Day 12 in Sicily

This was a tough day! Although the mileage was only around 30+ miles the elevation grade was almost equal to the climb on Wednesday! Today we also experienced some rough roads, as shown in the photos below!

Our B & B tonight is located basically on top of a mountain- no kidding! 

While riding this morning, before I had to simply concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other or pushing down slowly on one pedal after the other out of shere exhaustion, God showed me His glory in the surrounding countryside.

In the umbrella tree I saw Him as a God of protection, covering us with His "umbrella" of love. 

In the olive tree I saw His eternal nature. Did you know that in southern Italy there still exist olive trees that date back to the time of Christ? Basically an olive tree never dies except if destroyed by a disease or man but keeps on producing indefinitely? 

In the vineyard this time of year I saw God's mercy in the pruning process in our lives. The vineyards look dead now but really they are waiting for the "vine dresser" to cut off all the old growth so in the spring the new growth will produce fresh grapes. Isn't that just what God does in our lives? When we get "ugly looking" on the inside He prunes us so we will once again produce fruit for His kingdom.

And in the beauty of the valleys I saw God's creative nature displayed in all it's glory.

So even though I'm tired from a hard bike ride I feel so blessed to have "seen" God all day long!