Probably you will grow weary of my story-telling, but what's the chance this keeps happening to me?  There are lovely places to bike here in Venice... roads that lead to bodies of water, lovely gardens, multiple housing developments and golf courses.  But among the places we bike there are huge black birds, similar to buzzards, that appear mostly around bodies of water.  They never seem to bother anyone.  They are just very imposing in their size which includes their wing span.

Since Gary has begun golfing on Tuesdays, I take the opportunity to either go for a brisk power walk or ride a bike.  Yesterday, I took the bike and headed out for a few miles.  On the 4th mile of my journey I was pumping along an area that has the wonderfully wide sidewalk that parallels a two-land road.  It's a safe place to ride and there are people everywhere.  After passing a body of water and coming upon a field, there they were.....numerous "buzzards" sitting by the side of the sidewalk!  Oh, my.....what to do? 

I slowed down my pace and decided to stay in the middle of the sidewalk and keep going.  If they attacked me surely someone would stop their vehicle and assist me, right???  As I approached these daunting birds, one by one they opened their wings and stood beside one another, wing span touching wing span!  I've never seen anything like it!  Even the few birds that were in the trees and on a close fence post began opening their wings as I passed. 

As I glided pass this gathering, I thought "thank you, Lord, for watching over me" and then I thought this had to be a lesson....so here goes.  As we travel the highway of life, God has given us boundaries.  Just like the fenced in backyard illustration that I've used countless times, this "highway" happened to be a sidewalk.....a wide one at that.  God gives us everything we need on the journey (the sidewalk was smooth, easy to ride, was located next to a road upon which were numerous individuals).  The outskirts of this boundary include the sights of lovely areas that might look good, but there are these "evils" that are eagerly awaiting us to cross over into their territory.  Many times signals are given, even by the evil that draws us, to warn us or maybe just to tempt us to get off the sidewalk and test if safety can still exist...

As for me, I'm staying on the sidewalk.  On the return journey of the trip, I crossed over to the other side of the road in order to stay completely away from these creatures.  When faced with the possibility of danger, I'm headed in another direction.  Hope you can gather a little lesson from this story.  Florida has beautiful sights, beautiful birds, lovely garden areas and terrific beaches and pools....but among all the beauty no matter where you visit or live, temptation and danger lurk to draw us in.....
"Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings from the wicked who assail me, from my mortal enemies who surround me."  Psalm 17:9
God bless, my friends!