It's March 28th. So? Well to me March 28th is what I call "Bike Day". Thirty some-odd years ago on this day, I was returning from a bike outing along the main beach road in South Florida, Hwy1. We finished up our ride and everyone turned toward their homes. They asked if I knew how to get home from there and I said I did. Of course I knew - sort of. Too embarrassed to admit that I wasn't sure, I was also confident that I could figure it out. I knew what street I was looking for, and once I found that street, I knew exactly how to get home. The problem was, I walked for hours in the early afternoon sun and never found that street.

I remember chewing on a plastic straw, wondering if I should go to a stranger's house to use their telephone. I walked by a church doing a car wash for their youth group, and I kept going. I wasn't scared. I knew God would take care of me. As it turns out, I actually WAS close to home, but I went left instead of right and eventually found myself at a 7-Eleven in the next town over where I called for help.

I remember so many details about that day, from the jokes my youth pastor made, to the movie I watched once I got home, and how my sister gave me a cassette tape to keep if I could fix it. March 28th is forever burned in my memory.

As it turns out, I was actually walking parallel to the street I was looking for. If I had turned right when I turned left, I would have been home within the hour. But God taught me something special that day. Even when I was heading in the wrong direction, He was looking out for me. I look back on that day not with sadness, but with pride that I was not afraid. I knew I wasn't alone, and I was determined to keep going. I'm proud of the faith and perseverance I had on that day, and that's why I celebrate March 28th. That's why "Bike Day" is so special.