Last Saturday morning, I was laying in bed watching cartoons with my dauther Kinsler, and received a phone call from my father in law. He asked me "what's this letter about"? I told him that I didn't know what he was talking about. He then reads it to me, and I am paraphrasing, "Pappa Steve, I have traded you my 4 wheeler for my horse. Use it to be pay back my cattle loan if need be. Thanks for everything, Gunner". I started laughing and said this is a joke. I went to Gunner's room. My other son, Rocky was laying there watching TV. I asked him if Gunner was asleep and he said yes. I then pulled Gun's blanket back and found a note. Again Paraphrasing, "Dad, while on vacation, I had a recurring dream of Angels telling me to go out and spread
the word of God. People need to know. So I have traded my 4 wheeler for my horse, and I am not telling you where I am going because you'll just come get me. I will send money as I make it. Love Gunner".
So, I am laughing at this point, thinking to myself that this is a stupid prank, and he's dead meat. I go outside, no 4 wheeler. It's at the pond, surely it's at the pond. Steve says, his saddle is gone. His bridle and blanket is gone. I don't see his horse. I SEE HIS 4 WHEELER. I freak, run to my truck and my wife is freaking out, is asking what's going on! I throw her the letter and take off. I get down the road a mile or so, and I see horse crap. Pappa Steve says he see's horse crap. He and I were on the phone together this whole time. So it dawns on me that he rode from Steve's to the direction of my house. So I turn around and head back that way.
I call my dad and tell him that Gun is gone. He is a cop, and I'm thinking that he can get word quickly and more efficiently. He tells me that he and a friend went fishing at Wilburton Lake and saw some idiot on the side of the rode on a horse at 5:30 that morning out by Jones Academy. So, I'm off, headed Wilburton way. All I can think about is how dangerous it is for him to be out on the side of the road in the dark. Inattentive drivers kill people all the time. He's 14, riding a horse on the side of highway that isn't lit by any means, in methville USA! Fearing the worst, yet hoping that it's me that gets to kill him, I find him. On the side of the road, at the bottom of the Wilburton side of Gowen Mountain. I don't know exactly my feelings that I was feeling. Anger, despair, relief, anger again.
I pull over to the side of the road with every intention on bouncing his head off the pavement, and he bows up and said I was doing what God wanted me to do and I didn't want to be like Jonah and the whale. I stopped. Dead in my tracks. What do you say to that? I saw the backpack hanging off the saddlehorn, and I said, you better not have a gun. He said, God's with me. His mission. Don't need a gun. At this point I haven't hugged him yet, because I was afraid I would break him in two if my emotions were felt in my hug.
I called my wife to let her know that I found him. She showed up shortly. Let me tell you something. You want to find something funny. You should watch a 5 ft tall girl full of angst and anger walk up on the side of the road to her 5'10'' son. By the time she got to him, I am pretty sure her eyeballs were even with his. He took off to the truck because I am pretty sure he was afraid he was about to get gelded, and she let him know exactly how she felt. I am not going to repeat everything that was said, but you can imagine some of it. She let him know that although she didn't give birth to him, she was his mother, and with that came privileges and worry. She then turned her anger to me. Why wasn't I more upset? I was just laughing. Well, crap, how do you handle that? He's not dead, or high, or with some girl. He is following what he thought God was telling him to do and the worst didn't happen. I could only laugh and think to myself, this is why my beard is prematurely graying.
Like most teenagers, he wasn't thinking about repercussions or the impact on others. Should he have been though? If he felt he was following God's word? I explained to him that God isn't going to ask him to something secretly, like sneaking out in the middle of the night. We had a long talk about evangelism, being a beacon for Christ, and listening to God and what He puts on his heart. We also had a long talk about responsibility and safety, and well just not doing stupid crap.
Kids that I have coached have listened to me talk about leadership, integrity, courage, and heart. I have had those conversations with great kids, and sometimes would think to myself, why can't Gunner be more like so and so, or even myself at the same age. I didn't see any kind of leadership in him. I didn't see the courage that I expected out him. Certainly not the integrity that I would envision inside of my child. In one night he changed my opinion.
You see, he left the house at midnight, ratchet strapped his dog cage to his 4 wheeler, put his dogs (Guiness and Stout) in it, drove his 4 wheeler 7 miles, found his horse in a pasture that is about 120 acres, caught him (took him an hour), saddled him up, tied his dogs to the saddlehorn, and took off down the road. He then found that it wasn't a good idea to have his dogs tied to his horse because they kept getting tangled up. So, he came back home, and put the dogs up. Then took off again. Down the highway, in the middle of the night. Rocky and Kinsler's dog, Lager, followed him. So a kid, a dog, a horse, backpack, and a pocket knife headed down the road. I found him at 8:30am, about 18 miles away from where he caught his horse, and his first words were "I am doing what God said and I don't want to be Jonah and the whale".
I share this story hesitantly because of what people may say or think. Is he crazy? Do you know how many people kill or harm people, or commit suicide because of what they think God says? Is going to both a Catholic and Methodist church every Sunday too much? Can he tell the difference between reality and dreams? I have always taught my children to be independent and independent thinkers, so is that too much, too soon? Then I tell myself, maybe this is a test. A test for him to see what's on his heart and what he's capable of. A test for me to make sure that I believe what I preach to him and Rock. In sharing this story, it leaves us vulnerable to criticism and ridicule. However, what a story of FAITH! Can we not all learn a little about this? To humble ourselves to believe that there is something more than us. Then to act on it. God didn't tell him to hurt anyone, but to go out and spread the message of love. I share this story because I believe that I must. God apparently put it on his heart to start something. I am going to at least have the courage to tell this story of faith.
Needless to say that I am proud of his courage. I am proud of his leadership and heart. He is absolutely full of integrity. He's also grounded
the word of God. People need to know. So I have traded my 4 wheeler for my horse, and I am not telling you where I am going because you'll just come get me. I will send money as I make it. Love Gunner".
So, I am laughing at this point, thinking to myself that this is a stupid prank, and he's dead meat. I go outside, no 4 wheeler. It's at the pond, surely it's at the pond. Steve says, his saddle is gone. His bridle and blanket is gone. I don't see his horse. I SEE HIS 4 WHEELER. I freak, run to my truck and my wife is freaking out, is asking what's going on! I throw her the letter and take off. I get down the road a mile or so, and I see horse crap. Pappa Steve says he see's horse crap. He and I were on the phone together this whole time. So it dawns on me that he rode from Steve's to the direction of my house. So I turn around and head back that way.
I call my dad and tell him that Gun is gone. He is a cop, and I'm thinking that he can get word quickly and more efficiently. He tells me that he and a friend went fishing at Wilburton Lake and saw some idiot on the side of the rode on a horse at 5:30 that morning out by Jones Academy. So, I'm off, headed Wilburton way. All I can think about is how dangerous it is for him to be out on the side of the road in the dark. Inattentive drivers kill people all the time. He's 14, riding a horse on the side of highway that isn't lit by any means, in methville USA! Fearing the worst, yet hoping that it's me that gets to kill him, I find him. On the side of the road, at the bottom of the Wilburton side of Gowen Mountain. I don't know exactly my feelings that I was feeling. Anger, despair, relief, anger again.
I pull over to the side of the road with every intention on bouncing his head off the pavement, and he bows up and said I was doing what God wanted me to do and I didn't want to be like Jonah and the whale. I stopped. Dead in my tracks. What do you say to that? I saw the backpack hanging off the saddlehorn, and I said, you better not have a gun. He said, God's with me. His mission. Don't need a gun. At this point I haven't hugged him yet, because I was afraid I would break him in two if my emotions were felt in my hug.
I called my wife to let her know that I found him. She showed up shortly. Let me tell you something. You want to find something funny. You should watch a 5 ft tall girl full of angst and anger walk up on the side of the road to her 5'10'' son. By the time she got to him, I am pretty sure her eyeballs were even with his. He took off to the truck because I am pretty sure he was afraid he was about to get gelded, and she let him know exactly how she felt. I am not going to repeat everything that was said, but you can imagine some of it. She let him know that although she didn't give birth to him, she was his mother, and with that came privileges and worry. She then turned her anger to me. Why wasn't I more upset? I was just laughing. Well, crap, how do you handle that? He's not dead, or high, or with some girl. He is following what he thought God was telling him to do and the worst didn't happen. I could only laugh and think to myself, this is why my beard is prematurely graying.
Like most teenagers, he wasn't thinking about repercussions or the impact on others. Should he have been though? If he felt he was following God's word? I explained to him that God isn't going to ask him to something secretly, like sneaking out in the middle of the night. We had a long talk about evangelism, being a beacon for Christ, and listening to God and what He puts on his heart. We also had a long talk about responsibility and safety, and well just not doing stupid crap.
Kids that I have coached have listened to me talk about leadership, integrity, courage, and heart. I have had those conversations with great kids, and sometimes would think to myself, why can't Gunner be more like so and so, or even myself at the same age. I didn't see any kind of leadership in him. I didn't see the courage that I expected out him. Certainly not the integrity that I would envision inside of my child. In one night he changed my opinion.
You see, he left the house at midnight, ratchet strapped his dog cage to his 4 wheeler, put his dogs (Guiness and Stout) in it, drove his 4 wheeler 7 miles, found his horse in a pasture that is about 120 acres, caught him (took him an hour), saddled him up, tied his dogs to the saddlehorn, and took off down the road. He then found that it wasn't a good idea to have his dogs tied to his horse because they kept getting tangled up. So, he came back home, and put the dogs up. Then took off again. Down the highway, in the middle of the night. Rocky and Kinsler's dog, Lager, followed him. So a kid, a dog, a horse, backpack, and a pocket knife headed down the road. I found him at 8:30am, about 18 miles away from where he caught his horse, and his first words were "I am doing what God said and I don't want to be Jonah and the whale".
I share this story hesitantly because of what people may say or think. Is he crazy? Do you know how many people kill or harm people, or commit suicide because of what they think God says? Is going to both a Catholic and Methodist church every Sunday too much? Can he tell the difference between reality and dreams? I have always taught my children to be independent and independent thinkers, so is that too much, too soon? Then I tell myself, maybe this is a test. A test for him to see what's on his heart and what he's capable of. A test for me to make sure that I believe what I preach to him and Rock. In sharing this story, it leaves us vulnerable to criticism and ridicule. However, what a story of FAITH! Can we not all learn a little about this? To humble ourselves to believe that there is something more than us. Then to act on it. God didn't tell him to hurt anyone, but to go out and spread the message of love. I share this story because I believe that I must. God apparently put it on his heart to start something. I am going to at least have the courage to tell this story of faith.
Needless to say that I am proud of his courage. I am proud of his leadership and heart. He is absolutely full of integrity. He's also grounded
