A WAY OUT!

Living 20 minutes from the beach, we're privileged to scoot down there often. The other day, we left our house at quarter till six, and we were riding our bikes on the sand in short order. Since the tide was out, the sand was hard-packed near the shoreline, feeling almost like concrete, so we whizzed along. I felt like I was on a sailboat sailing at full throttle. I felt like a kid on a bike riding at full speed, endued with all the vitality and vigor of childhood. I felt like I could conquer the world. It was fun and enjoyable, with the beach breezes hitting me and invigorating me, and the fresh scents of the ocean assailing my senses. I felt like I could ride for hours.

"The wind's at our back," Milton said after a long while, raising his voice to be heard. "We need to turn around."

"Oh, let's go farther."

"The wind'll be in our faces on the way back. The farther we go now, the harder it'll be to pedal back to the car."

"Okay." I turned around, and he did too. We took off in the direction of where we'd parked. Suddenly, I understood what he meant. Surely, hurricane winds were blowing against us (just kidding). It was so hard to pedal! Heave, ho, heave, ho. I started panting. I was going so slow, it felt like my bike was going to fall over any minute. I couldn't believe we were going to have to ride like this all the way back to the car. It was a l - o - n - g, long way.

"Want to get out on the street and ride it up to the car?"

Did I ever!

We rode on a wooden walkway across the sea grasses and up to the street. Then we rode in the bicycle lane on the street and talked about houses and condos we passed that were for rent or sale. We noticed beach flora and fauna in people's yards. I spotted a staircase with large seashells on the end of each step. Neat decorating treatment.

What could've been a grueling, tiring ride turned into a ride as pleasant as the first half.

A corndog and a root beer on the boardwalk completed our outing. As we were loading the bikes onto the bike rack, Milton said, "Look." He pointed upward to a full moon in a light blue sky.

"Oh, let's wait until it gets a little darker so we can see the moon better," I said. "It'll be romantic." I winked.

So we sat and ate pink pistachio nuts while the sky darkened. Then we kissed under the full moon and headed home.

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I guess you could say, if you've hit a hard time in your life, look for a way of escape. Reminds me of the scripture in 1 Corinthians 10:13: "God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out (escape in the KJV) so that you can stand up under it."

Ooooh, that just ministered to me! Shezam, as Gomer Pyle says. Here I am, writing this, and God's used it to speak to me. I'm thinking of a hard place I'm facing right now. I've been thinking about it off and on all day long, wondering what to do. I now know! God's got a way out for me!

And for you too!