\u201cI was dark, bro,\u201d Steve says of that time. \u201cI went underground. Drinking was the only tool I knew how to use. I didn\u2019t reach out to anyone for help.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Steve went to Phoenix to give a speech on officer wellness while far from well himself. It was there that he heard an audible voice in the night.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\u201cGet on your bike,\u201d he heard. \u201cIt\u2019s gonna save your life.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Whoa! What was that?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
The voice came again. Demanding. Insistent. Yet not scary.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\u201cGet on your bike. It\u2019s gonna save your life.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
Previously Steve had been invited to join some other officers from his town to the Police Unity<\/em> Tour<\/em>, a 300-mile bike ride ending in Washington, D.C. Steve had brushed off the idea until the voice in the night insisted on it. The day of the dream was his brother Gene\u2019s birthday. So, he decided to get on his bike and ride in honor of Gene.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Training for the ride wasn\u2019t easy. Not only was he rehabbing from his knee replacement, but unusual weather kept him from riding on the streets for a month.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Despite the obstacles, the day of the Police Unity Tour<\/em> arrived, and Steve was as ready as he was going to be. The riders left him in the dust, and he finished the first leg 20 minutes behind the next-to-last rider.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cDude, you\u2019ve got to pick up your pace,\u201d a rider said has he passed Steve. \u201cIt would have probably helped you if you lost some weight first.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n That was so demoralizing, it launched Steve into a round of negative self-talk.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The second day started out well. But the ride was 111 miles, including 2,500 feet of elevation gain. And Steve was close to last again.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cMy legs were almost completely blown,\u201d he said. And there were still two more segments to go.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n He made it to the lunch break, but despair set it, knowing the next 25-mile leg included a 1,500-foot elevation climb. His mind crowded with negative talk and self-doubt. \u201cI\u2019ll tell them my knee hurts and I need a break,\u201d he said to himself.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n So, he started looking for the sag wagon, for those who need a break. The internal battle was brutal, calling himself a quitter and searching for the fortitude to press on. Steve texted his wife and kids, asking for prayer, and they inundated him with encouragement, love, and prayers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n When the whistle blew for the start of the dreaded leg, he could barely move. That\u2019s when he heard a voice from behind him. \u201cWhere did you get that old school Torrance patch?\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Steve had a patch from Gene\u2019s old uniform shirt on his biking jersey.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cIt belonged to my brother,\u201d Steve replied. \u201cHe was a Torrance cop for 29 years.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cWhat was your brother\u2019s name?\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cGene Victor.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cDude, I was your brother\u2019s partner for five years,\u201d the other rider said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The coincidence brought tears to Steve\u2019s eyes immediately. As they continued to talk, he discovered that the Torrance department had never been in this race before. Not only that, the rider he met was retiring and wouldn\u2019t be doing the race again. Their meeting seemed providential.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cYour brother was a gentle giant,\u201d the officer shared with Steve how much Gene was loved by his fellow officers, how much he was missed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The break ended and the two made their way to their bikes. And before too long, they hit a hill that went straight up. And Steve could feel his legs fail beneath him and his bike began to slow down.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cThere\u2019s no way I\u2019ve got this,\u201d he thought. His legs felt like they were on fire.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n But just before he was going to veer to the side of the road, step off his bike, and flag down the sag wagon, he felt a hand grip his bike seat.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cI\u2019ve got you brother,\u201d he heard a voice say. \u201cWhat you are doing in honor your brother is amazing and there is no way I\u2019m going to let you fail.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n It was his brother\u2019s partner who got him to the top of the hill.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Steve bombed down the other side of the hill, hoping to build up enough momentum for the next hill. But he slowed down.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Another hand grabbed his bike seat\u2014another Torrance officer who knew Gene. Together they conquered the second hill.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n On the third hill, another hand grabbed Steve\u2019s bike seat. \u201cI worked with Gene in traffic,\u201d the rider said. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to let you fail, brother. You\u2019re going to do this.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The fourth hill was an easier climb and Steve made the top on his own.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The fifth hill was a monster. But, again, a hand grabbed his bike seat and eased the strain on his legs. This guy was different. \u201cI never knew your brother,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we\u2019re not going to let you fail.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n With the help of the Torrance officers, Steve finished the day among the top riders.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n The final day wasn\u2019t easy, but it was the home stretch and Steve was able to keep pushing himself until he made it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n \u201cI have never felt as close to God and my brother as during that ride\u201d he said of the experience. \u201cIn the moment of despair, in my darkest time, I reached out to God. And He sent these officers to help me. I was physically and mentally broken. I was full self-doubt, exhausted, and ready to quit. But I reached out. I said, \u2018I just need a little something.\u2019 And I got it in those four guys. It reaffirmed my faith in God and others.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n When Steve thought he couldn’t make it over the next hill, the Lord provided help right when he needed it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n Praise God<\/strong> for the many ways that first responders support each other through difficult seasons. Pray<\/strong> that many more will live out the gospel and grow generations of disciplemakers among first responders.<\/em><\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n *Names changed.<\/sub><\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Grief and difficult circumstances kept piling on Steve*, a police officer in Eastern Oregon. The year began with the sudden, unexpected death of his 43-year-old friend from a heart attack. Steve barely had a chance to breathe before the next blow hit him. During a police training exercise that he was leading, he made a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_helpful_pro_status":1,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[265,263,6337,261],"tags":[1483],"mission":[1060],"topic":[45],"class_list":["post-254558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christian-living","category-community","category-ministry-impact-stories","category-prayer","tag-disciple","mission-navigators-first-responder","topic-prayer"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/08.10.21-Article-Web.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"The Navigators","author_link":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/staff\/thenavigators\/"},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254558"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":254702,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254558\/revisions\/254702"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254558"},{"taxonomy":"mission","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/mission?post=254558"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=254558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.navigators.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/08.10.21-Article-Embedded-Image-350x550-1.jpg\")
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