Biking the roadways in the southwest means heat, more heat, and dodging LOTS of tumbleweeds.

Tumbleweeds aren’t native to the southwest, ya know. The prickly thistle is a Russian immigrant. Da! (yes, in Russian)
The seeds were delivered to the west via the Transcontinental Railroad, attached to burlap bags from Russia.

Transcontinental Railroad, click pic for source
Well, no matter where they come from, I’ve decided I don’t want to have tumbleweed faith. Nyet! (no!)
I don’t want my faith in God’s goodness to be bounced around by every wind of doubt and my ever-changing circumstances. Nyet, spotzeebo! (no, thank you!)
I don’t want a heart that follows God today
because everything’s going my way,
but, if tomorrow pain I feel?
says, “Move over, God, I’ll take the wheel!”
And do you know why the tumbleweed tumbles?
Well, after a short time of flowering:

click pic for source
the round, prickly plant develops a tough layer of cells at the base thus cutting itself off from the root, and off it goes…
Hmmmm…maybe that’s why my faith takes a tumble sometimes, too.
Maybe by skipping out on reading the Bible and forgetting to pray too often, my heart develops a tough outer layer and I cut myself off from the Root,
Jesus,
my heart’s REAL desire.
Then, off I go
tumbling about in the dust
snagging myself on barbed wire.

click pic for source
The Apostle Paul didn’t want his disciples in Ephesus to have Tumbleweed Faith, either, so he prayed this prayer for them…
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father…
that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,
to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man,
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith;
and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be able to comprehend with all the saints
what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ
which surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:14)
And did you see how big that root of love is? (“How big is it?”, remember the old Johnny Carson show? :] ) It’s so big, we need help from God to “comprehend” the” breadth and length and height and depth” of it. Now, that’s alotta love, and you and I HAVE to stay anchored to it, to Jesus, to grow.

Russian Thistles (Salsola Collina), before they become Tumbleweeds, click pic for source and to read more about the Tumbleweed from Blue Planet Biomes
Let’s pray:
Oh, Father in heaven, I want to know, know, know that love, that is beyond my ability to understand in my human fraility.
Fill me with ALL of your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. [the fruits of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22]
In Jesus’ name, Amen!!!
Do you have an anchor for your soul? Click on the pic below to meet mine. You’ll be glad you did. You’ll say, “spat-zeebo” (thank you), and I’ll say, “Ne-za-chto” (don’t mention it.)

P.S. We’ve logged another 100 miles in New Mexico on our (virtual) Bike Ride Across America (confetti, horns, hip-hip-hurrays!!!!)
The hot, dusty road brings us to the little town of Deming.
(not really, just pretend. we’re actually riding around our midwestern town, and up in Door County on our vacation, my husband and I, and we’re logging our miles on a Google map as if we were riding from the Atlantic to the Pacific across the south and southwest. Click on the map below to read about our crazy adventure)

Deming, NM(map from epodunk.com)