MYSTERIOUS WAYS | AUG/SEPT 2019 43
Tim snapped a photo
of the bat stuck to
Debbie’s shoe moments
before it got free.ibuprofen. I might need to abstain
from exercise for a few months, he
said. I don’t have months! I thought.
I had to get back on my bike. There
was no other option in my mind.
Tim and I had set out from Ore -
gon in July. Our plan was to spend
the summer biking across Amer -
ica to raise money for a faith-based
organization we had volunteered
for and supported for years, which
connected teenagers and young
adults struggling with suicidal
thoughts, bullying or other challeng-
es with trained coaches. We had
to get home to Massachusetts by
fall. I had a job waiting.
“We’ll make the most of this,”
Tim said. “We’ll contact media and
pitch possible donors while you
rest your leg.”
Day by day, more donors made
pledges. I prayed for the pain to go
away and asked everyone I knew—
my small group, my mom, my
friends, even people at churches
we visited—to pray too. But my leg
still wasn’t getting
better.
Tim and I are not
quitters. It’s just
not in our nature to
give up. We kept
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after 15 days of
rest, we decided to
try riding.
We would head
south to Council
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100-mile distance
over two days, and
see how my leg
held up. If it couldn’t handle the
TPSLHNL^L^V\SKÄN\YLV\[OV^[V
get home from there. I couldn’t
imagine cutting our ride short, but
if that was the Lord’s will, I would
accept it.
Monday morning, September 1,
was bright and beautiful—perfect
weather for our return to the road.
Tim and I loaded our bikes with our
gear and wheeled them through
the hotel lobby. I’d just stepped out-
side when my right foot slid into
a crevice by the sidewalk. I pulled
it out and saw something brown
and furry on top of my cycling shoe.
What in the world? Stuck to the
Velcro strap, slowly flapping its
wings, was a bat! In broad daylight.
In downtown Sioux City.
Was this a bad omen? I shrieked
and tried to shake the little creature
loose without hurting it.
At last the bat got free and came to
rest on the pavement. Tim captured
the whole encounter on camera.
We hit the road and bicycled for a
whole 40 miles.
I couldn’t believe
it—I felt absolutely
no pain! My right
leg didn’t give me
any trouble for the
rest of our trip.
You know the ex-
pression “like a bat
out of hell”? I think
my bat came from a
far better place.