My "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" Experiences

This has been a busy week, and I have not really had an opportunity to post on the schedule that I have been accustomed to, so for those that look to read my posts, I am truly sorry.  The trucker's life.  Gotta love it.

I was privileged to have my beautiful wife, Danika, with me again this week.  We started out the week headed to Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.  I didn't say anything, but I was hoping to get to take her through Gettysburg, and let her get some really good (hopefully) pictures.  Its kind of hard when you are by yourself to be able to do that.  But, as the saying goes, we came close, but no cigar.

I believe it was after we delivered, and on our way to Indianapolis, Indiana, when we took a wrong turn in Virginia. As Bugs bunny would say, "if I'd only taken that left turn in Albuquerque."  Needless to say, when we made that wrong turn, I knew it right then.  There was a sign that was posted telling me that no trucks were allowed.  It was then that I saw another sign for a 10 foot clearance on a bridge ahead.  Knowing that my truck and trailer needed a 13'6" clearance, where in the world was I going to go?  I certainly could not just do a 3 point turn and turn around.  There was no places big enough for me to do a U-turn, so I was left with praying really hard that (1) the law wouldn't be on that road, and (2) I could find a way out of it.

Luckily, the bridge was to the left of where I needed to go, but I was still faced with a narrow winding road, up a mountain.  This is a prime example of why I shouldn't always follow GPS, even if it is an expensive truckers GPS, that is supposed to keep me from doing what I did.  It actually made me continue to follow it, because, after all, I am in an area that I know absolutely NOTHING about, so it turned into my best shot of getting out of there.

And I did.

And I made it to where I needed to go.

That wrong turn actually took us into George Washington Park, which was beautiful.  It had little places that you could picnic, areas where you could bring your dog to walk, Beautiful landscapes, and many other things to do.   Did Danika get pictures?

Um...No.  I'm not sure whether she was just too enamored by the beauty and couldn't pick up her camera phone, or too busy worried how we would get out of there.  But it was beautiful.

I had a feeling I would get a story out of it.  I thought all week long about it.  I just never felt the release to go ahead and write about it...until today.

Today, our daughter, Natalie, had to go to an art show for extra college credit.  Since Danika had previously agreed to go with her, I was asked if I would stay home and be on grand baby duty.  I first said yes, and thought about what Paw Paw and Amily could get into, but then I decided that I wanted to go to the art show.  So we just all loaded up and went.

I don't recall ever being at an art show.  It consisted of mainly framed pictures that various people had taken, and mixed into it was some "creative" art.  As I stood there looking at each piece,  I kind of felt like I was Cameron, from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," as he stood in an art gallery "pondering" each little thing that he saw.

The Lord started speaking to me as I "pondered" some of it.  There were many photographs of different people.  Some were clean, while others had mud or dirt on them.  Some were of men, some of women, and others of children.  Each one representing different backgrounds and ethniticities. (If that is how you spell it).

The art consisted of everything imaginable.  What really stuck out to me was a house, I think made out of porcelain, but I'm not entirely sure.  It was painted black with another color for shutters.  As there were several houses in this piece of art, it represented to me, a neighborhood that was lacking the wealth of maybe its neighbor.  Yet, to the artist, it may be home...therefore, to he/she, it may represent all the wealth in the world.

Another piece that stood out to me was a collage of standing sheets of glass, each a different shape.  As the perception of art is to me, it is different with each person that views it.  To me, the glass art was representative physically as a sky rise of different buildings.

In the spiritual, both was something altogether different.

God created each person to be unique, meaning there will never be another just like you, even if you are an identical twin.  He formed and knew everything about you from the color of your hair, eyes, and skin, to your mannerisms and personality from the conception in your mother's womb.  This is referenced in Jeremiah 1:5, where it says, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you..." (NKJV)

Remember that wrong turn I told you that I made?  In our daily lives, we make many wrong turns (choices), which lead us in a direction that we need not pursue.   I had to use my GPS to get out of the situation that I was in, but in life, we have a love letter, inspired by God Himself, as He revealed to man what to write.   This is the Holy Bible.  We also have the Holy Spirit, who will guide us in the ways we should go, if only we ask.

Thank God, He allows U-Turns in our life.

As I was looking at the art that was the house, the Lord spoke to me and said that there are many things that we fill our lives with (our body being the temple, or house) that are sinful and filthy.  It causes us to be dirty in His sight, without the presence of Jesus Blood that He shed on the cross.


Though that piece of art that was the glass in the physical represented a sky rise of buildings in my eyes, you could see right through it.  The artist, in placing each piece, did so with precision, and made sure that it was cleaned immaculately.   It was transparent. 

It is when we acknowledge that we are sinners, and ask Jesus to wash us in His Blood, that  God forgives us of our sins, and makes us "transparent," in His sight, just as the art that was the glass sky rise.

My job as a truck driver isn't just a job, that I can go to everyday and do the same thing repetitively.  It requires that I have relationships with many different people, whether I have met them, or not.  As a matter of fact, the ones I communicate with the most, I have never laid my eyes on.  I have to have faith that they are real, and that they are going to guide me to where I need to be, in order to effectively perform the duties that my job require.

Christianity often gets put into a category of "religion" by the world.  However, that couldn't be further from the truth.  God wants to have a relationship with me, and He wants to have a relationship with you.  As a matter of fact, that is His greatest desire.  As I live my life, just as I have to have faith that the people I deal with on my job are real people, I have to have faith that God is real.  And just as the ones I work with daily prove to me that they are, God does the same.

Do you have a relationship with Him?  Have you asked Him to forgive you of your sins, and allowed Him into your life?  It is really simple.  Just repeat these words as you read them:

God, I know that I am a sinner.  I know that Jesus died on the cross for the redemption of my sins, and rose again on the third day, defeating death, hell, and the grave.  Please forgive me of my sins, and come into my heart.  Help me daily to live and grow in You. Thank you.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

Friend, if you sincerely prayed that prayer, all of heaven is rejoicing.  My strong advice to you is to find a Bible believing church near you and get rooted and planted in it.  I rejoice with all of heaven in your decision.  Please send me a message or comment and let me know.  I would love to send you some information on life after your decision.  This is only the beginning, and as you grow in the Lord, He will unlock and reveal more wisdom and insight into your life.

May God add His richest blessings on your life, and may it be filled with long life, prosperity, and perfect health, is my prayer!

Jesus is the Best Friend you could ever have, and He Loves you so much!

The Dangers of Hazmat Living

     After having taken the required exams back in December 2013 for getting Hazmat and Tanker endorsements added to my CDL, it was only this week that I transported my first hazmat load.  I always thought I would be nervous on my first one, but I wasn't.  As a matter of fact, I didn't even cross state lines with it.  It traveled from Birmingham, AL to Mobile, AL.

     There should always be extra caution in transporting Hazmat materials.  These materials could range anywhere from poisonous to corrosive, from flammable to oxidizers.  Needless to say, you don't want ANYTHING to go wrong when transporting.

As I was traveling, it got me to thinking about the hazardous things that we allow into our lives.  It could be all kinds of different things, but anything that does not honor the Lord, fits the bill.

     You see, it really does matter what we choose to watch, and what we choose to listen to.  For example, I have always been a horror movie buff.  The scarier it made me, the better.  But fear is not of God. Psalms 34:4 states, "I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." (NKJV)

     Another biggie that is all the rave in society now, is the movies and TV shows about vampires and sorcery.  This is nothing but an attack of the enemy.  It is brought to us in a way that looks to be a love story, or made to look like "the good guy" battling all that is wrong with the world. 

Friends, I urge you, do not partake in this!!!

     2Corinthians 11:14 states, "And no wonder! For satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light."  Which simply means, he will not brings his attacks to look like attacks, because if you saw it in this way, you wouldn't want any part of it.  He brings it in a manner appealing to your eyes.  God would never condone, nor would He try to trick you into love.

     God is a God of Love.  He is Love, itself.  Without Him, whether or not you acknowledge it, we would not know what love is.  1John 4:18 states, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.  But he who fears has not been made perfect in love."

     There are many other things that we could go into here.  Let me just mention one other thing.  Don't allow your lifestyle to displease God.  There are many lifestyles in the world today that are displeasing to Him.  Even if you don't agree with it, but tolerate it, because you do not want to "offend" anyone, is a sin.  God defined what Love was in Genesis during creation.  Anything that goes against it, is sin.

     One thing that is thrown out there by people is Matthew 7:1.  It states, "Judge not, lest you be judged."  This Scripture is true, but is quite often taken out of context.  For example, if you are outwardly living a sinful life, you have no right to jump on someone who is doing the same, or another sin, just because you think you are better than them.

     On the other hand,  John 7:24 states, "Do not judge according to appearance, but with righteous judgment."

     This tells me that as a Christian, when I see another brother or sister fall into sin, I am to go to them, let them know in the right way that what they are doing is wrong, and help them pick themselves up and make their life right with the Lord.  My friend, and brother in the Lord, Paul Roberts made this exact point a few months ago.  He was spot on when he said, "THERE IS A MASSIVE DIFFERENCE IN JUDGING A PERSONS SOUL OR SPIRITUAL CONDITION, AND JUDGING SOMEONE'S ACTIONS."

     If the Christians in this world would stand up for the Word of God, instead of cowering away, afraid of "offending" people, we would not have near the problems we face in today's world.  Jesus gave the commandment, referred to as "The Great Commission," which is found in the Book of Mark.

Mark 16:15-18 states, "15 And He (Jesus) said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (NKJV)

     This doesn't mean that you need to go around with a Bible, beating everyone in the head with it.  My strong suggestion to everyone (myself included) is to do a daily (maybe even hourly, if needed) examination of your own heart against Jesus' heart.  I personally find myself daily asking the Lord to forgive me of things, often that I didn't even realize was wrong, or didn't realize I had done it.  Sometimes, it was what I was supposed to do, and didn't.  While the Holy Spirit is a Perfect Gentleman, He will convict you of your sins.  It is then that you should confess your sins, and know that God's Word holds true.  He is Faithful and Just to forgive your sins.

     Then, and ONLY THEN, do you have the right when confronted with sin in society to BOLDLY proclaim the Word of God.  Don't cower away.  If done correctly, Jesus will use it to bring multitudes to Him.

     Don't allow the "HAZMAT" into your life.  And when it tries to enter, clean it out.

A recent skit at my church demonstrates Jesus "washing" us in his Blood.  Representative of Him washing our sins away, leaving us white as snow.  

Have you been washed in His Blood?

Jesus is the Best Friend you could ever have, and He LOVES you so much!


  

    

When "Our" Plans Fail...

     To put it out there and say that this has been a difficult and trying week for me would be a total, complete understatement.  To say that each and every day of this week has been pretty easy going...would be a lie.  To say there have been times this week when I felt like throwing my hands in the air (along with the towel) and giving up and come home...would be right on target.

     I had big plans for this week.  I started my week out on the first day with over 1000 miles...more than I have started out with since I have been with Averitt Express.  So, my plans were to keep on going, hard at it, and if I could average the rest of the week the miles that I normally get, I just might come out with a 1500.00 pay day.

Boy, was I wrong.

     My first stop was Laredo, TX, right on the Mexican border.  I delivered that load somewhere between 7 and 8 PM.  I knew that I still had 6 or so hours left to drive, so I had plenty of time to pick up a load and get to going.  At least, that was my plan...

     I was told that I would have to wait until the next day for something to come out of Mexico.  Didn't really like that, but OK...that would give me time to rest.  I didn't get to go under that load until about 6PM.  I was perturbed. But what I saw on the news calmed me down, and I thanked God that He knew better.  A bus, that was not far from us, on the same route we had taken, not long after we passed by there, crashed and burned, injuring 30 and killing 2.  We must have just missed it, and could have been right back in its path, had we left there when I "planned."

     While there, a ministry opportunity arose, and Danika and I were able to talk to and pray for a security guard whose son needed a miracle.  I prayed for her and gave her a cloth that I had anointed to place under his pillow.

     So, now we are en route to Dallas, TX to deliver some furniture.  We arrived about 1:30 in the morning, and didn't have to deliver until 11.   I didn't get the sleep I would have liked to, because someone was knocking on the door bright and early asking us to move to a different spot, so another driver to get docked.  This company was running an average of an hour behind, so when it was all said and done, we didn't get out of there until about 1:30 PM.  I was told to drive to the Dallas service center, about half hour away to take a random drug test.  My plan was to do this, get a load and hopefully go somewhere like Cincinnati.

Boy, was I wrong.

     After completing the random drug test, instead of finding me something to leave out on then, my dispatcher set my hours to start back the next morning at 0600.  THAT...just didn't sit well with me at all.  But, the only way to get out of there that night was to take what this company calls an LTL load, which is something that travels from one service center to another.  That picks up between 11PM and Midnight, and is at least an 8 hour trip. 

No Thank You.

     So, bright and early the next morning, I arose, anxiously awaiting what I had planned on being a long run.  It was already Thursday, and I didn't have but 1400 miles.  That means that I had only run a little over 400 miles in 3 days.  What kind of payday is that?  We didn't receive the load until about 2PM ish.  Not my plan at all.  AT ALL!!!

     We were both hungry.  Neither of us had eaten anything all day.  She took a nap, and I wasn't planning on stopping for my break for hours.  I was tired of Dallas, and I just really wanted to get out of Texas all together before I stopped.  When she awoke, we discussed what we wanted to eat.  I only take a 30 minute break most days.  I didn't really want to take any longer that day.  We passed by 3 or 4 places before we decided to travel a little further down the road and "sit down" to eat. 

     I was still steaming over my miles for the week.  Did I mention that with what I started out with, I should have between 3500-4000 by weeks end?  We stopped at a Travel Centers of America (or T/A) truck stop to eat.  They have a restaurant called "Country Pride" who has one of the best salad bars I have ever eaten.  And their prices on food is very reasonable.

     There was a man eating kind of caddy cornered to us that talked to us a little.  The Lord spoke to me and told me to share Jesus with him, but he left before we did.  I did share with our waitress, and a cashier from their Taco Bell inside the store.  Danika had to go to the restroom before heading out, and while she did that, I got some more ice in my cup and bought us some drinks for the road.

     While getting checked out, the Lord spoke to me about the truck stop cashier.  I asked her how her relationship with Jesus was.  She hung her head.  She began to tell me that it wasn't all that good, and that she couldn't go to church because she worked on Sundays.  Further more, she said she had never accepted Him as Savior, she thought that being a good person would suffice.  But, when I asked her if she wanted to pray the sinner's prayer right then and there, she did.  Her name was Nya, and all of Heaven was rejoicing.

     When I went to go find Danika so we could leave, I found her talking to man man from the restaurant.  HE DIDN'T LEAVE.  He told me some story about how his company was doing him wrong, You hear that at every stop.  I asked him how his relationship with Jesus was, and he told me it was good, but something in the way he said it told me otherwise.  He let me pray with him for healing for his dad, who had just recently suffered a mild stroke.  He then followed us out to the truck.

     It was then that he poured his heart out.  We stood there talking to him for an hour.  He told me that he didn't know why, but that old pac man video game just drew him to it.  I explained that it was a divine appointment.  His name was Edward.  Please be praying for this man.  He allowed us to pray with him about a few more things, but he is truly hurting inside, along with deeply mourning his late wife.

     All in all, we were there for an hour and 45 minutes.  Even though I had only planned for 30 min, I very quickly tuned into the fact that the Lord had us there for a reason, and I was ready to stay all night, if need be.

     My plans for the week haven't gone the way I wanted at all.  We have waited yet again on Friday, in Nashville, all day long for a load to go home.  After receiving one, while getting on the entrance ramp in front of the service center, I had an option of hitting a car, or the guard rail.  That is about as bad of a place as I have seen.  My back trailer tires hit the guard rail, and not only punctured the tire, but bent the rim in a W shape.  They will count this as an accident for me, and probably take away some of my safety points.  But everyone was safe.  Needless to say, we received yet another load, and one after that that promises not to be home until Saturday night between 10PM and 11 PM.

     I just lost it.  I do pretty good now about letting things roll off my back.  I NEVER complain to my dispatcher.  But, I had had enough.  My mood changed quickly, and my loving wife just kept telling me to stop, go in the sleeper and pray about it.  I didn't do that.  I did pray about it, though.

     I received another load and headed out, with plans to stop halfway to destination for the night and eat.  Keep in mind, my plans were to get a load home, and be home early Friday evening.  We all know now that's not going to happen.  Here's why:

     We stopped at another T/A for the night and to eat.  Another Divine Appointment.  I didn't get her name, but it was a young lady who is a waitress at the Country Pride.  Please keep her in your prayers.  She has, and is going through a great deal.  She assured me that her relationship with Jesus was OK, but she did tell me that through a very bad situation, she had lost her Bible.  "I keep wanting to buy one, but just haven't," she told me.  So I got Danika to pray with her, and much to her surprise, I came back in the store with a bag FULL of Bibles (special thanks...again to Pastor Dan Mattox!), to have her choosing.  She chose one for her, and one for her brother.


Friend, we all make plans, many of which in our life, fail.  The fact remains, if we are not seeking out the Lord, and hiding His Word in our hearts, we will often fail.  Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that He (Jesus) knows the PLANS He has for us.  We just have to seek Him out.

My plans failed this week.  He showed me many times that He had my week all under control.  I saw evidence of that multiple times.  But, at the end of the week, as we all do at times, I blew it.  I had to get on my face before the Lord and ask Him to forgive me.  I never again want to make plans, without first consulting the Father.

Has your "plans" ever failed?  If so, what did you do, or what could you have done differently?  My prayer is that you will seek the Lord each and every day for His plans for you.  From experience, I can promise you this:

You will forever be glad that you did.

Jesus is the BEST Friend you could ever have, and He LOVES you so much!