A Memorable Christmas Party
Last Friday night we were invited to take part in the Silver Lakes Baptist Association Pastors' and Wives' Christmas Party. The party was hosted by FBC Bonners Ferry and held at the pastors home which is about an hour and a half travel from our house. The food was great at this party last year, so we did not want to miss out.
Pastor Dugger lives up on a hill (in Mississippi we would call it a mountain) overlooking the town. So driving to his house takes you just out of town. As we passed through and were just leaving town our daughter let out a sigh from the back seat and said, "baby Jesus".
Jana and I were very much entertained by this and laughed as I sped up the hill into the darkness.
When I turned off the highway I saw what every driver hates to see most. Blue lights. I won't extend this post by telling you everything that went through my mind. Its enough to say that I wasn't sure why I had been pulled over. When the officer walked up the first thing he said was, "Well, I really hate to meet like this." He seemed amused and slightly embarrassed. He was enormously tall and leaned way over to see into our car smiling widely.
"You headed to the pastor's house?" I knew it was a small town, but had news of my visit been posted at headquarters. I preached recently at Bonners Ferry and this guy looked vaguely familiar. It turns out he is the husband of the church secretary and would be joining us later at the party. He recognized me and was very apologetic.
He pulled me over because I was speeding. As we drove out of town on the 4-lane road I assumed the speed picked up beyond the 35 mph it had been in town. Looking back I realize that right when we were laughing at our daughter for saying, "baby Jesus," we passed a giant "35 MPH" sign that would have alerted me to keep it slow. Not far up the road the limit goes up to 40 then 60, but he clocked me before that, of course. Well, he had a job to do and I didn't want to put him in the spot of having to make a tough ethical decision. He gave me the ticket, and I took it without whining.
Later he showed up at the party so I decided to get a snapshot to remember the occasion.
Pastor Dugger lives up on a hill (in Mississippi we would call it a mountain) overlooking the town. So driving to his house takes you just out of town. As we passed through and were just leaving town our daughter let out a sigh from the back seat and said, "baby Jesus".
Jana and I were very much entertained by this and laughed as I sped up the hill into the darkness.
When I turned off the highway I saw what every driver hates to see most. Blue lights. I won't extend this post by telling you everything that went through my mind. Its enough to say that I wasn't sure why I had been pulled over. When the officer walked up the first thing he said was, "Well, I really hate to meet like this." He seemed amused and slightly embarrassed. He was enormously tall and leaned way over to see into our car smiling widely.
"You headed to the pastor's house?" I knew it was a small town, but had news of my visit been posted at headquarters. I preached recently at Bonners Ferry and this guy looked vaguely familiar. It turns out he is the husband of the church secretary and would be joining us later at the party. He recognized me and was very apologetic.
He pulled me over because I was speeding. As we drove out of town on the 4-lane road I assumed the speed picked up beyond the 35 mph it had been in town. Looking back I realize that right when we were laughing at our daughter for saying, "baby Jesus," we passed a giant "35 MPH" sign that would have alerted me to keep it slow. Not far up the road the limit goes up to 40 then 60, but he clocked me before that, of course. Well, he had a job to do and I didn't want to put him in the spot of having to make a tough ethical decision. He gave me the ticket, and I took it without whining.
Later he showed up at the party so I decided to get a snapshot to remember the occasion.
I thought my luck had turned at the party when I won a bottle of shampoo, but then my pastor (who is supposed to be a caring shepherd) made fun of me for having a receding hairline. Thanks a lot Gary.
At least the food was good!
At least the food was good!
Comments
Post a Comment