A Water Bottle In His Name


Image courtesy of ScottCounseling

Yesterday, as I was rolling my new and very cool mountain bike to my car, a dad and his daughter came pulling into the bike shop parking lot. He had to drop off his bike for adjustments. He commented that he wanted to buy the bike I did but just couldn't afford it. His daughter was about three years of age, and presumably being a family man, he had other financial priorities than buying a bike like mine. I had promised myself several years ago that once I earned the Ph.D., I was getting a mountain bike. It just took over two years to make it happen. Definitely worth the wait.

Check it out, sweet on wheels....



He went inside the shop and I hoisted my bike up to my bike rack. I was chagrined to find that the hydraulic brakes on the bike caused the bike to be unable to be locked onto the rack. I tried to coax it into place but then thought maybe the bike would fit on the other side. No dice, same problem. Rather than try to force it, I stopped. I decided to solicit the help of the bike shop staff. The guy who processed the sale looked at it and said that he needed to get the dude in the shop who was the bike rack authority to look at it. He came out and tried to get it to fit. Yep, it would not fit no matter what we did. I would need new equipment or at least modify the present apparatus in order for things to work.  


As I was in the process of taking the bike down and putting it into the back of the car, the little girl with her dad came up and handled me the water bottle that I had left out behind my car. I knew it was there, I just had not addressed picking it up yet. Although I was quite frustrated that the bike rack issue was something that I did not expect, and it seriously delayed my schedule for the day to ride with my brother (and then having to resolve the equipment issue both then and in the future), I really tried to focus on the generous spirit of the girl. She had no idea that I was in the midst of something not pleasant. Neither was she aware that I was fully aware that my water bottle needed to be packed away. 


Instead, she wanted to do something nice and helpful and I truly wanted to affirm her spirit of gracefulness. So I thanked her enthusiastically. Adults being inconsiderate of children can be of lasting consequence. It is makes the world harsher in their eyes and kids can begin to respond with hardness. Her gift to me made my day; my gift to her was appreciating her helpfulness. May she continue to nurture that giving spirit. A friend of mine who does ministry in Zimbabwe posted this quote this morning on Facebook and it seemed apropos: 


There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children." — Nelson Mandela   










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