wrong place, wrong time...

is there such a thing? I guess if you believe in God, it's kinda silly to say such things. But from this side of the curtain that seperates heaven and earth, it feels appropriate. At least it did on Sunday afternoon.

Here we are, a family of five poised to enjoy some sunshine on Murray Lake with some friends...boating, sunbathing, and watching the children soak in the wonder of the water's edge. We were three houses from our destination when serendipitously a large truck backed out of a driveway and into the front end of my recently acquired Mazda 626. The hood buckled into the look of a wad of paper and steam ascended into the air filling our car with the smell of burning power steering fluid. The girls started screaming in three part harmony in the back seat...it was sorta funny. Three seconds before I was relishing the beautiful life I've been bestowed. The downright unfairness of how wonderful my life is compared to countless millions on this planet. Now, I'm wedged underneath a Ford Truck with a 21 year old punk combing his fingers through his hair in utter mortification. (I think he turned a shade of white and green when he heard my daughters screaming in the back seat...he watching his whole life flash before him and then pictured himself in a musty jailcell being propositioned by slender men on death row.)

The car...it's totalled. I loved that car...she had been so faithful, so good. I just put a fresh tank of $2.99 gas in her bossom. She was purring like a lap cat. And in a matter of moments, this 21 year old kid turned her into rubbish. I visited her in the hospital yesterday with Bryan Kuieck...I felt sad as I moved toward her bent and broken frame. The body was there, but the spirit was all but gone...she had given up the ghost.

You really never do know what you're going to wake to on any given day. The funny thing is, I feel very little frustration over this ordeal. Maybe it's because I was driving 25 miles an hour and my family emerged from this accident unharmed when it easily could have been 60 miles and hour and the threat of fatalities. I find myself blessed. Blessed to have two cars in the first place. Blessed to have four girls in my life that are safe today. Blessed to have people around us that care for us so deeply (the Ettingers are letting us borrow a car until the smoke clears). Blessed to possess the knowledge that stuff is just stuff and doesn't amount to much in the light of eternity.

I will take this time to curse Michigan. In Ohio, this no-fault insurance business was nowhere to be found. If it was your fault, you forked out the dough. In this case, the 21 year old that was given a ticket would have paid for my car to be fixed in full. Instead, I went from driving a car worth approx. $2,500 to visiting this same car at the body shop worth a measly $50 in scrap metal. That's a pile of dung higher and wider than the eye can see. Michigan rots. Long live Ohio.

The moral of this story is this...if you plan on driving anywhere, it's best to move to Ohio where they have common sense in cases such as this. I guess I could take this guy to court (and then promptly down to China Town), but I sat and talked with he and his family for nearly two hours about Christ, the Kingdom and my role as a pastor to advance the heart of God on this planet. Somehow, a lawsuit seems out of line at the present time. I should have kept my mouth shut, put on a poker face and complained about neck pain. I should have swept up my kids, laid them out on the nearest lawn and faked like I was giving them mouth to mouth. I should have faked a seizures on the pavement...billowing foam and the whole bit. I may have been able to retire this week and moved to Florida to collect shells for the rest of my days. Darn, I'm so stupid.

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