Church Kid: The Finer Things of Cycling

A few years later, my family moved to Colorado.

It was a whole new place, a whole new church, and a whole new group of friends. Looking back, I was pretty fortunate. Everywhere we moved, we always seemed to find a church family that welcomed us.

One of my favorite memories from Colorado was being part of the children's chorus.

One summer, we traveled around the state, singing at different churches. We'd pile into church vans, spend the day together, sing during the services, and either stay with church families or sleep at the church before heading to the next stop.

To me, it was one big adventure.

Of course, when you put a bunch of kids together in a church van for hours at a time, something funny is bound to happen.

One afternoon we were driving down the road when I noticed someone riding a bicycle ahead of us. From where I was sitting, I thought it was a woman. Without thinking, and with all the confidence a young teenager could have, I looked out the window and proudly announced,

"Ahhh... the finer things of cycling."

The van got awfully quiet. As we got closer, I realized... It wasn't a woman. 

It was a DUDE!

To this day, I don't know if it was the angle I saw him, or if I just wasn't paying attention. Whatever the reason, I knew immediately that I had made a terrible mistake.

The van erupted in laughter.

Naturally, they didn't let me forget it for the rest of the trip. Actually... they didn't let me forget it for years.

Looking back now, I'm thankful for those days. We laughed a lot. We sang a lot.

We built friendships that made church feel like more than just a place you went on Sundays.

Sometimes I think people imagine church kids spent all their time sitting quietly in pews.

Not us.

We laughed until our sides hurt, traveled together, embarrassed ourselves from time to time, and somehow grew a little closer with every mile.

And every once in a while...

Someone gave the rest of the van a story they'd never let him live down.

Unfortunately for me...

Sometimes it  was me.

"A merry heart does good, like medicine..."
Proverbs 17:22a (NKJV)


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