Titus 2:2
King James Version (KJV)
2 The aged men [are to] be
sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.
Seventy-five years have gone by since I was ripped out of my
mother’s womb. In my youth my parents had a lot to be proud of and a lot to be
disappointed over. I have pushed the limits in most things that came my way. In
some directions, pushing the limits has been both exciting and rewarding. At
other times it has been embarrassing and even on occasion expensive.
I purchased a Ford F150 4x4 pickup that I don’t need on a
daily basis in my line of work. It averages 12 miles per gallon of gasoline,
which makes it the most expensive vehicle I’ve ever owned.
It has taken me through hundreds of miles of raw desert,
both beautiful and ugly. It has brought home a trailer load of my daughter’s
belongings from Kansas down a thousand miles of glare ice and falling snow.
Numerous times it has taken me across the Rocky Mountains on sand, dirt, and
rocky trails sometimes barely visible. I have confidently challenged roads and
trails from Key West, Florida, to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. It uncomplainingly sports
thousands of scratches running from the front grill to the tail gate from
desert thorn bushes crowding the tracks.
Sylvia, my faithful life partner, loves adventure as much as
I and has supported and accompanied me in our varied experiences. We installed
a cap over the pickup bed, and on long trips we put a mattress back there. This
allows us to sleep almost anywhere we can find a spot to pull over, including
Walmart parking lots. We have slept—or sometimes tried to sleep—in our F-150
during fierce, tornado-alley rainstorms, desert heat, and mountain frost and
have actually done very well for ourselves.
In many ways our experience with the F-150 parallels what
God has put up with in my life. He has supported me through near death from West
Nile Virus and on Los Angeles freeways. He has rejoiced with me in celebrations
like children’s weddings and graduations and commiserated with me through loss of
many friends and the death of my parents. Like the Ford, He has given us of the
beauties and bounties of life and walked with us during poverty, scarcity, and
sickness.
Lord, as old age
embraces us ever more firmly, continue to support us, and renew our faith,
love, and patience.
#CALIFORNIA, #IE, #FORD, #F-150, #WALMART, #WESTNILEVIRUS, #LOSANGELES,
#FREEWAY, #RAINSTORM, #BLACKICE, #TOWING, #SCRATCH, #OFFROAD, #OLDMAN, #WIFE, #INSOMNIA,
#ROCKYMOUNTAINS, #CAMPER, #DEATH
