October 14, 2023 - SUV II

     It has been a long week or short week depending on how you look at it.  As we prepare to head to Rochester there have been lots of things to do.   In the next few days I will try to give you insight into the surgery on Tuesday.
As I look back on the week, it was good to be back in the pulpit last Sunday and I am looking forward to tomorrow.   I said to Teresa on the way to church last week that I was getting back on the horse, but I hoped I wouldn’t fall out of the saddle!
     Several folks have asked.  If you haven’t heard, I bought the Yukon.  Here is how it happened.
     Last Friday I went back to the car lot.  I think some of you would have been proud of me in a good way of being proud. 
     In a similar way that the Prodigal Son rehearsed his speech on his way back to see his father, I rehearsed what I had decided to say to Tom.
     I walked into his office and said, “Tom, you already mean more to me than any car I could ever purchase from you.  In five or six years this car will be old.  But I plan on living with you for eternity.  I will be good with whatever the price is on the Yukon.”
     He looked at what he had in the car and what it would cost to fix a couple of things.  Then he set the price with no negotiation on my part. 
     I must admit that this was far and away the most peaceful car purchase of my life.
     When I went to pick up the car on Wednesday, Tom had fixed a couple of things that we had discussed and he gave me the “on the road” cost.  I didn’t feel comfortable with that, knowing some of the cost of the cosmetic repairs.  I added an additional couple of hundred dollars.   Obviously that was a first for me when purchasing a car!
     One of the blessings of being a believer is being a part of the family of God.  Paul writes in the great eighth chapter of Romans that our spirits bear witness with one another that we are children of God.  I have known that reality with Tom.
     In just a bit more than a week I purchased an SUV, but far more than that, I have gained a friend and a brother whom I have grown to love deeply.
     As we sat in his office on Wednesday, Tom shared with me more about his cancer.  Hanging on the back of a small shelf on his desk are tags from several years of him riding his bike to help others fight cancer, long before he was diagnosed.
     Eating is a challenge for him and likely will be the rest of his life.  As he shared with me some of the struggles, I discovered something on which he and I relate.  Tom loves Reese’s cups.
     Tom said that it has been difficult to eat regular Reese’s cups for some reason, but the “seasonal” Reese’s cups he can more than tolerate. 
     Yesterday I stopped by the car lot to see him because there was something that I had to give to him.  I framed the reason for me stopping by asking him a question about the Yukon.
     Then I pulled from the front seat a 36-count box of Reese’s pumpkins.  He was stunned.  And blessed.  And so was I.  It is more blessed to give than to receive.
     I am not one who has any interest in telling or knowing the future.  But I have a feeling that a box of Reese’s trees might be an appropriate Christmas present for a dear friend and brother. 
     Cancer, faith, and Reese’s cups.  Any one of those would have tied me to Tom.  Three strands together tie the relationship even more strongly.
     Lord, thank you for bringing others into my life who bless me so unexpectedly.  When the Yukon on the lot caught my eye, You had far more in mind than me finding a car that I needed.  Mere coincidence?  I am thankful that You are involved in my life.