High Speed Chase 2

Last Friday, I posted the following article, which was supposed to be published in our local paper as well. Then Cheryl left a comment which made me re-think the entire article. It was one of those "I could have had a V-8" moments! I was so disappointed that the article had already been published - or so I thought.

But guess what? Due to a fluke accident (HA! We know better, don't we?) my editor ran an article of mine from several weeks back, instead of this one. So, I rewrote the ending and resubmitted it. Here is the second version of:


High Speed Chase

My husband is in the wrong profession. He may be a pastor on the weekends and a landman during the week, but in my opinion, he totally missed his calling. He should have been a bounty hunter.

Several nights ago, at 11:30 p.m., my phone rang. It was Mark. He said, “First of all, I want you to know that I am okay.”

You know that any middle-of-the-night phone conversation that begins with that statement is loaded. I pulled myself out of a deep sleep and braced myself for the unknown.

He continued. “I got hit by a drunk driver. Or at least I think he was drunk. It was a hit and run.”

Okay. I have now found a tried-and-true substitute for caffeine. I was wide awake in an instant. “A hit and run? Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked him.

“Oh, yeah. I’m standing here at the other guy’s truck. He sustained a lot more damage than I did.”

The other guy’s truck? “I thought you said it was a hit and run,” I said, with a sinking feeling in my stomach. Remember, I’ve lived with this man for seventeen years. I know what he is likely to do in any given situation.

“Oh, yeah. I chased him down,” he said, as if this were the most normal conversation in the world. Why was I not surprised, not even a little?

But of course, I played the part of the delicate Southern Belle, shocked and appalled at such reckless behavior. I know my role in this relationship. “You what? Sweetheart, you could have been killed! What if he had a gun?”

“Aww, I stayed far enough behind that he couldn’t have shot me,” he said. I didn’t know you could hear a swagger. But I promise you, there was a swagger in his voice.

Silence. I honestly didn’t know which question to ask next. “Did you call the police?” I finally asked.

“Yeah, they’re here now. There were two guys in the car, and they got away. They left the truck behind and took off on foot.”

Sheesh! Why can’t my life be a little more boring?

So, long story short, I’m glad we have good insurance. His truck is now fixed. I have no idea what happened with the fugitives. And as long as I live, I will never understand why testosterone forces men to do the things they do. But I have learned to “accept the things I cannot change,” as the serenity prayer says.

But the truth is, Mark chased down those guys for a number of reasons. He was mad. He wanted justice. And he wanted his truck fixed.

Did you know that we have all been involved in a high speed chase, at one time or another? That’s right. You and me. Only we were not the pursuers. We were the ones being chased. Some of you reading this are still being chased!

All of us over the age of, say, twelve, have run from God at one time or another. Foolish as it may seem, we have tried to get away from Him. But you know what?

He chases us. He pursues us, because He loves us. We are important to Him. And though He will not force Himself on anyone, He will never give up the chase. More than anything, He wants us to stop running and let Him catch us.

When we do, He doesn’t offer harsh judgment or cruel punishment, like many believe. He offers forgiveness, mercy, goodness, love, and a place in His family. We get written into the will, to receive an inheritance from our Father.

All we have to do is stop running.

Psalm 23:6 “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

High Speed Chase

My husband is in the wrong profession. He may be a pastor on the weekends and a landman during the week, but in my opinion, he totally missed his calling. He should have been a bounty hunter.

Several nights ago, at 11:30 p.m., my phone rang. It was Mark. He said, “First of all, I want you to know that I am okay.”

You know that any middle-of-the-night phone conversation that begins with that statement is loaded. I pulled myself out of a deep sleep and braced myself for the unknown.

He continued. “I got hit by a drunk driver. Or at least I think he was drunk. It was a hit and run.”

Okay. I have now found a tried-and-true substitute for caffeine. I was wide awake in an instant. “A hit and run? Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked him.

“Oh, yeah. I’m standing here at the other guy’s truck. He sustained a lot more damage than I did.”

The other guy’s truck? “I thought you said it was a hit and run,” I said, with a sinking feeling in my stomach. Remember, I’ve lived with this man for seventeen years. I know what he is likely to do in any given situation.

“Oh, yeah. I chased him down,” he said, as if this were the most normal conversation in the world. Why was I not surprised, not even a little?

But of course, I played the part of the delicate Southern Belle, shocked and appalled at such reckless behavior. I know my role in this relationship. “You what? Sweetheart, you could have been killed! What if he had a gun?”

“Aww, I stayed far enough behind that he couldn’t have shot me,” he said. I didn’t know you could hear a swagger. But I promise you, there was a swagger in his voice.

Silence. I honestly didn’t know which question to ask next. “Did you call the police?” I finally asked.

“Yeah, they’re here now. There were two guys in the car, and they got away. They left the truck behind and took off on foot.”

Sheesh! Why can’t my life be a little more boring?

So, long story short, I’m glad we have good insurance. His truck is now fixed. I have no idea what happened with the fugitives. And as long as I live, I will never understand why testosterone forces men to do the things they do. But I have learned to “accept the things I cannot change,” as the serenity prayer says.

But the truth is, Mark chased down those guys for a number of reasons. He was mad. He wanted justice. And he wanted his truck fixed.

Have you ever noticed that we really do chase down the things that are important to us? If money is important to us, we will run after it. If beauty or fame or success is at the top of our priority list, we will follow those things until we think we’ve found them. The funny thing is, we often end up just like Mark, chasing things that we never truly catch.

But I’ve learned that if we spend our time chasing down the truly important things in life, things like God’s wisdom and love, we will always be successful in our pursuits. After all, God doesn’t run from us, and He doesn’t hide. He offers His wisdom and love freely to all – even hit and run drivers.

And even testosterone-filled husbands.

James 1:5 “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”

And the Winner Is . . .

I entered a contest yesterday. Not a competition, just a contest. I put my name in the hat to win a darling little purse. And I really hope I win, for that will balance things out for me. You see, I haven’t had the best of luck when it comes to contests.

Years ago, when I was in college, I decided to clean out my desk. Now, this was not a weekly chore for me. It wasn’t even a yearly chore, as you will soon learn. My decision to clean out that desk was not out of any kind of desire to be organized. It was simply out of a desire to find a place to store my pencils.

That desk was crammed full of all kinds of papers and receipts, bent-out-of-shape paper clips, half finished homework assignments (I have no idea where the other half went), class notes from the distant past, and everything else you can imagine. When I finally got to the point that I couldn’t even open the drawer, I decided it was time to get out the old circular file and get rid of some stuff.

So I went to work. I went piece by piece through my own historical documents, and threw most of it away. I finally got my pile down to a manageable mess, and decided to pull the drawer completely out of its cubby. (Is that what you call the thing the drawer sits in?)

When the cubby was empty, I looked inside, way to the back. There was a small, index sized card. I reached back and grabbed it, and lo and behold, it was an old, unused, unscratched contest card from McDonald’s. Remember those? You were supposed to scratch off two boxes, and underneath each there was one half of a picture. If you got, say, both halves of the Big Mac, you won a free Big Mac. But more times than not, you ended up with half of a French fry and half of a milkshake, and you won nothing.

I checked the date, and the deadline for claiming any prize was two years previous. I started to toss it in the trash, but curiosity got the better of me. I grabbed a penny and started scratching.

There, beneath the first box, was one half of a car. I laughed, and kept scratching, expecting to find half of a soda in the other box. But wait – was that a wheel? And . . . were those tail lights? It couldn’t be . . . no, no, no! This was a nightmare!

Yes. I promise you, this is the truth. I scratched off the front and the back to the car. I sat and stared at the card in my hand, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. I have no idea how long I sat there, mourning what was lost and could never be found. I double and triple checked the deadline date, to no avail. The wording was very clear. Any prizes not claimed by the date on the card could never be claimed.

So, I really hope I win that little purse. It will somehow just make things a little more right, in my opinion.

I’m so glad God doesn’t have a deadline on His grace, aren’t you? I’m glad He doesn’t hold out His promises, and say, “You have two weeks to claim my wisdom, my peace, my love. If you don’t respond in that time period, My promises become null and void.” God has wonderful treasures that He holds out to each of us. Each and every one is the winner. We simply have to claim the prize.

So I guess, whether I win the purse or not, I can’t really complain.

But I still want that purse.

Psalm 145:13 “The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.”

Vince Young

Vince Young is my hero.

Well, that’s not exactly true. To be honest, my level of football knowledge doesn’t go very deep. But I recently did a little research on Vince Young. And I must say, I am impressed.

He played football for the University of Texas, and did well there. Well enough, in fact, to be noticed by the pro league. He left Texas after his jr. year to play for the Tennessee Titans. He sat on the bench for a month, and then, his coach gave the rookie a shot. He went on to be named “Rookie of the Year”.

But it was what came later that impresses me the most. He recently revealed that he nearly quit after his rookie year. He said it just wasn’t fun anymore. Fans across the nation were shocked that this successful ball player nearly called it quits after such a short time. But I’m not shocked.

I think it just makes him a normal person.

What impresses me the most is that he recognized that some things just aren’t worth it. You can have all the money in the world, all the fame, all the power, and yet be miserable. Sometimes, all the stuff we work so hard for isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. You can gain everything you thought you wanted, yet lose what is most important.

Many people would never have even considered saying goodbye to all that glory. Most of us would have just kept working, trying to achieve more and more and more, hoping to find happiness over the next bend.

But not Vince. He was wise enough to recognize that happiness doesn’t come with awards, or money, or fame. He was wise enough to step back and reevaluate his life. He was man enough to consider letting it all go, in order to pursue something more real.

When asked how he came to his decision to continue playing, he said, “I prayed really hard. And I began to focus on God's calling for me. Play football. Be a role model."

I repeat: Vince Young is my hero.

There are times when I want to quit my job, too. There are times when life just isn’t fun any more. But at those times, if I really step back and evaluate things, I will almost always find that I have taken my focus off of the basics. I have placed my eyes on the things that aren’t important, such as money and success. I have paid too much attention to what other people say about me. And I discover I’ve lost my joy.

But in that one statement, Vince has fulfilled his desire to become a role model. He has become my role model. When we lose our joy in life, we would all do well to respond just as he did.

First, we need to recognize that it’s just not fun anymore, and ask ourselves why. Then, we should pray really hard. We should ask God what He wants us to do, and seek His purpose for our lives. We need to just push all the extra stuff aside, and focus on doing the jobs God has given us.

Play football. Teach school. File papers. Answer the phone. Do the laundry, wash the dishes, kiss the boo-boos. Do your job.

Be a role model. Do the right thing. Smile at someone. Say something kind. Don’t cheat on your taxes. Don’t cut in line. Encourage others. Make a difference.

I hope Vince has rediscovered the joy he once knew in football. I believe he will, as long as he continues to focus on the basics – pray hard, play football, be a role model.

Mark 8:36 "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?”