A simple bike ride

I went on a bike ride today. Ryan has established a pretty good loop for us that takes us through the city and back again. About 11 miles. It's an interesting ride in that the scenery takes us through a myriad of different neighborhoods and landscapes.

Today was cold. Bitter for me. Probably 37 degrees. He loved it. My toes were cold! It took me awhile to thaw out when we returned home and he went outside to play football with our son!

I think God had something in store for me today with this ride. Yes, try out the bike but to also realize that I have a pretty good son.

We were getting ready to head up the big hill when we passed three boys. Two were standing by their bikes while the other was complaining about how to fix the one he was to be on. They looked at us and asked if we had a "wrench or something?" My husband stopped and surveyed the broken bike (no tire, chain in a knot) and tried to help fix it as best as he could. While standing there I was asked a few questions..."Riding for exercise?" "Why do you have matching shirts?" "Where do you live?"

I had some questions of my own. "What school do you go to?" How old are you?" Simple questions asked of a few 11 and 12 year old boys. I was surprised by the answers. The one boy is "not in school 'cause I was sellin' some pills." The other got kicked out because "I brought a cigarette to school." The third was in "behavior school." We talked to them and told them we couldn't fix the bike and that it was time for us to get home.

It didn't take much for my husband and I to realize that we are blessed. Our little guy may be "squirrely" at times but he is a good boy. We also realized that these guys we stopped to help just wanted to talk. They were proud that they were trying to fix the bike and just wanted some help. I think their guards were down and for a minute they were just "normal" kids.

It was a good day and a God day. He taught me many lessons on one simple bike ride.