I will finish this blog by sharing what we found after we had said our final goodbyes to Erin yesterday. I opened the red folder still on the table to give Eric the rest of the paperwork, and inside, we found a card from Erin that said:
“The greatest joy to me is time with the family and friends God has placed in my life. He has given that to me abundantly this past year, and I have treasured the fun and relaxing times at your house. Now it’s time to head out again, and the thought of leaving the bike with you has been with me for months. ENJOY it; I am so happy to give it. Continue following Him. Your friend, Erin”
Jane (mother of the bride) is telling a hilarious story. We all laughed so hard that night our faces hurt!
