THAT IS FUNNY! (at least it is now..)

God is teaching me something new. He teaches me things all the time actually. I usually have a hard time letting my hair down. Yes, I can hear all the comments from my family, friends, church leadership and anyone who can see me. (Look at my picture on this page…even the beard is gone now…)

I love Jesus Christ with all my heart. When you love someone with all your heart, there should be joy. Life in Christ is the greatest blessing we have ever been given! After one of the most embarrassing and infuriating moments of my entire life I was reminded again of this blessing.

My daughter Paige came to see me this weekend.  She is fourteen years old and I cherish the times that we get to spend together. She is becoming an accomplished musician, a very bright and driven student, and can be as funny as anyone. The reason I mention Paige at this point, besides the fact that I love her, is that she has watched me grow up. She had the opportunity to watch her Dad grow again last Sunday morning.

Our family attends the early morning service at church.  I don’t often dress up to go to church. Usually I wear blue jeans and a nice shirt. I do, however, have a couple of nice suits. In addition, my wife Nancy gave me a really awesome hat for Valentine’s Day.  So, when Sunday rolled around I decided to dress in my best winter suit. I was styling in that black suit, blue dress shirt, blue and black tie, and my shiny dress shoes. The topper was my new Stacy Adams hat! Man, I looked good….even if I do say so myself. People were telling me how good l looked. The hat had several compliments. 

Immediately following church my family and I left on the trip to return Paige home. Nancy noticed that we needed gas before the trip. We stopped at a VERY familiar service station and I got out of the car to fill the tank. I was still was basking in the glory of the church experience and all the heady compliments. (That means I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should have been!)

The gas pump was an older version - one of those in which there is no rubber safety device for overflow of gas. When I tried to slowly pump the gas, the pump would click off. I tried again, same results. Then IT happened…oh yes…IT happened.

The pump nozzle suddenly exploded and I doused my entire body with gasoline! I was soaked right down to my underwear. Man was I incensed! (Nancy said later that I was “fuming”, Paige just left it at MAD!) I threw the pump down with all my might!

Nancy jumped out and started pumping the gas while I bristled inside the store. The station was so old that the restrooms were outside. Oddly enough, the restroom had soap dispensers and timed water faucets. However, after taking an inventory of myself and my clothing, I realized that cleaning up was a lost cause.

I rejoined my family to share my very fuming clothes and even fumier attitude. The ranting was classic! I tried to blame everything about the event on the gas station pumps instead of myself.  Then I remembered the last time I was at this particular gas station-September 16, 2008. It was at this same station that I experienced my first Grand Moll Seizure. I crashed right into the building that night. God used that old station to save my life.  I was off the road and going slowly enough to have sustained little damage and the building kept me from crashing into who knows what.

As I took a nap later that same afternoon, I sensed God telling me one thing. “THAT WAS SO FUNNY!”  That’s when the laughter hit. Once I let go of my anger I was able to find God’s joy.

“A merry heart make a cheerful countenance…”  -Proverbs 15:13a