I think our bus problem is over. After I wrote that previous entry, I got a guy's number from the Bridge that Chris Mishler told me to call. I called this guy, Andy Drummond, and he told me that he works with Best Way Disposal (a garbage company in Anderson) and he has 1 other unit that he's in charge of. Check this out - his unit is in Kalamazoo, Michigan - where is the bus stuck at? Kalamazoo, Michigan. Oh God, how I love your sense of humor. Andy called up there to see if they could do anything and their mechanic just happened to be on vacation. So I get that bad news and start to move forward with something else, when I get another call from Andy Drummond that goes something like this...."Gabe, the manager up there heard what I was calling about. He said he was going to send his guys over and fix it" I had a little hallelujah break down and was dancing...not literally, but I was amazed once again. Can this story can get any better?!? It actually does. The past week and a half or so, I've had some great alone time with God. When you really encounter Him and experience Him the way I have been lately, it's hard not to want to! This whole experience turned from a bad situation into what seems to be a life changing one for me atleast.
Now the ending: I get a phone call this morning, it's Andy. The crankshaft was broken (if you know what that means, I'm proud of you, cuz I don't) and the slack adjustor was not in alignment (I DO know what that means! So I'm proud of myself for that one). Anyway, Best Way up there towed it to their place, fixed everything and I get the call this morning that they are on their way down to Anderson with the bus!!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! I was going to be planning a day where I drive to Michigan to pick it up!!! Wow.
I'm sure this is so much more powerful to me since I'm the one actually experiencing it. I hope I've written this well enough for you to understand and be able to put yourself in the situation to see how everything was out of my hands. If I had control of the situation, how much more stress would be in my life? How angry would I have gotten over things? Instead, when we let go of things we have no control over and just sit back and watch God at work, we are mesmorized by His awesomeness.
It got me thinking back on my life and experiences with God. Can I see His awesomeness? I know that's probably not the right word, but there's no perfect way to describe Him. I feel like if we have never seen God in His glory and to any potential "awesomeness" then I fear that maybe we have missed him, or we may never have really experienced Him. Our eyes are closed too many times to the beauty of God around us.
I used to think the only way I could really encounter God was when I was out in nature, because it was all He created and I could see His hand in everything. I never would have thought in my whole life that my greatest encounter, my greatest vision of God in my life...would be on a bus.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
The Great Bus-capades!!
The ski trip is finally over and I'm home! To say it was an eventful trip, would not be enough to describe what all happened. Everything up to the drive home was pretty normal, good conversations with kids, picking on the kids, everything fun we could do, we did. I had a great time. But then it was time to leave, and since I was the bus driver, I was not looking forward to the drive. I was tired and just wanted to be home. Then a girl tells me she left something - side note - how come no matter how many times you tell kids to check to make sure they have their stuff, they never do it? I have a new appreciation for parents of teenagers after this weekend. I could tell you some ridiculous stories of teenagers just being idiots! Anyway...since this was a girl, I didn't have the heart to say no, so we pulled off since the hotel was on our way home anyway. As we were getting ready to get back onto the interstate, I felt my steering wheel get a little tight. I wasn't sure if the power steering was bad or what, so I stopped to get out and check it. Everything looked ok, so we continued on down the road. As we're going down the interstate I see I-94 but it says toward Chicago, so I didn't think we should get on there. Once I passed it, Joel told me that's where I needed to go, because it split and I would end up heading east. Since the bus was just not feeling right to me, I decided to take it down another exit for some reason where there was a gas station. As I was pulling off the exit ramp, my steering was getting harder to do. Then a buzzer went off saying "no air pressure" - I have air brakes, so that meant "you have no breaks right now". With a bus full of 22 kids, I was praying hard. The light was coming up and I remember praying "God, put your hand in front of this bus and stop this before the intersection." If I could take a picture of where the bus landed, you would believe God heard me. I was 1 foot behind the white line...safe.
At this point, my body is kind of freaking out. I have never driven a bus on a long trip like this before, and the first time I do it, it breaks down. Ok God, what's the lesson? I did everything I knew how to do on that bus and there was no way it was going to work. When I opened the hood and knew it was the air compressor, I remember praying a funny prayer. Is it weird to pray over an air compressor? Not last night it wasn't! But it didn't work. I always hear stories of how God does some crazy awesome things in situations like this. So when the air compressor just wouldn't work, I almost started to laugh thinking "What are you going to do now God?"
A nice lady and her family finally stop to help us and give me the number to a wrecker so I can get it towed. When we finally get that set up with the wrecker, I called the police. There was nothing in sight of the bus that was safe to walk to with the kids, so I needed the cops there to help us stay safe and legal. As I feel like we're getting somewhere with a plan, God begins to work. A man starts walking towards the bus, I get out to greet him jokingly ask, "are you the bus mechanic I was praying God would send me?" Obviously, he wasn't, but he kept asking me questions about who we were, really not much about the bus. He then said something that about got some tears out of this guy. He said, "I go to church right over there. They're having church right now, but there is a youth room that we could put them up in. We also have a bus, I can see if they'll come pick your kids up so they can get out of here safely" Wow.
In the meantime, I had called our bus mechanic from Anderson. He and his wife had already started the 4 hour drive to pick us up on a different bus. The sad part is, we would get home around 3 in the morning. I felt so bad about all of this, but obviously it was all out of my control.
The kids were great in the church. That church's youth was still around, so they were playing games and stuff with them. The church bought everyone pizza and they were just having a great time together. I, on the other hand, was stuck out in the cold with the wrecker waiting on them to send a bigger truck. We made some conversation and I got to know his story a little bit. But I was looking forward to getting home so much more even now.
I got to the church and was greeted by everyone! Everyone was so great to us. After a little while of us being in there, the youth pastor came and asked if we wanted to try and meet the bus that was coming up there which would safe a couple hours. (YES!) So to try to wrap this up, we met our bus and got home around 1 in the morning.
Think God doesn't know what he's doing?
-a girl forgets her stuff, causing me to pull off the interstate (this is when my steering felt funny)
-I miss our exit
-I skip the following exit (not really sure why - now I know why)
-Our bus happens to stop before the white line
-there just HAPPENS to be a church through the trees next to us that we couldn't see
-there just HAPPENS to be church that night
-the guy who helped us (I left this out of the story), should not have been on that road, but he got a call from his son that night and ended up passing us twice (once on the way home, then on the way back)
-His church just happened to have a bus...and the bus driver was at church that night
-They bought us food
-Our bus mechanic and his wife were going to drive 8 hours total just to pick us up
Everything happened exactly how God wanted it to. You can see how all these events just happened to unfold like they did. But it was no coincidence. When the kids left with that church and I was alone before getting on the truck with the wrecker, I had a very real moment/encounter with God. I had a few tears (I was fighting it!), but I saw Him working right in front of my eyes. It was just moment after moment after moment.
I could've reacted different and gotten upset or whatever I was feeling. But in those moments when you're scared cuz you have no options and you don't even know what to do, you can find peace when God says, "Be still and know that I AM GOD". Powerful...last night was powerful, I hope the kids see that. Definitely a memory maker. Sorry this was so long, it was just an incredible time last night.
Now I have to figure out a message. I'm speaking to 5th graders at Libby's school today!
At this point, my body is kind of freaking out. I have never driven a bus on a long trip like this before, and the first time I do it, it breaks down. Ok God, what's the lesson? I did everything I knew how to do on that bus and there was no way it was going to work. When I opened the hood and knew it was the air compressor, I remember praying a funny prayer. Is it weird to pray over an air compressor? Not last night it wasn't! But it didn't work. I always hear stories of how God does some crazy awesome things in situations like this. So when the air compressor just wouldn't work, I almost started to laugh thinking "What are you going to do now God?"
A nice lady and her family finally stop to help us and give me the number to a wrecker so I can get it towed. When we finally get that set up with the wrecker, I called the police. There was nothing in sight of the bus that was safe to walk to with the kids, so I needed the cops there to help us stay safe and legal. As I feel like we're getting somewhere with a plan, God begins to work. A man starts walking towards the bus, I get out to greet him jokingly ask, "are you the bus mechanic I was praying God would send me?" Obviously, he wasn't, but he kept asking me questions about who we were, really not much about the bus. He then said something that about got some tears out of this guy. He said, "I go to church right over there. They're having church right now, but there is a youth room that we could put them up in. We also have a bus, I can see if they'll come pick your kids up so they can get out of here safely" Wow.
In the meantime, I had called our bus mechanic from Anderson. He and his wife had already started the 4 hour drive to pick us up on a different bus. The sad part is, we would get home around 3 in the morning. I felt so bad about all of this, but obviously it was all out of my control.
The kids were great in the church. That church's youth was still around, so they were playing games and stuff with them. The church bought everyone pizza and they were just having a great time together. I, on the other hand, was stuck out in the cold with the wrecker waiting on them to send a bigger truck. We made some conversation and I got to know his story a little bit. But I was looking forward to getting home so much more even now.
I got to the church and was greeted by everyone! Everyone was so great to us. After a little while of us being in there, the youth pastor came and asked if we wanted to try and meet the bus that was coming up there which would safe a couple hours. (YES!) So to try to wrap this up, we met our bus and got home around 1 in the morning.
Think God doesn't know what he's doing?
-a girl forgets her stuff, causing me to pull off the interstate (this is when my steering felt funny)
-I miss our exit
-I skip the following exit (not really sure why - now I know why)
-Our bus happens to stop before the white line
-there just HAPPENS to be a church through the trees next to us that we couldn't see
-there just HAPPENS to be church that night
-the guy who helped us (I left this out of the story), should not have been on that road, but he got a call from his son that night and ended up passing us twice (once on the way home, then on the way back)
-His church just happened to have a bus...and the bus driver was at church that night
-They bought us food
-Our bus mechanic and his wife were going to drive 8 hours total just to pick us up
Everything happened exactly how God wanted it to. You can see how all these events just happened to unfold like they did. But it was no coincidence. When the kids left with that church and I was alone before getting on the truck with the wrecker, I had a very real moment/encounter with God. I had a few tears (I was fighting it!), but I saw Him working right in front of my eyes. It was just moment after moment after moment.
I could've reacted different and gotten upset or whatever I was feeling. But in those moments when you're scared cuz you have no options and you don't even know what to do, you can find peace when God says, "Be still and know that I AM GOD". Powerful...last night was powerful, I hope the kids see that. Definitely a memory maker. Sorry this was so long, it was just an incredible time last night.
Now I have to figure out a message. I'm speaking to 5th graders at Libby's school today!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Winter - how I hate thee
This is Gabe here. Is anyone else sick of winter? I thought after last week's snow storm we would be done with it. But instead, Anderson was under a level 2 emergency this week because of more snow. Most of my family knows, or people close to me, that in the winter I get a little "depressed". Not like I need counseling depressed, just feeling the winter blues. Well, it hit me this week. I was starting to hate it and get irritated by it all. I know during the winter, I have to keep myself extremely busy to avoid these feelings, but I still had them!! I don't get it! I even started planning ahead...like really far ahead. Working on camps for the summer, figuring out every aftershock we have until the end of the school year. Just trying to find things to stay productive and keep busy so I don't think about the cold and the snow. The one part I love about winter though is that I exercise a lot more. I feel like that is my drug, it keeps my spirits up and I feel better about life when I do that. But yesterday, I couldn't fight the feelings. So I sat at home waiting for my small group kids to get to my house and I kept looking at my Bible sitting here on the desk. I thought to myself "what have you learned today?". I know many times when I get with kids, I ask them what they are learning. Most of the time it's a cliche answer "God loves me". Ok, I learned that when I was 3. So how do you KNOW God loves you? How do you feel it? So instead of asking kids this question, I started asking myself that question. How do you know God better today than you did yesterday? Then I began to read and instead of just reading it to read it, what stands out to you? What part of the verses really speaks to you? Here's what I got...
In Matthew 13:34, "Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable"
I love the book of Matthew, I always have. But I never thought about this verse before. It stood out to me yesterday. Why parables? Because it helps us understand. Think about it. When Jesus says He loves you, how do you feel? Does it even sink in? Now when he relates to 100 sheep and 1 goes away, how he looks for that 1 sheep because he cares so much for each sheep. Does that hit you different? Well, it does to me. When I speak to people, I use stories, lots of them. Why? Because then we get it! Then it makes sense!
For instance, I talked sunday to the youth about how valuable we are to God and taking off the mask that we put on to become someone we're not to feel valuable. I could've sat up there for hours just saying "You are valuable" but do they ever get it? Probably not. So I used a story relating to art. A real Van Gogh painting that he painted could cost around $80 million, but I could go to Barnes and Noble and get a poster of one for about $8. What's the difference? The real painting was the one Van Gogh put his time into, he was in front of that canvas creating the art, his thoughts, his brush, his everything goes into that painting. It was a reflection of him. People want the real, genuine painting and it is worth a lot! That's how we are to God. He created each of us and spent His time, His life, His value into us. We are the image of God. So why do we put on masks that cost $8 when behind that mask we are worth $80 million? God puts so much value into us, and when we recognize that value, we'll never want to have our mask on!
That may not be a parable, but it sure makes me feel more valued and loved than just thinking "God loves me". It's broken down for us to understand it. I think that's why Jesus did it, because our minds can't fully comprehend the depths of His love. Challenging, yet encouraging. I hope this encourages someone today - that your life is worth living, that God puts so much value into you.
In Matthew 13:34, "Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable"
I love the book of Matthew, I always have. But I never thought about this verse before. It stood out to me yesterday. Why parables? Because it helps us understand. Think about it. When Jesus says He loves you, how do you feel? Does it even sink in? Now when he relates to 100 sheep and 1 goes away, how he looks for that 1 sheep because he cares so much for each sheep. Does that hit you different? Well, it does to me. When I speak to people, I use stories, lots of them. Why? Because then we get it! Then it makes sense!
For instance, I talked sunday to the youth about how valuable we are to God and taking off the mask that we put on to become someone we're not to feel valuable. I could've sat up there for hours just saying "You are valuable" but do they ever get it? Probably not. So I used a story relating to art. A real Van Gogh painting that he painted could cost around $80 million, but I could go to Barnes and Noble and get a poster of one for about $8. What's the difference? The real painting was the one Van Gogh put his time into, he was in front of that canvas creating the art, his thoughts, his brush, his everything goes into that painting. It was a reflection of him. People want the real, genuine painting and it is worth a lot! That's how we are to God. He created each of us and spent His time, His life, His value into us. We are the image of God. So why do we put on masks that cost $8 when behind that mask we are worth $80 million? God puts so much value into us, and when we recognize that value, we'll never want to have our mask on!
That may not be a parable, but it sure makes me feel more valued and loved than just thinking "God loves me". It's broken down for us to understand it. I think that's why Jesus did it, because our minds can't fully comprehend the depths of His love. Challenging, yet encouraging. I hope this encourages someone today - that your life is worth living, that God puts so much value into you.
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