My six-year old son, Flynn, was diagnosed with COVID-19 in May. Eight days later I was diagnosed with COVID-19 in June. He was asymptomatic and I have had symptoms that have begun to resolve in waves. We have been isolating in the upstairs of our home away from my husband, Blake, and our four-year old daughter, Astin, who are quarantined downstairs. We are lucky to have a team of physicians and medical professionals that we can communicate with and consult when needed. With their guidance, we developed a plan for a specialized quarantine for our family to ensure everyone’s safety, both in our home and in our community. It is longer than what the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and our State Health Department recommends, but it was created by one of the top infectious disease doctors in our area. When he created this plan, we thought we were almost done with our isolation and quarantine. We were two days away from an exit plan. He added more than two weeks to our quarantine, but cleared my son and me to take daily bike rides, something we enjoy dearly and we have missed since being stuck in our house. We have 17 days or 17 bikes rides to the end of our isolation, thus the name for this project: 17 Bike Rides.

Isolation is difficult to say the least. There is a wide range of emotions that you feel in isolation, from sadness and anger, to compassion and joy. As a Christian, I have been finding solace in daily Bible readings and devotionals. However, to my knowledge, there is no devotional focused on comforting a parent living in quarantine with a COVID positive child and then being diagnosed themselves. 

I realize that my family has been afforded many luxuries during this time. First, we have a roof over our heads with space to isolate. Second, we have food on our table. Third, we have an amazing outpouring of support, from our friends, our church, and our community, including random strangers. Finally, and most importantly, we have jobs and good medical insurance. I understand that these are luxuries and there are millions of people suffering in the world right now due to this disease who have limited resources. Whether they are directly affected by a diagnosis in their home or their hearts are breaking due to the diagnosis of a friend or loved one, everyone needs comfort and support. Even from my sick bed, I wanted to help. I wanted to share my community of support with the world. 

And so 17 Bike Rides was born. It is a 17-day devotional with contributions of prayer and Bible verses from me and my tribe of support. It is my hope that through these words, it can be your tribe of support too. I have friends from all walks of life, and even though I am a Christian, I will include prayers and blessings from other religions as well. The contributors are from a variety of people from many socio-economic backgrounds, races, religions, genders, and beliefs. I want this devotional to be all-inclusive. I want it to be for everyone. Most of all, I want it to be free and therefore it will be published online for anyone to access at any time. 

I hope that if you’ve found yourself here, that you feel comfort and love. That is my goal – our goal – with 17 Bike Rides. 

Here are a few details that you might find helpful: 

If you are reading this in its early stages and not all of the 17 devotionals are published, you are reading it “live” with me as I post during these 17 days or 17 bike rides. 

There are corresponding social media pages, one of which may have brought you here. You may have noticed that I have turned off commenting but you are still able to like and share. This is because I am just one person – one weary mama still battling this disease and trying to care for my family – and I cannot moderate comments to filter harmful or hateful remarks. It’s sad that I’ve had to think forward and be proactive to expect this, but unfortunately that’s the world we live in. Until a time when I can effectively moderate, the comments will remain turned off, but you are welcome to like and share social media posts, and I encourage you to do that. The more people with whom this is shared, the more we can live our purpose, which is to help others. 

This site is FREE. This content is FREE. I will never charge you for this devotional because I believe it should be available to all. 

If you need to contact me, please email me at 17bikerides@gmail.com. I will answer as expeditiously and thoughtfully as possible.

I am not perfect. I am far from the standard I consider to be qualified to even write this devotional. I am still growing as a Christian, a mother, a wife, a friend, and a person. I will raise my hand and admit to you that I am the most sinful sinner I know, and every single day I am grateful for God’s grace and mercy. So if you’re asking yourself, am I qualified to write this? No, absolutely not. But I ask you, who is? I simply want to try be the good in this world and 17 Bike Rides is my humble contribution at that attempt. 

In the words of one of my most precious friends (who you will probably find out more about in this devotional): 

Love, love.