Giving life hurts. For real, ask your mother how pleasant her experience was.

Fighting for life by riding a bike also has the potential to hurt a little.

I was aware of the pain I might experience before I started this ride, but I must admit I did not mentally prepare for today. IT WAS HORRIBLE! a totally awesome manifestation of the horrific reality of abortion. A mini manifestation but enough to make me cry. Yes, I cried today, only for a second. Actually I don’t even know because my whole face was dripping wet from the rain. I was cold. Really cold.

The day started off great. We had a great breakfast, went to mass, received a blessing and was sent off with the cheering of a crowd of grammer school children and their teachers.

BUT THEN!! it started to get really windy, 30mph winds. Then it started to rain

Then Mike ran into John Paul’s car because the rain slowed his breaking speed. (it was funny)

Then I ran into John Paul’s car cause I couldn’t break because my hands were frozen. (funny, but kinda scary)

After about 5 hours of pain, I remembered something I learned in school (that doesn’t happen very often) about hypothermia. I know that we had only ridden 75 miles in the freezing cold with at this time 50mph headwind even though we were suppose to ride 115. But I figured it would be very selfish for me to waste the biking for babies money on an ambulance. When John Paul finally forced me in the car (maybe forced is a strong word) I couldn’t stop shaking, and my teeth were violently chattering. IT WAS SO COOL!!! I did feel bad about wimping out, but I tried, my body just wasn’t going to take any more. BUT….

Mike kept going! YAY Mike! But then after a couple miles he started to go backwards because of the wind.  So, he also begrudgingly surrendered to the harsh health hindering conditions and crawled in the car.

We’ll add the mileage to another day.

I’m going to bed,

LOVE YOU!

Stacy

Also check out Mike’s post about the first day here.

We finished up our first day of riding today, covering the 132 miles or so between Cairo, Illinois’ southernmost city, and my house in Freeburg. Stacy was pressing hard all day on the pedals, dragging me along it seemed, especially on the uphill sections–which there were a lot of for a good portion of the ride.

Highlights to mention: A dead beaver the size of a platypus south of Cairo (we took a 3 mile detour to truly begin at the state line of Illinois and Kentucky), maxed out at somewhere between 45 and 50 miles per hour on a couple of separate occasions, great driving by John Paul and very great video making by Rose, 3 hecklers, a couple of signs of positive encouragement (special thanks to Rose for her great B4B sign we tacked onto the back of the car), great tailwind for a large portion of the day, my buddy Tim for joining us for the last 20 miles, great weather with a high in the upper 60s, sunny, and a great supper put on by my mom and dad when we arrived at home.

Tomorrow we start off with a mass and special blessing by my parish priest, Father Mark Reyling, then we roll out of Freeburg headed for Teutopolis, just east of Effingham where we’ll be met by the wonderful Brummer family. Weather is looking to be on the sour side with headwinds and rain. We’ll have to see!

Thanks again to everyone who has contributed in any way so far! Keep us in your prayers and check out Rose’s great video covering Day 1!

Hours away before B4B 2010 launches off in Cairo, Il.  I encourage you all to keep the riders, Mr. Mike Schaefer and Ms. Stacy Hague, in your prayers. 

All for His greater glory and a greater respect for life!

Brother in Christ,

Jimmy

Sister Mary Joseph – Pray for us!

Have you ever heard the country song by George Strait “I Saw God Today”?  If not, please go listen to it and wait as it transforms your life.  But if you have, then you will know exactly what I am talking about here.  Yesterday was Friday, and yesterday Nick and I went on a pretty frigid, very windy, not altogether fun ride with freezing hands.  Yesterday I was cold.

Today I went home to Sheboygan, WI (the Malibu of the Midwest) to make some Mass announcements at a couple home parishes… and today… I saw God.  If yesterday my heart was cold, it was nothing short of filled with fire today after seeing the passionate, welcoming, loving, and excited faces from a childhood growing up support you and more importantly the cause that you hope to stand for.  I cannot express how much the love I received today warmed my heart and reaffirmed everything Biking For Babies stands for.  Thank you so much to the faith communities of Immaculate Conception and St. Peter Claver parishes.  I love you all and now realize how blessed I truly am.

Driving home I saw one of those sunsets one can only see on a Hallmark card, the kind where the suns rays finally penetrate the dark clouds after what has seemed to be a day long fight, the kind where the light finally overcomes the dark…and it immediately reminded me of the song “I Saw God Today.”  The faces of love, handshakes of warm support, and smiles of encouragement I had seen come alive within all those people couldn’t make me think anything other than, “man I swear…I saw God today”.  The next song that came on the radio forced me to pull the car over and bask in the light that had finally overcome the dark, from a face, from a handshake…from a smile…”I Saw God Today.”

I’m totally the only girl doing this.

I’m definitely more prone to injury than everyone else.

What am I DOING?!!!

This ride is going to be painful. It is going to hurt.

But you know what Stacy? (this is how I talk to myself) its not going to hurt any more than the hearts of all those unborn children screaming for a chance at life, or the mothers who failed to recognize the other alternatives before it was to late. The pain you may feel is like a single tear drop compared to a huge ocean of tears created by the culture of death. This is the least you can do.

Oh yeah, thats why I’m doing this. :D

I have to admit I sometimes get a little scared. My legs haven’t been very happy with me the last couple years, so I’m a bit worried on how they are going to handle this (I REALLY appreciate everyones prayers). “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” ya know? But no matter what, getting the chance to promote the culture of life by being a part of biking for babies has been amazing.

It’s only 600 miles in 5 days, its not like I’m fasting in the desert for 40 days. Jeeze.

Well good night,
I LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Stacy “no longer freaking out” Hague

I am happy to say that today’s weather was shorts worthy over here in Madison. It was a nice treat to break a sweet trudging up Bascom Hill this afternoon. Anyways, on with my first post.

I am honored to have the opportunity to participate in Biking for Babies, which is now only two weeks away! I recently purchased my bike, and the training is going well thus far. I do need to say thank you to Machinery Row in Madison for helping me out with a nice ride and for supporting our cause. It’s hard to find good customer service these days, but I assure you the guys at Machinery Row do not disappoint.

That being said I also want to say “hi” to my parents: Jim and Marcy. Thank you for bringing me into the world. I could not imagine being anyone else’s son, and I would never, even for a moment, want to be. I love you both dearly, and without your guidance and love I would likely think a mission such as this would be a huge waste of time. But I can tell you why it isn’t.

I’m not sure what happened to the old fashioned American values…those good days when your neighbor’s well-being was just important as your own, when Sunday’s were exclusively for God and family, and when the difficult right thing was preferred to the easy wrong thing. I don’t know why we are all about what makes us happy, why truth is relative, or why convenience is more important than, at times, human life itself.

I love this country far too much for it to continue down its current path. I remember reading about our country in grade school history books and how we have always been a beacon of truth to the world. Though not perfect by any means, we’ve still abolished slavery, helped put an end to numerous genocides, and crushed the spread of communism. It’s hard for me to believe that an evil just as grave is still taking place within this country.

But, regardless of how it happened; it did. And if it doesn’t upset you, it should. Human life should never be considered a burden. It is a blessing, and the greatest at that. That is our message, though it isn’t our own to pass off. It is the message of our Creator who tells us, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.” For an innocent and defenseless life to be the casualty of “resolving” an unexpected difficulty is the saddest thing in the world to me.

This is why Biking for Babies is worth it: because human life is worth it. Always.

Thousands of men died to make our country great. Let’s honor them in helping America once again shine with truth. But more importantly, your God died so that ALL might live. So alive in Christ, let us fight physically and spiritually for those who can’t speak on their own behalf. Though present time can be considered dark, there is hope in Christ, and “hope does not disappoint.” There are brighter days ahead.

Semper Fi,
njd

Only a few days remain before we kick-off “Biking for Babies 2010.”  On behalf of all the riders, and behind-the-scenes crew, I want to thank all of our faithful supporters!  It’s been an interesting year for training and preparing for this endeavor, but backed by His grace and your continued prayers I rest w/ confidence. 

Great news:  It appears that Spring is here!  It’s been exciting to get outside, see all the beautiful colors, take in the nice breeze and let the rubber hit the road.

Keep Praying:  Continue to pray for the safety and health of all the riders, for an end to abortion, and for a greater respect to life!   

As we approach the start date, I look forward to sharing this experience!  And pray that God may bless you all in abundant joy for your faithful and commited service to His will. 

Final note:  If there are any events happening at any of the stopping points please notify one of the riders and we’ll be happy to see what we can do!

Peace in Him through Her,

Jimmy

St. Monica, Pray for us!  Sister Mary Joseph, Pray for us!  St. Joseph, Pray for us!  St. Patrick, Pray for us!  Mary, Queen of Victory, Pray for us!  Our Guardian Angels – Protect us!

Watch this new inspirational video and share it with all your friends to help support our bikers!

So, the other day while I was running, I feel like I had one of those things where you finally realize something that you’ve always known, but never really internalized.

I was just doing some meditations before my prayer while running, on the pro-life cause. Then, I thought about something an acquaintance once told me, about how “the pro-life/pro-choice debate is never going to be anything more than a talking point for politics and how nothing is going to change”. What I realized while running (internally, I’ve been aware of this fact for awhile) that there was a point in time when abortion was illegal. But, someone wanted abortion enough, that it was their “right” that they made it legal (although now she fights against abortion). Since then, there have been literally millions of people who dedicate their lives working against the pro-life cause.

Granted, biking for babies, has a very small place within the pro-life movement. I just hope that we can just do one small part to help out a couple of organizations who do the real dirty work and make the biggest difference fighting for our cause with some financial aid and bringing more attention to the work that they do.

All of what the pro-life movement does isn’t just about “proving” that the fetus within the mother is truly a human life, but that we all care enough about the babies and the mothers to give huge sacrifices because the cost is huge if what we seek to do continues to be lost on over a million children each year just in the U.S. Of course, everything would be worth it if just one life could be saved, but what could I really say to those children who don’t survive–that I didn’t care enough to fully respond to God’s call in protecting the dignity of their lives? I know that I won’t ever be able to respond as completely as I should. But, with events like this, it’s undoubtedly difficult to maintain focus on our mission. But, the answer isn’t to just ignore the physical aspect of the ride. What I hope people realize when they hear what me and my friends are giving up for spring break isn’t that we’re doing this for ourselves, but that there are a lot of more people than just us who are willing to answer the call for life in the way we feel we were called. We’re all called to make the sacrifice in different ways.

So, that’s part of my resolution this Lent–to more actively defend life from the depths of my physical effort. Because, while more pain or more distance is not going to directly save any lives, I hope it does show someone that me and my friends are willing to show the pro-choice movement that “pro-life” is more than an opinion, but something that we all live out as often as we can, in every way that we can in every point we can fight, whether it be from our bicycles, from our prayer, or from the voting booths “protecting the dignity of life everywhere”.