Do you remember your first bicycle?  Mine was red and really fast, once Dad trusted me enough to let go of the back of the banana seat.  That day I spent learning to ride seemed so long, but once I had riding that bike figured out, a world of freedom opened to me.  I could now go exploring places that were too far away for me to walk – well once Mom would let me ride on the street and around the block.

Soon I was Evel Knievel jumping over cars and buses (mine were Tonka trucks).  So I was winning races against unseen foes and running from the enemy on my trusty “motor”cycle.  Mine had that motor sound, because I taped an old playing card to the frame so that it would flap in the spokes.

Andrew and I on the first two bicycles we gave away.

Yesterday, I had a great time.  I spent part of the morning and early afternoon working on a float with some friends.  Last night, along with my family and many others, we took that float out into the streets in the Jasper, Alabama  Christmas Parade.  As I mentioned yesterday, part of our plan was to give away bicycles to children who needed them.  The look on the children’s faces when we carried or (in the case of my son and me) rode up the the children with their new bikes was worth all the hours and the effort to pull this off.  Nearly 60 children received a new bicycle at the parade.  If we had twice that many, we could have given them away too.

Again, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”  Thank you, Father, for the people in my life that make great things happen for others.

– Scott