Isaac likes to go for bike rides early in the morning. This morning he invited me to go with him. We were almost able to sneak away before anyone discovered us, but we were caught by Judah before we got out of the driveway. I went back into the house, told Laura where I was going, and asked her to keep an eye on Judah while Isaac and I went for a quick bike ride.  As we rode away, Laura carried Judah back into the house despite his loud cries of protest.

Well, the ride was a bit longer than I’d anticipated. Not only am I terribly out of shape, which makes for slow going when the road isn’t downhill, but my chain slipped off once, and Isaac took me on a longer route to show me a park he’d discovered. Finally I said that I was eager to get home because I wanted to get on with our day.

As we pedaled (slowly) back toward the house, I thought I heard Judah’s voice, but I knew it couldn’t be him, because we were too far away from our house to hear his voice that clearly. I glanced over to where I’d heard the sound, and there was Judah. He was standing in a yard hollering, “Maaaaama! Maaaaaama.” I stopped, thought for a short second, and then sent Isaac on home to get the seat that attaches to my bike. Judah was a long way from Bobwhite Way, and I didn’t want him to have to walk all the way back.

My mind raced, wondering at how far he had walked, wondering what people thought about a little boy in his bare feet and jammy pants walking through their yards, and wondering at God’s mercy in keeping Judah away from busy streets and dangerous people. What if Judah had walked in a different direction? How would we have known where to look for him? What if someone else had found him and had called the police?  There were too many scary thoughts to process!

Soon Isaac was heading back, with Laura on her bike, racing down the road, still wearing her nightie. She had discovered that Judah was missing and she had been looking for him. What a relief to her to hear that he had been found.

I slipped the seat onto my bike, lifted Judah in, and pedaled home.

What a way to start the day.