Page 29 - Publishing Inspiration Christmas Card 2014

the like, and then be ready to start again, he

would try to take off quickly so he could put

some distance between us. He continued to tell
me how ugly my bike was, and I continued to

tell him it wasn’t that bad.

The first Sunday I rode it to church, I left it
leaning against the fence, as usual. One of the

members of the congregation came into the

meeting we were attending. “I think I have just
seen the ugliest bike in the world,” he said, “and

it has been abandoned by the church fence.”
Without disclosing that it was mine, I

asked, “Why do you think it was abandoned?”

“Well,” he replied, “I’m sure no one in their
right mind would ride something that ugly, and

we are a church, so someone probably left it as

a donation to charity.”
“That’s not a donation,” Martin told the

man. “That’s Howard’s bike.”
Later that week, Martin and I had a meeting

with other young men and young women our

age. We arrived early, and Martin suggested
that I park my bike on the back side of the

building so no one would see it. I reluctantly

agreed, and took it out back. I leaned it against

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