Best Intentions

Yesterday began with the best of intentions. In fact, the planning of it all started on Saturday. We were going to go to church Saturday evening and then go for a long bike ride Sunday morning, followed by a healthy lunch, a relaxing afternoon, and then we were to go to small group.  It was a great plan. The problem is, life happened.What really happened was this:
Saturday night we started out for church only to have the car stall on us as we were getting ready to turn out of our neighborhood. I told my husband that there was no way I wanted to go to church now because I didn't want to end up in the middle of nowhere with a broken down car. Granted, it's not like we live in Timbuktu and the minute you leave our subdivision it becomes cavernous space with no civilization around, but this is always what I envision when I imagine the car breaking down on me while on the road. So, we decided to go to church in the morning and just push everything else back a bit. However, I didn't sleep well and then woke up with a headache that just wouldn't go away. I searched for the Advil, then the Tylenol, to no avail. I still have no idea where they are. Needless to say, I was a tad on the cranky side and had no motivation to go anywhere. By the time my husband woke up I had determined that I wasn't going to church and wasn't sure about anything else on the list either! However, the bike riding initiative was his idea, and I didn't want to rain on his parade, so even though all I wanted to do was crawl back in bed, turn on Housewives of New Jersey or some other trashy reality marathon, and eat bon bons. (Ok, so here comes the first confession....I don't know that I've ever eaten a bon bon....I envision some sort of cake thing covered in chocolate...I think that's what they are... so, that's what I'd want to eat, but I'd probably resort to string cheese, because that's what we have.) So, I help him put the bikes in the car (which entails me opening the passenger door and I watch as he lifts the bikes into the back). And we are off. As I have a phobia about riding my bike on roads with cars, we head out to the countryside to ride on dirt roads and other roads less traveled.  We get the bikes out of the car, we strap on our helmets, and we are off...well, not quite.... I look like a drunk person trying to ride a bike and I'm getting frustrated because the bike is just not moving. I try probably three times before getting off the bike and find that the rear tire is completely flat. It's not just in need of a little air, it needs a tube transplant! So, after all that work, and with me grumbling and whining, you would think that my dear husband would throw his hands up in disgust and surrender. But he didn't. He really wanted to go on the bike ride. I suggested that he just drop me off at the house and he go for a bike ride but he was equally determined to have me go with him. So, we went back home where he removed the wheel from the bike and we headed to the bike shop: Two Wheel Tango. The guys there were really great, replaced the tube and even a liner inside the wheel that might be causing the tube to rub against the wheel and cause the pin prick holes in them. We bring the wheel back and I'm still working on getting up the energy to go when my husband struggles to put the wheel back on the bike. Remember my typical stance, I just stand there and watch....and whine.... I'm a real encourager, I am!  The wheel doesn't go on right and so he puts the bike and the wheel back in the car. At this point, I'm being very vocal about my desire to just stay home and he can go for his own bike ride. One thing I can say for my husband, he is, if not more, at least as stubborn as I am. What can I say, we both come from strong German backgrounds....it's in the blood! However, he also knows when to surrender and he'd had about enough. By this time, our nice long bike ride had turned into a fiasco that would end up, if we ever even got to ride the bikes at all,would be a quick ride around the block before having to leave for small group. It just wasn't worth it. It was an incredibly frustrating day for one person that was really wanting it to work and the bystander (that would be me). I wish I had done more to help. I wish I had done more to encourage and support. I think of the verse that I started this blog with: make ever effort to add to your faith goodness.....brotherly kindness and love. I certainly did nothing to support and encourage my husband or myself to a life that was effective and productive. *sigh*...... There's always tomorrow!