The Lord blessed us with perfect weather in West Seattle as the children arrived for a day of learning and fun at the first annual Mars Hill WS Bike Rodeo on Saturday, August 16^th at E.C. Hughes School.

As we continue to seek out ways that children’s ministry can reach out into the local community to love people and see their lives transformed for Jesus, West Seattle put on our first ever bike rodeo which is designed to help neighborhood kids and their parents learn more about the rules of the road that bicyclists are expected to abide by when sharing the streets with you and me.

Though the children that participated definitely came to the event just looking forward to have fun piloting their bikes through the 8 traffic safety obstacles and the 3 skill obstacles, there was also a very healthy dose of learning involved. They learned, for instance, that it is important to always start out from a stop with their foot high up on the pedal (also known as a “power start”), and they learned the correct direction to ride when riding with traffic. Young riders also mastered the trick of looking over their shoulder for cars without swerving into the lane of traffic…a feat not easily mastered by all.

When finished with the often taxing traffic safety portion of the course, riders attempted to navigate the grueling obstacle course and finished off the day honing their racing skills at the “Slow Race” (last one across the finish line without swerving out of their lane or putting their foot down wins). For the older kids, our own Gary Ashley put on a clinic on how to best utilize the BMX trick aspects of your bike…he had us all amazed as he taught some boys some tricks that looked impossible, and the boys had begun to get the knack by the time they went home.

There were refreshments (Hotdogs and Strawberry-Lemonade) which were graciously donated by a generous parent, and plenty of prizes (including a great trick-bike with all the bells and whistles) to win in the raffle. Each child received a red ticket when they registered and ran through the course, and after each group there were prizes awarded. We prayed ahead of time for the Lord to bless our attendance with people from the surrounding community that we could love with the event, and He was faithful as usual. We had a few neighborhood kids, and eventually their families, to get to know…and a boy from a block away who had no bike was the proud recipient of the great one we raffled off (I think the fix was in).

So, the weeks of planning and preparation paid off-all for His glory and fame! Praise Jesus for the work He’s doing in West Seattle and that we are privileged to be a part of it. I’m looking forward to another awesome Bike Rodeo next year so put it on your calendar and grease up your chain.