Another Cool God thing…

July 16, 2008 by just-another-minute 2 Comments

Okay, so have you ever had one of those vacations where it ends with a fun/interesting/god thing type of story?  Well here is mine.

The night before we are to leave Colorado to come home, we are driving from Frisco to Dillon (about 2 miles or so) on I-70.  As I am taking the exit ramp to Dillon (still going about 70 mph) I see what appears to be a computer bag – well at least it appeared to be some type of bag.

 

I turned to my wife and say, “I am going to get that bag…”

 

Her response, “What bag?”

 

“The one on the side of the road back there.”

 

“Oh come on… why?  No, lets’ head back to the condo…”

 

To add a bit to the story, and to set the back ground for this adventure, My wife pointed out to me (after I did this) that this particular highway runs right beside Dillon Dam Road, which was closed while we were in Dillon for fear of terrorist – this highway sits less than a quarter of a mile from that road.  It was a big thing in the paper and across the state.  Well, never did I think that this bag could have been anything other than a plain bag with something I “had to see” in it.  I was a kid again… ah the mystery… the possible treasure.  So, I pulled into a parking lot, ran up the embankment, and waited for an opportunity to run out onto the highway to grab this bag.

 

Waiting is the key word.  Cars are flying by at 70-80 mph on a constant basis, but finally there is this slow moving car – thinking about exiting… must be going only about 60 mph… hmmm…well I take this as my opportunity to run out grab the bag, run back and jump over the guardrail in one fast motion.  And, since I am typing this, you know that I made it, so no more drama can be added, but I will say it was intense. And there was a honk at the end right after I jumped over the guardrail.  

 

After hoping over the guardrail, and safely on the side of the road, I look inside and see a very nice Nikon camera.  Wow…I jump into my car, headed back to the condo, and look further.  There is nothing in the bag other than some personal items, the camera, and nothing to ID the person with.

 

What to do… what to do.  Then my daughter points to the hat that has a Christian pin attached to it… then I scroll through the pictures to see a lot of church pictures and a baptism that took place recently, there were also some high school graduation pictures, and finally some pictures of a charity ride.  

 

To shorten the story, I switched to private detective mode, and I tracked down the charity ride organizer, who tried to find the person, called Nikon to find the owner, sent another email to the ride organizer with a picture off of the camera, and we finally found the owner.  He was riding his motorcycle back home from the Frisco to get to church that evening and his saddle bag had popped open… someone pointed it out to him, but it was to late, he thought that the camera was gone for good.

 

I look back at this and think… why did I do that?  Why did I risk my life to grab a bag off the side of the road when I didn’t know what it was or who it belong to?  But, there was no question in my mind that I was going out there to grab it. After opening the bag and seeing what was in it, there was also no question I was going to find the owner.  Everything just kept rolling along.  If I hit a road block, I just kept on trying until I found the owner.

 

Why?  Well… I’m really not sure.  I do know that I have had one of those quiet moments with regard to my relation with God lately.  I can’t hear Him as plainly as I did a month or two ago.  This is a moment in my life right now where I haven’t had the time with Him I should.  I am not sure why that is.  Part of it is related to dealing with things on my own instead of allowing Him to do His thing.  Part of it is related to my wife and her difference as it relates to our faith and me trying to find some middle ground to allow her to feel comfortable, but not lose my focus, growth, and ability to be an example to her and the girls in the mean time.  

 

I will say that, in my mind, getting the camera to the owner was meant to be – but it goes further than that. Maybe this series of events was meant for my wife.   Maybe, in someway, this series of events was a way for me to show her how he works.  I mean there really wasn’t much a chance of finding the owner – yet I did (with His help).  Or, maybe it was an example for my girls to see.  Maybe it was an example for the camera owner during some challenging time in his life.  Maybe it was meant for me.  Whatever the reason, and whoever it was for, I am humbled to know that I was a piece of this series of events.

 

This is the third time in just over a year that I have felt God has used me to help someone else directly and in a unique way – and I think that is pretty cool.  

 

I am humbled once again.

 

Take care.