A Long and Winding Road Back to the Future

My best friend’s name is Steve. He’s like a brother to me. We met one day at the pool house in my apartment complex where his band was rehearsing. I happened to be there using the laundry facilities and heard the music. I was writing and recording music at that time and needed a bassist, so I approached him and thus began a friendship that has lasted over 20 years.

Life took us in different directions over the years, but we kept in touch and in 2000 we ended up in the same city again. We didn’t plan it that way, but we were both happy to get to hang out with each other again.

We went through a lot of life together the past 21 years. But the most significant thing that happened is that we both found salvation. It happened at different times, but by 2003 we had both exchanged our lives for the life of Christ, and our friendship became even stronger.

Steve recently left his job. It was a difficult decision but one he had to make. I knew he’d find another job quickly. He’s smart and educated and one of the best in his field. Well, he found a job alright, 1200 miles away.

After a lot of discussion with his wife, and a lot of prayer they accepted the job and they feel God has opened a door that they must go through.

I’ve been a little mad at God the past few days as the day drew near for Steve to leave. I couldn’t understand why God would orchestrate our reunion only to move him away from me again. But I realize that God puts people in our lives for a reason, and the impact that Steve has had in my life is immeasurable. He helped open the door that led me to begin asking questions about Christ, and ultimately finding Him. It took my past to help me find my future.

I know there is a purpose to everything God does, and although I’m unhappy about seeing my friends leave, I know that they go with God in their hearts and they are going somewhere that God needs them. Knowing this makes me feel better, and perhaps someday we'll end up in the same town again.

Vaya con Dios my friends.

“God, please guide and protect my friends as they begin this new phase of their lives. Bless them, and hold them close to you always. Amen.”

A Day at the Races

I did something last weekend that I’ve never done before; I went to the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Drag Racing Nationals in Houston. We’re talking big, loud, fast cars screaming down a quarter mile track at speeds up to 320 mile per hour! At that speed I could drive the 90 miles to my parent’s house in about 28 minutes, give or take a minute for traffic.

I like learning and experiencing new things, so I really enjoyed walking around the grounds, checking out the crews working on their cars. Everyone was very friendly and they told me a lot about the cars and motorcycles that would be racing that weekend. I found out a lot of interesting things too, such as a Top Fuel drag racer pulls 4-5 G’s when they launch off the starting line. This is a lot of force. I know this because I used to help the Air Force with some special projects that put me in a position to pull up to 9 G’s. At 9 G’s my body weight was over 1600 pounds. It hurts. So I know what these drivers are going through.

After a while we went to the grand stands to sit down. I decided to make a pit-stop before we went up and found a port-a-potty. This was about the time the Pro Stock cars came out on the track for their first time-trial. I’d seen these cars on TV, but I wasn’t really prepared for the noise they made when they rammed the accelerator all the way to the floor. The instantaneous increase in decibels when they unleashed their 2000 Horsepower engines sounded like an atom bomb going off in my port-a-potty. I don’t want to say it scared me, but my business in there was complete at that moment.

Overall the 3 days of drag racing was fun to watch. I learned a lot, and saw a lot. Plus I got to spend some time with my friend who just found Christ last year. It was great to see how he was growing in his life, and it energized me to continue stepping up my own walk.

Motorcycle Mama

My wife just bought a Piaggio scooter, and although I’m thrilled that she now has a motorcycle endorsement on her driver's license and has joined the brotherhood of the two wheels, I can’t help but poke fun at her little, tiny bike.

It’s cute, and motorcycles aren’t supposed to be cute! So I kid her and call the scooter “The Hog.” She’s a good sport about it and says as long as I’m not calling HER a hog, she’ll let me live.

Of course she had to accessorize herself, and bought a specialty helmet made by Piaggio to match the color of her scooter. She also did some research online and bought a pair of jeans called “skid pants.” They look just like regular jeans, but they’re made to protect you if you hit the ground and slide for a long distance by incorporating a Kevlar lining. Yes, you read that right; she has bullet-proof pants. This will come in handy if she and the rest of her scooter gang decide to rumble.

I kid her, but I also applaud that she’s taken such a serious interest in learning to ride and being safe. I know that if she has an accident she’ll be well covered and will have a much better chance of survival.

I’m excited that she’s a bike rider now. She’s just not allowed to ride that little thing anywhere near me when I’m on my Kawasaki Vulcan. I don’t care if she gets 65 miles per gallon, I’m not getting laughed out of the Brotherhood after being seen next to that Tonka toy. Ha.

“God, wrap your loving arms around my wife as she braves the traffic and keep her safe! Amen.”

Drive it like you stole it!

I went by my office tonight to do something I didn’t get a chance to finish before I left for school this afternoon. It was dark and I just wanted to get home, so I took a chance on a yellow light that wasn’t having any of it, and turned pink. Ok it turned red. I quickly looked around and there were cars around, but it was too dark to see if any of them were cops. Until the flashing lights came on that is.

I was already entering a freeway and wasn’t sure if I should pull over right there. I decided to stop so as not to make the cop feel like I was running from them, so I began to move into the medium. Mistake number one. I heard a loud speaker come on and a voice say “DON’T STOP HERE! PULL OFF THE FREEWAY!”

Feeling like an idiot I continued to the next exit and pulled into a parking lot in front of a diner. After stopping I was once again unsure what to do. So I got out of the truck. Mistake number two. The loud speaker once again blared “Get back in your vehicle sir!” Could I possibly do more to tick off this cop?

I sat in my truck with visions of county lock up running through my mind when the officer came up and took my driver’s license and insurance. Nervousness took over and my mouth fell into gear. I made excuses for running the light and that I was sorry and that I had a good driving record and that I was really, really sorry and that I never do that kind of stuff and that I was really, really, really sorry.

She took my license, asked me to wait, and went back to her squad car. I sat in my truck, suddenly feeling like I was 5 years old sitting in my room after doing something wrong and being told to go there to wait for my spanking. Would she run my license and see that I have a perfect record and just tell me to be more careful, or would she come back with a ticket in her hand?

I sat stewing in my truck and started to get frustrated with myself for being stupid and at the cop for not showing any leniency. After all, I have a clean record. I’m sure she sees that on her little screen in her car. She doesn’t have to give me a ticket, why was she taking so long? I don’t deserve this, it’s her fault for being a mean person! She should have taken one look at my driving record and came up here to give me a medal, not at ticket! I’ll show her, when she comes back I’m going to make a really digging smart aleck remark about not showing a little grace to people. Why not? She’s already giving me a ticket anyway, so why not give her a good verbal jab!

She arrived a minute later with citation in hand, but before I could say anything she looked at me and said “This isn’t a ticket, it’s just a warning. You don’t have to go to court, and it won’t go on your driving record. It’s just to say I had contact with you. That’s a really dangerous intersection you went through and a lot of people have been hurt by people running that light.”

Hear that whistle blowing? That’s the Shame Train leaving the station, and I’m the conductor. Woo Woo.

I thanked her for giving me a break, and apologized for running the light, and we parted.

God teaches. In more ways than we can imagine. In the span of a few minutes He taught me a lifetime about grace, respect, humbleness, taking responsibility, and just plain shutting up. Yes, God teaches. It’s too bad He has to resort to such extreme lessons to make us get it.

Forgiveness Grammar

Sometimes life throws things at us that can really disrupt our lives. A lot of times these events are produced by other people. I recently counseled someone who was having a problem forgiving another person for issues they caused in their life. This other person wasn’t showing any remorse, so she didn’t see why she should forgive them.

I told her that she was looking at it backwards. Forgiveness isn’t just for the other person, it was for her too.

Forgiveness is listed in the dictionary as a noun. In fact, forgiveness is also a verb. It’s an action you can take regardless of what the other person deserves. Why? Because when you forgive someone, I mean truly forgive someone, you remove the animosity in your heart created by the other person’s actions. It opens the door for letting the wounds heal and the possibility of rebuilding that relationship.

Sure, it would be nice for the other person to be sorry and apologize, but that may never happen. Sometimes ego and stubbornness get in the way. So why wait for them to do something? Why carry around that hurt and animosity? Take action yourself! Once the other person sees that your actions aren’t tied to theirs, they may feel a lot differently about apologizing.

You don’t have to wait for someone to be sorry to forgive them. Jesus didn’t. He didn’t just show up one day and say “all is forgiven.” He epitomized what an act of forgiveness is. He took action. A big, bold, hanging on the cross, action. He didn’t wait for us to be contrite, and He didn’t wait for an apology.

You can’t control what other people do, you can only control what you do, and forgiving someone regardless of their remorsefulness will change how you feel about the whole situation.

“Jesus, I am not worthy of your forgiveness, but yet you gave it to me anyway. Thanks for your unconditional love, and for the example you set for us all. Amen.”