Cheating life despite the dogs

I may not be able to walk tomorrow. We'll see. Even if I can't, today was a GREAT day!

A few weeks ago, our family walked into a bike shop to have our four year old fitted for his first bike. As soon as we entered, we knew we were in some trouble. We walked out with bikes for our whole family. Bug got his first bike, but also a super cool trailer bike to ride behind hubby. I should say that hubby had gotten a special allowance earlier this year because his job required some extra stressful times for our family. We'd saved the allowance to put toward some kind of family fun and knew this was it! We have been out several times on our new bikes, but mainly for short twenty-minute or so rides.

Today we drove an hour and a half to a rail-trail. It was long enough that we could go as long as we cared to. It was also mercifully mostly flat, especially compared to what we have been riding on. Bug hopped onto his trailer bike, and baby doll sat behind me and promptly fell asleep. We rode through farms with beautiful white-washed fences, along a river, on bridges over creeks, and through state-park type forests, enjoying the beauty of God's creation. At one point a deer appeared just ahead of us on the trail. Instead of running away when he saw us, he ran toward us before veering off the trail and into the woods. A couple miles later we came across a spot where a big yellow digger was working on the trail. The crew stopped their work to let us pass and smiled at our little sleepy-head. I thought, "These bikes were such a good investment. I feel like I'm cheeting life I'm enjoying it so much!" Then came the dogs . . .

At certain points the trail ran along private property. On one such property, there were two loose dogs. They ran along barking at hubby & Bug on their bike, but mostly left them alone. Then they fell back to Baby doll's and my bike. I don't know why, but their barking quickly turned to jumping, clawing, and then nipping. I didn't know what to do. I didn't feel like I had enough balance with the baby-seat to kick them away and there were two - one on each side. I called out to hubby, "Um, they're biting me. They, they're biting me." Hubby started to fall back along side of me, calling out for me to quickly press on ahead. The dogs gave up pursuit and once we felt we were a safe distance away, we stopped to evaluate. I was pretty shaken and was literally shaking. Thankfully while they tore my sock and gave me some good scratches, they hadn't broken the skin. My little boy wanted to go back, "wrestle" them, and show them what happens to dogs who try to hurt his mommy. His defense of me was so sweet. We also discovered that hubby's tire was rapidly loosing air. Thankfully when we bought the bikes, he had the foresight to also buy a repair kit and pump which attach to the bike, so we were able to pump up his tire and press on. We soon came across another loose mean dog, and while I know dogs can sense fear and tried to be brave, I was scared. My man got his bike between me and this dog and we pressed on. Thankfully we then got out of that particular section and returned to the beauty of the state forest and river type setting. We pressed on until we came to mile marker 10 where we took a break. The kids ran some wind-sprints while hubby replaced his tire tube and we discussed mean-dog strategy. As a family we prayed for protection on our return journey. Just after our prayer, Bug stepped, then fell into a giant red-ant hill, but God protected and hubby pulled him out before he got a single bite. Encouraged by this, we pressed on.

Everything was just as beautiful on our return journey, but I admit my mind was on the dogs. My son kept asking questions about them and discussing how he would protect his mommy & sister this time. Hubby and I convinced him that the best thing he could do was to sit up straight, pedal, and leave the dogs to Daddy. When we came to the first dog, he appeared to be sleeping and only made a few threatening barks after we ladies were past. When we came to the dogs who had attacked us, hubby blew me away. He spoke kindly to them while clearly positioning himself in a power pose between them and us. They barked and chased us a little, but not much and they did not even jump at us! I truly believe it is because God protected us just as we had asked. In the future you can be sure we will continue to pray for protection, but also arm ourselves with a doggy whistle and/or pepper spray.

We enjoyed the rest of the ride back, knowing we were past the dogs. Toward the end, we were really feeling the fact that we had gone from 20 minute rides, mostly on our own, to a 20 mile ride each pulling a kiddo. We were tempted to stop, but a few rumbles of thunder in the distance kept us going. Just after we reached our truck and loaded the bikes back up, the rain started. By the time we got home it was a downpour which created waterfalls in our yard. We were again amazed at God's provision - not only protecting us from the mean dogs, but holding off the rain and giving us beautiful weather for our ride.

What a glorious day! If man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, we certainly enjoyed Him and His creation today!