Missing - One Bike

This morning my daughter Phoebe and I went to her work to collect her bike. I had picked her up last night in my car since a storm was threatening. When we got there early this morning, the bike was missing from the bike rack where she left it. All summer long she has been riding several miles each way from my mother's house to her job. She also zooms all around town on it to visit with friends and spend time on the beach. The one speed beach bike has been customized with stickers, a cup holder and a second hand basket. Nothing special and very personal. I have been proud of how she has survived the summer with just bike wheels (lots of college kids would be wanting a car by now) and how much she cares about the environment. This loss is not really so financial, as it is, personal. Especially in the midst of a week with some trauma. I am reminded how small things can throw off the balance of large loads when they are dropped in the wrong time and place.

When the police officer came to take the report, he told us, with some surprise, that he had just been here the other day. He was one of the officers who attended when my mother fell, and he made sure she got to the hospital. I realized that both of us were weary with the heavy burden we had been carrying. The worry about my Mom, who is finally home but who will need care, the transitions back to college and the upheavals in our lives- all of these are heavy burdens some days and they make us weary. It was good to have a glimpse of one of the people who helped my Mom. It was good to have a glimpse of feeling others were helping and we were not alone.


The words of Matthew 11 came to mind. "Come unto me, all you that are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." I pray today, that I can remember and live today as one who can go to Jesus with my burden. That whatever I am facing or carrying, he will provide rest, comfort and support. I want to live with the thankful recognition of the great cloud of witnesses that surround me, even when the burden seems to overwhelm. And may we all, remember that Christ has promised to shoulder our burden, lighten our load and give us rest.