Something quite extraordinary happened earlier today, actually many unbelievable things happened aside from getting 2 extra burgers from McDonald’s for free and miraculously finding over 46,000 photos which had disappeared about 2 months back from yet another worthless Western Digital external hard drive, in itself an indescribable occurence, but the photo opportunity I want to share with you involves my bike, stolen over a year ago from our front doorstep.

One of two identical bikes bought a year earlier, my Roadmaster Mount Fury mountain bike was used almost everyday on our family walks as Grace and Trinity rode their scooters while Elizabeth pushed Faith in the jogging stroller. It took over a year for me to buy another bike, which I did only a week ago.

Every day since, the girls and I have enjoyed bike rides and walks together.

On our way back from the beach earlier today, Elizabeth pointed out a neighbor’s house that was having a moving sale. She saw a bunch of chairs we could use so I jumped out of the van to check them out when all of a sudden I see my old bike in the back of their garage, all rusted out, broken chain and looking miserable.

“That’s My Bike!”

Surprised I exclaimed “that’s my bike!” The lady explained how her sons fished out the bike from the pond across the street. Without hesitation she offered me the bike and I gladly accepted it. I had been looking for my beloved bike for over a year, waiting to somehow bump into the thief and hoping to confront him and get my bike back.

Today, I did.

Of course the bike is a complete mess, both derailleurs and breaks are not functioning. I might get good rubber out of it, both inner tubes and tires survived the year long soak in swamp water. The seat is a good shape and handlebar riser ends, being aluminum are also recyclable.

I thank God for the closure. This was such a fantastic bike! I never could say goodbye.

Later this week I’ll start pulling parts off it, then I’ll trash it. It’s been a great bike, I’ve missed it but now that it’s been replaced, and that we’re all our biking daily again, I’m grateful for the incredible rides over the years, on and off roads, and looking forward to more fun on 2 wheels on a better, safer mountain bike brought on by the grace of God…