Hibiscus

the joy of being inconvenienced.

3 years ago someone asked me if I would ever want to train for a triathlon.

“Never,” was my response.

Lesson learned.

Never say never.

Six months later I found myself training for a half Ironman. 70.3 miles. It’s a race consisting of a 1.2-mile swim (1.9K), 56 miles of biking, (90K), and 13.1 miles of running (21.1K).

I know I know, that’s not your average beginner triathlon, but I did it as a fundraiser for anti-human trafficking in Nepal.

Before my race day, my friends asked me, “If you could ask for anything on your race day what would it be?” 

My answer? 

“I’d love to see someone supernaturally healed, someone meet Jesus, and exceed my fundraising goal.” 

And of course, no flat tires. 

My race went almost seamlessly. My stomach hurt the whole time and I ate probably about half the calories I had planned. Nonetheless, I had no flat tires, flew up hills that most were walking up, and only saw one person with a slight limp in regards to injury. 

As I finished the race, I soon forgot the requests I had asked of God. I was just overwhelmed by the support and that I finished way beyond my goal and exceeded my fundraising goal by $1700. (My goal was to get under 7 hours, maybe if I did my best 6:30...but I finished in 6 hours 17 min!) 

The time after finishing my race was a blur. I had to immediately pick up my bike and start the drive north to LA to my friend’s house where I was staying the night and didn’t get food for at least an hour or so after my race. The two-hour drive was brutal and I didn’t realize how exhausted I was. 

Then I got a text.

The plumbing was out at the house I was planning to stay at. 

Of course, it was the only time in my life that I desperately needed a shower and a hot tub. 

The thought of driving another hour to a friend’s house and then onward to find a shower made me want to cry, but my friend stopped me, “Let’s pray.” 

He started, “Hey God, we believe you have an upgrade for us in this and will get Lisa an even better shower, even one where she can even sit down.” 

All the hotels in the area were booked. We kept praying and all of a sudden my friend spoke up, “I heard the word ‘Hibiscus’!” 

I know that sounds odd, but we were desperate so we went with it. 

I did another search of nearby hotels in a 15-minute radius and clicked on one. Guess what street it was by? Hibiscus St.

I’m not kidding.

When we called we were told there was one room left, “It’s our handicap room. The only difference is that there is a sit-down shower.” 

You can’t make this stuff up. 

When we arrived at the hotel we were greeted by a beautiful Hibiscus bush and a hot tub surrounded by palm trees. I was in heaven. 

The guy at the front desk was so kind, giving us discounts, and bringing a rollaway. As he left our room I was so grateful for his kindness. I asked, “Hey Alex, if you could have a miracle in your life right now, what would it be?” 

Without skipping a beat he said, “I would love healing for my thyroid cancer.” 

“Can we pray?” 

“Sure, what do I do?” 

And right there, we prayed a 30-second prayer of healing. Alex had never been prayed for before.

As I went to rest, my two friends got to tell him the story of how we ended up at that hotel: A God-orchestrated inconvenience.

It wasn’t until sitting in the hot tub that night that I remembered my prayer. “Someone healed and someone meeting Jesus” 

Now I don’t know for sure if Alex got healed, but I choose to believe he did.

I thought God would answer that prayer during my race, not through a long detour to a hotel that night.

But I began to realize that most of what I have seen God do in my life has come through the means of inconvenience.

I completed 70.3 miles that day, but it was 800 miles of biking, 173 miles of running, and 25 miles of swimming during my 6 months of training that got me to that day. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. Hundreds of people worked together to give toward the cause. Strangers I have never met before let me use their bikes and car. But it was the everyday inconvenience of long workouts over 6 months that made it possible.

In America, we run from inconvenience. We hate waiting in lines and we love two-day shipping. Don’t get me wrong, I love it too. But I find that God loves moving in the places when we allow ourselves to be inconvenienced. It’s when we choose to wait in the long line and strike up a conversation. It’s when we stop on the side of the road for the homeless man signing. It’s when we are patient with a food worker who has dealt with angry customers all day.

In the moment, it’s easy to be selfish when we are gifted with a moment of inconvenience. We aren’t thinking about the bigger story. We’re thinking about us. I had to drive 2 hours after my 6-hour race only to find out there was no shower for me. But it wasn’t about me. It was about Alex.

People are so worth the inconvenience.

And it was the reason I did the whole race to begin with. 

For the One,

*Note: Names have been changed to protect privacy.