A Bike Ride Adventure

With the sun shining and the breeze blowing, I knew this would be the perfect day for a bike ride. I had seen a bike trail in town, but I had never actually ridden on it. When I remembered that my suitemate actually has a bike on campus, that sealed the deal. I was ready to scout out the bike trail and enjoy the gorgeous spring weather.

The first problem arose when I realized that this bicycle had been sitting in one of those bike racks on campus, locked up and unridden...since the first day of school in August. Nine months of rain, snow, hail, and ice had done a duty on that poor chain. But I didn't let that stop me! The peddles still turned, so I hopped on and started my perfect-spring-weather-afternoon-biking-adventure.

The second problem arose when it occured to me that there must be a tiny hole in the seat cushion somewhere. I only knew this because a hole in the seat plus a rainstorm from the night before turns a cushioned bike seat into a very large sponge. It didn't take long for me to figure this one out. Only one minute into the bike ride, my pants were soaked and I was dripping a stream of water behind me. When I came to a stop light and hopped off my bike as I waited to cross, water ran down my legs and I pretty sure everyone else at the stop light thought I wet my pants while riding my bike.

The third problem arose when I found out that the gears didn't actually work. I could change them at the handle bars, but that didn't make one bit of a difference to the actual gears. This meant that I was stuck in the highest gear, which happened to make a horrible noise as I peddled.

On top of all that, a strong headwind blew in my face the first half of the ride. But I just kept chugging along in the highest gear on a rusted, sqeaky bike with water dripping down my legs. At least it made a good workout.

Then it occured to me how hilarious this adventure really was, so I started cracking up. I was literally laughing out loud as I pushed against the wind down the bike trail with my soaking pants.

Then I lifted my head and noticed where I was. To my right lay a huge open field blooming with purple and yellow wild flowers. The tall glossy grass swayed in the wind. The lime green field created a stark contrast with the bright blue sky, which was filled with floating clouds, puffy and white as the sun shone on them. To my left was a small stream, which was babbling loudly due to the rain from the night before. Every now and then, I would catch a glimpse of a butterfly having fun in the spring breeze.

At this, I completely forgot about the sqeaking bike and my wet underwear because I was in the middle of a picture perfect scene of God's creation. I couldn't believe that I found myself in this place, tucked away in the backyard of Searcy, Arkansas. I laughed again, only this time the laughter sprang forth from a joy within my heart as I praised God for revealing His glory to me once again.

We always start life's grand adventures with big ideas. Then sqeaky tires, leaky seats, rusty gears, and strong headwinds slow us down and discourage us. Please don't let the opposition, setbacks, and annoyances get you down. Lift up your head and see where God has brought you. Look for the wildflowers blooming or the tall grass twirling in the wind. Search for the clouds rolling in and the butterflies dancing. No, life is not perfect, but God is always good. You can choose to hang your head and huff and puff, or you can look up and laugh with joy.