I never saw my AirBnB hosts but they were fabulous. The place was very nicely decorated and comfortable, and immaculate. I left early in the morning and headed straight for the nearest coffee shop. It turned out to be in a church! And since it was Sunday morning, there was a service going on and lots of people around.
I was able to watch the service on the big-screen TVs while I drank my coffee and planned the route for today. I had gotten up late and not really gotten an early start. I found the message really inspiring. There were a couple of things that stood out for me. One was that "If you believe a lie, it has power over you." The power of the lie is that you agree with it. Paul said "You shall know the truth and it will set you free." If you believe something, it shapes what you do and how you behave.
That is so true! For so long, I believed I could not achieve anything physical. I was the slowest in gym class and always picked last for teams. But it was a lie! I played basketball a lot in high school and college, rode my bike, rode my horse, so why did I think I was not active? I allowed my belief that I was not athletic to keep me from doing anything athletic through most of my adult life. I'm still one of the slowest riders, but I'm beating everyone sitting on the couch!
The pastor went on to describe how if you believe your value or worth is tied to your performance or some other external variable like whether someone else loves you, you are believing a lie. This is where anxiety starts. God's love for you is not tied to any of those.
I felt tears come into my eyes, thinking back over my anxiety before starting this trip, and the reassurances of events that happened that demonstrated kindness and concern of people for me, a traveller. It was like this message was aimed directly at me.
If you would like to listen to the service I heard, you can find it here.
I had called Ed last night and told him I didn't want to ride more than 4 hours in the heat and he should pick me up between noon and one p.m. I had originally planned to ride to Lodi, but I really just didn't want to. I decided to make Parma my final destination on this trip.
I rode for a while on the Big Creek Trail and up to Snow Road. Parma is the home of the Cleveland-Hopkins airport and I noticed a few jets overhead. The trail was cool and shady.
I turned on Snow Road and started riding through residential streets. I actually rode on the sidewalk for a while because Snow Road didn't seem to be very bike-friendly, and there was nobody walking on the sidewalk. I turned off after a few blocks and continued riding on residential streets. It was hot.
I put my destination, downtown Parma, into Google Maps and it took me to the muninciple building, past a small park with a lake and a splash park.
I waited for Ed at a gas station across from City Hall. He arrived right when he said he would.
We went in search of an Italian restaurant to complete this "Tour of Italy." There was a fine dining Italian restaurant, Antonio's, in the shopping center, but it was closed. So we looked for another, found Scancatos. Google said they were open, but when we arrived, they had carry out only. We were disappointed because it looked like a really nice place.
So, we drove back to Middleburg Heights and ate at Olive Garden! Ed ordered the Tour of Italy! I had enough Tour of Italy so I had the shrimp scampi.
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