Breaker Breaker 1-9

When I was a kid, my family would go to Sarasota, Florida, every summer on vacation. My mom's boss owned a house right on the beach ... and I do mean right on the beach. He rented it to his employees for some ridiculously low price like $150 a week, and we would go for two weeks at a time. One year on our way home, our car broke down ... like totally shut down out on the highway in the middle of nowhere. Nothing Daddy tried would get the car to start (it was a bad alternator), and I remember how worried he was that his family was stranded. Back then, there was no such thing as cell phones, so we were at the mercy of whomever decided to stop to help us. As it turned out, a very nice truck driver stopped, took us to a nearby truck stop that had a repair center, called for a tow truck to pick up our car and stayed with us until we were back on the road. It was after that trip that my dad bought a citizen's band radio ... yep, from that day forward, we had a CB in the car.

I had so much fun with that radio when we traveled ... I talked to tons and tons of people while we were out on the open road. For those of you who are old enough to remember CBs, then you'll understand when I say that my handle was Little T. For my young readers, a handle was the nickname a person used when chatting with other folks on the radio. A few years ago, I was feeling nostalgic and decided to buy a CB radio of my own, thinking how much fun it would be to teach my children the joys of "Breaker breaker 1-9" and "What's your handle?" and "Looks like we got us a convoy." You can imagine my disappointment when they were less than excited with the prospect of conversing with people they didn't know as we drove down the highway. In fact, they preferred to play with their Game Boys instead.

When I was packing the car Thursday night, I decided to bring the CB along with me. I believe my children would have one word for me concerning my decision ... lame. And guess what? I brought it anyway, and yesterday I talked to some truck drivers as I drove. And guess what else? It was a blast from the past in a big way. As I got closer to my destination, my mind was flooded with memories ... memories of vacation trips with Mom and Dad, memories of spring break trips with friends, memories of many different trips with my children. And as I thought of the miles of roads I have traveled over the years, I couldn't help but wonder about the miles ahead and what they may bring.

One of the truckers I talked with yesterday asked me if I was a believer ... tears filled my eyes as I replied, "Yes, sir, yes, I am." We then talked for several minutes about Jesus, and I've gotta tell you, friends, it was totally cool ... chatting on a CB with a trucker about Jesus ... way cool. One thing he said has been stuck in my mind, and I think it may have been my lesson for the road yesterday. He said, "All you gotta do is say, 'Breaker breaker 1-9, and God will always have the line open and be ready to talk.'" Profound words of wisdom from a trucker on a CB ... who would have thought God would choose such an odd way to speak to me. But it just goes to prove that He's got lessons waiting for me around every bend and turn on the road of life.

Breaker breaker 1-9 ... this is Little T calling God ... let's talk.