Pastor's Perspective - Pop Quiz Hotshot!

Pop Quiz Hotshot! Those words represent what I believe the Lord was conveying to me early Saturday morning in a dark quiet parking lot in South San Francisco. Better elaborate, huh?

Friday night we drove our minivan filled with dear church friends down to Mountain View to watch our creative arts director Jeramy Sossaman (‘Special Soss’) play a solo set of his new music at a packed coffee house. Several from FCC had made the long drive down to support ‘J’ and enjoy some kid-free connection with other adults (what a concept!). After Jeramy’s great solo set, followed by another set with his band East of Western, we piled into our Honda Odyssey for the trip home. As I drove an indicator told me that a tire was rapidly going flat. We stopped several times to put air in it, but it was losing everything I pumped in. The tire was very hot to the touch. We were far from home. This couldn’t be happening. This would be a marathon night.

Several months ago when we purchased the van, Mr. Non-Mechanical (me) didn’t stop to ask the salesperson about the tires. There were four and that was cool with me! The ones that came with it were the special ‘run flat’ type that literally do not go flat like conventional tires. Instead, because they have a rigid structure within the tire, you can literally drive for miles (to a repair station) without having to pull over and change the tire the old skool way. Because of this technology, no spares are provided in the vehicle. By the way, did I mention that this “convenience” comes with a price tag – approximately $400 per tire! Back to the story.

I pulled over into a hotel parking lot, cautious to drive the van any longer. Thankfully, my wife and ladies with us maintained very sunny dispositions despite the ultra-late hour and unanticipated scenario in which they found themselves. There we were. Van full of ladies. Well over an hour from home and families. No spare. Late hour. Tire technology I’m totally unfamiliar with. No money for a replacement. Tired. Hungry. Borderline agitated. No helpful roadside assistance available. Trying to be the strong and calm alpha male, when inside I don’t know what to do next. Reality.

Imagine the joy of calling Jeramy and asking him to please turn around and make the long drive back to pick us up. It’s a true friend who would and did! In the meantime, I jacked up the van and removed the tire. Nothing to do now but wait. Maybe Jeramy’s spare tire would somehow fit. A long shot at best. In the meantime the girls walked over to a hotel to kill some time. I stayed behind with the van. In my solitude I began thinking. What if the spare didn’t fit? Will a conventional tire work in this special tire system? If not, what will I do? How will I pay for it? This will blow the Christmas budget completely. How will I get it to a dealership? Driving it any more will cause even more extensive damage. Cha-ching! Then, that ‘Pop Quiz Hotshot’ moment came.

Alone, as I looked down at the tire in the darkness, an impression of comments and questions flooded over me. “Steve, it’s a only a tire! I’ve led you through heartaches and even cancer; and you’re tempted to fret over a piece of rubber? I love you. I’m watching this. I’ve got this. I’ve given you a voice for my people. How can you lead my people, if you’re tempted to become angry over a tire? I’ve brought you 3,000 miles from what was familiar to what was unfamiliar, and I’ve met every need you have. Son, don’t worry about the money. It’s my money. I’ll take care of you. With what I’m about to do in the church I’ve led you to, you’ll be writing much bigger checks than this. And look at the friends I’ve given you, who love you and encourage you. As a matter of fact, one is driving to help you right now. You’ve been through tougher. I’m aware of this. I’m your wisdom. I’m your answer. Just trust me.”

Guys, I literally had a praise service for an audience of One at three in the morning in an unfamiliar parking lot in a totally unfamiliar town, facing an unfamiliar situation. I lifted my heart and hands and just began thanking Him for His immeasurable faithfulness and assurance. I’m glad it was the middle of the night, because people would have called security on me! Suddenly, everything changed. The situation was the same; no AAA angels swooped down with a new tire –but, something real had shifted in me. In my little trial, my Father reminded me how BIG and dependable He really is!

How did it all end up? Jeramy’s spare didn’t fit. He drove us all back home, and we laughed the whole way. He took me back to the van Saturday after a few hours of sleep, where I drove it the longest seven miles of my life to a dealership. The tire couldn’t be repaired and had to be replaced. I spent all day in a service department in the booming metropolis of Colma! Then, at the end of an endless day, to add insult to injury, got stuck in heavy San Francisco traffic. Readers, it was a great and glorious day! I wouldn’t change a thing. It began as an unanticipated late-night trial and ended-up being yet another testimony in my life’s testimony – a fragile little letter about His glory.

Pastor's Perspective - Even the President!

Last Tuesday, Election Day, was a day filled with ups and downs.

It started with an up as I did my civic duty and voted. Someone once said, “Wanna feel powerful? Vote!” I left my precinct polling center pleased and satisfied and yes, even powerful, that I had voted my values and had played my part.

Down came later when my pick for the presidency lost, as did one of the important propositions I hoped would pass.

An up came when an important proposition passed later in the evening.

A predictable down came as the candidate I liked conceded the election.

However, the day ended with an up. Let me tell you about it.

Throughout the day my wife Michelle, a homeschooling mom, had been teaching and exposing our four youngest children to the voting process in the United States. She took them to the polling center where they witnessed their mother vote. Next they came to our church building (a high-volume polling site) and helped provide coffee, cookies and free Bibles to those in the community. With others in their homeschooling ministry here at First Christian (LIFE), they conducted a mock election, in which John McCain won. The lone descending vote came from 2-year-old Tavian Cross who voted for “Badack Odama”! Later at home the children, armed with red and blue crayons, watched the national news and colored in states accordingly.

My highest ‘up’ of the day came watching my three beautiful biracial children watching the new president elect’s victory speech. Likewise, when the Obama children walked down the platform with their parents, my children’s faces lit up. Here was a man and his family who actually looked like them. They saw themselves in his face. They saw themselves in the hand-holding bounce of their contemporaries. Honestly, until Tuesday, none of the forty-three portraits of former presidents in their textbook shared similarities; but now, the highest office in the land had familiarity for them, and yes, even attainability.

As we watched on, Michelle and I tried feebly to understand the magnitude of what we were witnessing, manifested in the many tear-filled eyes of African Americans in attendance. Our intellect helped us relate, but only in part. Although we wanted to ascend to their heights of elation, we were mere party crashers. They alone understood the toil; they alone knew the triumph.

At the end of the day, my guy lost. As a person of faith, I’m praying for our great country and for Barack Obama and his family. His success is all of our success. Simply put, I’m sincerely grateful to live in a place where such immense power can be shifted so peacefully. Lastly, I’m thankful to live in a land where at the high and regrettable cost of a sad chapter in our national history, I can now say to my children without reservation, “If you work hard enough, you can be anything you want to be – even the president!”