Jesse, Keeper of Hens, Part 2 -- Jeremy's Story

What I'm about to write about is top secret. Nobody is supposed to know about it. Why disclose such top secret information you might ask? The answer is simple: I think it's funny.

The Proposal
A few days ago I was walking down the hallway on the second floor of dorm M26 at Liberty University when I ran into my friend Jesse Henning (i.e. keeper of hens). You might remember him from a post that Andrew wrote a few days ago. Being done with classes for the day and in the mood for a little relaxing competition I asked him if he was in the mood for being beaten in a friendly game of disc golf. Jesse, not one to turn down a challenge, quickly responded in the affirmative and issuing a similar challenge of his own. We were all ready to head out when we realized that neither one of us had a car. Not to worry, Jesse's roommate Daryl didn't have a problem loaning his car out to us on one condition: Jeremy drives.

Ok, pause here. Although this stipulation of Daryl might seem a little prejudice against Jesse, it was made with good reason. That reason being that Daryl's car has a standard transmission and Jesse had never driven a stick-shift out of a parking lot before.

The Stealing of the Keys
We are now heading down to the parking lot to pick up the car that I'm supposed to drive. As we walk I notice that Jesse hasn't handed me Daryl's keys yet. Figuring that his thoughts were simply elsewhere I just let it go for the moment. Little did I know how wrong I was. Not only was Jesse's mind not wandering, he was actually scheming about ride ahead. As we approached the car we both turned towards that driver's side. Thinking awkwardly that maybe he was going to open the door for me, I kept my mouth shut. As the car drew closer I noticed that Jesse seemed to be walking faster. "Man, he really can't wait to open that door for me... that's weird and more than a little queer," I thought. All of the sudden it dawned on me: Jesse is holding onto the keys because (scary music here) HE WANTS TO DRIVE!!!!!!

The Ride
To be honest I wasn't that nervous when Jesse first climbed into the driver's seat. I mean how bad could it be? It's only a stick. Right? He quickly proved me wrong. The key is put into the ignition, the clutch pushed in, the engine turns over: we're ready to go.

Attempt #1: He puts it in reverse and proceeds to ease off the clutch. The engine shudders uncontrollably and then promptly fails.
Attempt #2-5: The car again shakes like a pre-pubescent boy talking to a girl for the first time (or Andrew whenever he talks to girls). Again the engine cuts short leaving an awkward silence in the car (similar to the result of Andrew talking to girls).

Another pause here. Between Jesse's first and fifth attempts he managed to allow the car to roll dangerously close to the car parked directly in front of us. And when I say "dangerously close" I mean literally 6 inches. Ok, play ball.

Attempt #6: The first five tries failing miserably, I was noticeably doubtful of the success of a sixth try. Jesse, not to be beaten, laughs nervously and says "Wouldn't it be funny if I hit the car in front of us?" (Word to the wise: when in Jesse's shoes NEVER say that to your passenger). And then, with a pealing of rubber (and more than little releasing of my bladder) we were off and in business.

The rest of the ride to and from Peaks View Park consisted of a series of stalls and obscene gestures from the people stuck behind us. At one time I literally called up my mom to tell her how much I loved her and how to divide my possessions up after I had left this world... she didn't pick up. The whole time however Jesse kept shifting and grinding the gears with all the talent of teenage girl. Long story short we made it back to campus in one piece and with only a little smoke coming from the engine.

This story got me to thinking about our life as Christians. How many people are just like Jesse's driving when it comes to making decisions and just living? I think many times we end up making decisions in life without consulting the wisest Being ever, Jesus Christ. We know what we want to do and are determined to do it our way. As noble as these intentions and goals may be, we often haven't the slightest clue of how to go about them, and yet we still push on blindly, grinding the gears as we go. All the while, Jesus is looking on from the passenger seat, waiting for us to realize our weakness and inability to make the right choices on our own. He's just waiting for us to hand the keys over to Him and let Him take control. Jesus should not be our co-pilot. He wants to be, and rightfully should be, the only pilot of our lives. On our own we'll ruin the transmission of our life.

So which seat are you in?

-Jeremy