Does Sitting on the Back of a Harley Count as Exercise? Author Sarah Huxford Helps Us Figure This Out (Part 3 of 4 on Fitness)
Friends! Well, we’re back on our fitness series, however you’ll be relieved to know this portion is more of a workout for your marriage or relationship with a loved one.
We had such a rough workout from CycleBar week before last, we’ll warm up slowly this week to prepare for a more rigorous workout and grand finale next week.
Allow me to introduce you to a uniquely titled book: The Harley Chronicles—Everything I Learned About My Marriage on the Back of a Harley by Sarah Huxford.
My dear friend Judy Russell gave me this book. Bob and Judy are good friends with Sarah and her husband, Cam. Cam is the Senior Pastor at Compassion Christian Church in Savannah, Georgia. Sarah is the Women’s Community Pastor. www.compassionchristian.com
Cam invites Bob to speak at their church often, so over the years, Judy’s gotten to know Sarah. Surely they bonded immediately, both being pastor’s wives.
The common thread ends there, however, as Sarah’s husband took up a new hobby. Oh yeah, a two-wheeled one, only this one comes with a motor. While I don’t know Cam, somehow I envision him saying to Sarah, “Honey, I bought a hog.” (Sarah, I can commiserate…my husband rode Harleys and BMW’s for over fifteen years. However, you entered into this world later than we did, which seems to be a great thing for you guys!)
Sarah and Cam had just entered into a new season of their lives. They had an empty nest. Not only had their children flown the coop, but sadly their beloved dog, Bucky, went to Doggy Heaven. Their newfound freedom wasn’t as exciting as they’d hoped…yet…
More-than-they-asked-for-advice was offered and the new solution to their freedom appeared in the driveway. Meet Big Red. (See his photograph on the cover of her book.)
Sarah confesses she wasn’t too thrilled over the new member of their family, however once Cam said, “Jump on, let’s go for a ride…” The rest, as they say, was history.
I’m proud of Sarah for being so brave. Not just for jumping on the back of the bike, but also because one should also wear proper attire, leather being a must. Her friends from church asked, “Who are you and what have you done with our preacher’s wife?”
The format of the book is excellent. It offers four parts in each chapter:
1 – Sarah candidly shares lessons she has learned from being on the back of their Harley. You’ll crack up over some of her new discoveries. Her learning curve is highly amusing. Her lessons are for all of us in any relationship.
2 – The lessons are followed by her “Bible Back-up”: She does a beautiful job with this as these sections are like mini-Bible studies. Sarah guides us thru’ verses from Genesis, Song of Solomon, Ephesians, Proverbs, 1 Corinthians, and many more.
One eye-opening exercise Sarah takes us thru’ in 1 Corinthians 13 becomes very personal when we’re told to insert our names where the word “love” is.
Watch this little humbling exercise:
“Elizabeth is patient, Elizabeth is kind, Elizabeth does not envy, Elizabeth is not proud, Elizabeth does not dishonor others, Elizabeth is not easily angered, etc.”
Now YOU try this with YOUR name. How do you fare??? Makes you think, huh?
Another one of many topics Sarah covers is on commitment. She says,
She continues, “There is nothing like good old-fashioned commitment. It is undervalued in a culture like ours, in which we want things fixed fast…Cam and I are often asked what made our marriage last and endure the hard times. Our answer is usually simple. We committed to this marriage until one of us dies.” AMEN, Sarah!
3 – Several discussion questions are included after the Bible study parts which are great for small groups or Bible study groups.
At the end of the discussion questions, Sarah recommends a book on marriage in each chapter, so you can learn about eight additional books you may be interested in.
4 – The last part of each chapter is another favorite of mine. Sarah includes “Biker’s Trip Stats and Passenger’s Log”. This is like a wonderful, fascinating travelogue. She includes the miles she and Cam rode, the highways they took, “great places to eat”, and their favorite “don’t miss this” sight seeing spots.
This would be wonderful not only for bikers, but for those of us who love road trips. Sarah and Cam’s trips range from a short 25 mile trip, to longer ones, ranging from 109 miles to over 800 miles.
Let’s look at their trips:
Departure: Savannah, GA to Tybee Island, GA
Departure: Baneberry, TN to Fontana, NC
Don’t miss Sarah’s story about The Tail of the Dragon at Deal’s Gap–offering a mere 318 curves in eleven miles in Chapter 3. She has about as much affinity for it as I do, altho’ I have slayed that dragon, yet differently than she did. Checkout our experience from a few years ago.
Departure: Ft. Lauderdale, FL to Key West, FL
Departure: Steamboat Springs, CO to Boulder, CO
Departure: Somers, MT to Sequim, WA
Departure: Seattle, WA to Whistler, BC, Canada
Departure: Lake Louise, AB, Canada to Somers, MT
This week, your exercise in our fitness series is to evaluate your marriage or your relationship with your loved one. If you were to ride on the back of a Harley, as in being up close and personal, how would you rank your relationship? Close? Middle-of-the-road? Distant? What step can you take this week to make it one notch better than it is now?
I’m praying for all of us in this endeavor. Thanks again to Sarah, for writing such a fun, resourceful, poignant read.
Lace up your tennis shoes, for we’re hitting the pavement next week!
‘Til next time!