According to the info center on Theresa’s Mustang, I had driven 5815 miles
in just over 85 hours of seat time. A call had come in that I was needed back
in Jersey, so five days later I was there, two days to settle business, then six
home. Now I have done cross country rides on two wheels almost 20 times, but
this was my first car run since 1975 by myself, and all of it on the
Interstates, which I usually avoid. Set the cruise at 80, point and steer, and
enjoy the scenery. Which isn’t much in winter, black trees, brown fields, grey
skies, and piles of left over snow mixed with grit and dirt. Days of temps in
the thirties, with some days not hitting 40, but I sat comfortable in heated
comfort, many times with whatever the radio could pick up for company. From so
many religious programs, amazing how the gospel can be turned around and
perverted to suit someone’s sin, numerous shows about the end of the world and
invasions of aliens, and an amazing amount of bad country music. Is there no
end to how bad music can be? But fortunately I was rescued occasionally by an
oldies station, not the preprogrammed Classic rock, but oldies, AM from the
50-60’s. And after 85 hours, I was ready for home, and of all things a
motorcycle ride....
But traveling the freeways of America, you are among the Interstate
cowboys, truckers. With a road courtesy all their own, and once you follow it,
you are welcomed to drive with them. To other travelers, just a slow truck in
the fast lane, with one sign on a trailer reminding us, “if you don’t like
trucks, quit buying things.” That about says it all. But stopping at rest
stops, and seeing them catch a few hours of sleep, waiting for their number to
be called at truck stops for a shower, and following their driving, a new
respect has been earned of them by me. These Interstate cowboys truly live on
the freeways of America, keeping the goods flowing, trying to gain speed to make
the next hill, trying to make it home for a few hours with family and loved
ones, and with low pay, high fuel costs, and little time with family. A lonely
life, and after 85 hours of driving among them, I was lonely too....
While I got to travel, Theresa was home for 13 days taking care of
business, and doing a great job of it. But we missed each other terribly, for
as the scripture tells us, the two of us have become one. We knew the trip was
something I had to do, but still separation does not always make the heart grow
fonder, it can also make it lonely. In marriage, God has provided us for the
way to overcome that loneliness, that via the commitment we make before man and
to him, we have become one. When one hurts, we both hurt, when one rejoices, we
both rejoice. But strangely enough, when one is down, the other isn’t. God has
created something in our marriage with him in the center of it, where we can be
independent on each other, but dependent on him at the same time. And here
Jesus also tells us that we are to love our wife as our selves, and that she
will respect her husband. This is only accomplished with Jesus in the center of
your marriage, as without him in it, you may have a good marriage, but never see
all the blessings God has for you both. Blessings that are passed down to other
family members, and a testimony of Jesus Christ in a life. Only in Christ can
we be all of the individual we can be, but in our marriages we can have all the
spouse we ever need. Till death do us part, as the vows say.....
Much can be said about the Proverbs 31 wife, and has, but how many can brag
on a Matthew 25 wife? One whose heart is sold out to Jesus, who trusts her
husband to minister as he is shown, maybe bring home a homeless man, spend money
feeding someone with money set aside for a special dinner, or visit someone
sick? And in this case, give up her car and her husband for two weeks, with
memories of my open heart surgery and having to go it alone. Except for Jesus,
marriage, my marriage will never work. But for 41 years, God has been faithful,
with nothing being able to come between us, except the love of Christ. Husbands
don’t wait to be respected, start loving her today......
I travel different by myself, eating places and taking roads that I
wouldn’t when she is with me. I have learned my life is not about me, but about
us, and the Jesus that binds us together. So keep your wife or husband in
prayer, take every opportunity to show love and respect, and by doing so keep
the great commandment, to love God first, then your neighbor as yourself. I was
never lonely on the road knowing what I had waiting for me at home, maybe that
is what keeps a trucker trucking, those moments with family that have become
more precious in his absence. They too are sacrificing something to make our
world go around, so keep them in prayer. Cowboys like bikers will always have a
sense of freedom that those who don’t have or understand, so do the truckers.
Give them a lane, flash them when the lane is open, let them ahead of you in
line, and become a part of America in doing so. That unseen person in the cab
has a family too, and a thanks to them for reminding me all I had waiting for me
at home. Show respect and courtesy to get them back, you don’t have to leave
Kansas as Dorothy did to know there is no place like home.
And of course the first thing Theresa wanted to do, go for a motorcycle
ride.....proving that the two truly do become one. Only in Christ.
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot.com