The Griswold's

While we were on sabbatical we thought it would be nice to bring our bikes. So we hooked up this really classy homemade trailer to our van. It's a piece of plywood on wheels. We strapped all our bikes to the top. Then for an added touch we put a rooftop luggage carrier on the trailer too. Now some of this was a necessity for space for a family of 6 on the road for a month. But I kept noticing people passing us on the interstate and looking and snickering at our rig.

To make it worse, when we got to Colorado we decided to go biking at Lake Dillon. It is up in the mountains and it is the main water supply for the city of Denver (FYI). It is a beautiful spot. Everyone that was parked there had these really nice cars and bike racks. And we pull in a la Clark Griswold. (Have you seen the Vacation movies?) As we were getting ready to go, we realized that my bike was broken and the bike trailer for the little girls was missing a bolt, thus it only had one wheel. I thought, boy am I ever glad we hauled this thing half way across the country now! So Abby and I walked and pushed Annie in the stroller. Mike rode with the older kids only to find out they were on the wrong path - it was the walking path, not the biking path. I fell down a hill and scraped up my leg (not to mention my pride) and it was 100 degrees. Now this is family fun?

Usually when things go this well for us we end up in a big fight. I like to blame Mike for everything! So I am proud to say we actually laughed about it. After we gave up and packed up our beautiful rig, we headed back to where we were staying. There was a traffic accident and they had closed the road! Grant started crying as we turned around, "now we're never going to get home!" Mike reminded him to think about the people in the accident and what they are going through. Our little inconvenience paled in comparison. We prayed for the people in the accident. So all in all, not a bad day!

We finally made it home and didn't bike again until we got to Wyoming and did some repair work on the bikes. Do you ever have days where you feel like you shouldn't have left the house? After we had to change our route for the accident I quit feeling sorry for myself and was thankful that we were all safe and healthy (except for my leg).

We're promised troubles in this world, somedays it may be as small as a bad day or a broken bike and other days it will be much more serious. But the thing to remember, for me and my kids, is that God is in control of it all.

John 16:33
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.
In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."