Well Hello Everybody!!
Long time, no post!
I hope that you are doing well as you read this. I am
currently sitting in the library during study hall with all my teammates. Let
me catch you up.
Since the end of the bike trip, I have begun my freshman year
here at Anderson University. For those of you who don’t know, this is a small,
Christian university of just over 3,000 students. I am running Cross Country
and Track here in the NCAA, Division II, part of the South Atlantic Conference
(SAC). I am in my third week of school here, and I absolutely love it. I am
enjoying my classes, for the most part, and am enjoying meeting new people and
all that comes with the college experience. I am about to run my first 8K (5
miles) in a college race, tomorrow afternoon at 7 in a meet called Eye Opener
in Spartanburg, SC. Being part of the team has been a great experience, I think
it has made the transition into college a lot easier. The built in regiment and
friend group are great to have. I am currently undecided in my major, but hope
to have one declared by the end of this semester, or at least by the end of
freshman year. We shall see how God directs that.
As for the bike trip ending. Man, I still don’t understand
all that happened. I haven’t had time to process the trip. Basically, I put my
bike in the ocean, came home, tried to cram in a whole summers worth of seeing
people, moved into college, and have been in a whirlwind of activity since I
arrived (That’s why it has taken me so long to write this). All good things,
but that leaves little time to process and understand all that went into the
trip or any lessons I learned. When people ask me about the trip, I have done
my best to describe it to them, but it is so hard condensing a 60 day, cross
country bike trip, into one or two sentences. The closest I can come is, “It
was a great trip, really hard, but really rewarding. I got to see things I would
never have gotten to see any other way, and it was a great way for me to spend
my summer.” Beyond that, I have to resort to specific examples of what happened
on the trip to try to convey what the trip was like. I love telling people
about it, but I’m sorry, the only way that you will understand fully is to do
it yourself. Pictures help, but they cannot even come close to comparing to the
majesty of God’s creation and being there in person. Stories help, but it’s not
the same as being there in person. With this blog, I hope to encourage yall to
get out and do SOMETHING! It doesn’t have to be biking across the country. It can
be going on a weekend hike somewhere you’ve never been, going skiing, camping,
anything that gets you outdoors and in nature. It’s a great thing to be so lost
in creation that you can’t receive a text message or read an email, nor do you
want to do either of those. Listening to the quietness without distraction. The
only way to experience it is in person. Not through a movie, and not through
me. Go out and do something that you enjoy with someone you enjoy.
Thank you to everyone that has followed us, and supported us
with homes to stay at, meals prepared or paid for, rides given when bikes
broke, water given, donations given to the Foundation Fighting Blindness, and
prayers lifted as we trekked across the USA. But really, I would like to make a
special emphasis on thanking all of yall that have donated financially to help
the Foundation. We are less than $3,000 away from reaching our $10,000 goal. This
organization has done and is doing tremendous things to help those with seeing
problems like my dad. My dad has been such a role model, and I hope, just this
little bit that we raise can do something to show how thankful we are to who he
is and how he’s been there for us, encouraging us, guiding us. Thank you Dad.
As for any future plans, I can tell you this. If I ever even
think about doing a similar trip again, it will be a while. Other than riding
my bike around campus (which is only 1 mile around, I mostly use it to get to
practice which is a little over half a mile away) I have not ridden my bike. My
current plans are to do my best in Cross Country, do my best in school, make
good friends this first year of college, and continue to pursue Christ in all I
do.
And as I wrap up this last post, and bring the trip to an
official end for me, once again, thank you to everyone for following us, and
please feel free to contact me with any questions or comments about the blog,
the trip, or something else.
With Sincere Love and Gratitude,
Thomas Garrigan
(864)-569-2864
Tgarrigan280@andersonuniversity.edu