I got to meet Andy Stanley, but this post isn’t really about that. Now if you are a pastor or on staff at a church then I don’t need to explain why meeting Andy Stanley is a big deal. If you are not then know that he is almost every pastor’s ministry hero. In other words we have mad respect for him. As a pastor it would be the equivalent of a 13 year old girl meeting Justin Bieber, a stay at home mom meeting Oprah, a blogger meeting Jon Acuff, a movie buff meeting Steven Spielberg, a taste bud meeting the banana pudding milkshake from Chick-fil-A. Now before I got to meet him I made one of the worst mistakes of my life.
I went with my good friend Chad Johnson (no not the football player) to pick Andy Stanley up from the airport. When we got there we parked in front of the doors right in front of a sign that said “No Parking.” After a few minutes a cop knocked on the window and said, “can you give me one good reason why I should give you a citation for parking here.” My friend explained what we were doing and then assured him that we would be on our way. This is where the drama started to unfold.
Chad said that he was going to go into the airport to wait for Andy Stanley, and he asked me to circle around airport until he got there. Now there are two things that are scary about this…1. I have an awful sense of direction and B. We were driving a HUGE SUV. I drive a Honda Civic and I’m not used to driving such a big vehicle.
So to circle around I had to turn a sharp corner, quickly merge into on coming traffic as the road split, and then quickly merge left as the road split again. Now after circling the airport 5 or 6 times I started to day dream. I started thinking about what I was going to say to Andy Stanley. I had to think about this because I have a history of saying stupid things to people I look up to.
All of the sudden I realized that I didn’t merge to the right. I quickly turned on my signal, hit the breaks, and cut into the splitting lane. I wasn’t going to make a mistake and mess things up. Or was I? I quickly realized that the correction that I made was actually a mistake. I had already merged right and now I was quickly leaving the airport. In fact it kicked me so far out of the airport when I turned the GPS on my phone on it said I had 9 miles until I could get back to the airport. Now to make matters worse traffic was awful. It was jammed! It was right at this point that Chad texted me and said, “he’s here.” Are you joking me?!
I quickly had a panic attack, screamed out “DEAR GOD NO!,” and then took the first exit I saw. At this point I am sweating so bad it’s spewing off my face. I turn the AC up as high as it could go and start looking for a gas station. After whipping into the gas station and asking for HELP I found out that I was on the road that the airport was on. After about 10 minutes I get back to the airport and pull in front of the door. After I park I look at my cell phone to see another text from Chad. It read, “He checked a bag. It’s going to be a while.”
So I ended up not being late to pick up Andy Stanley. I then got to ride in the car with him for about ten minutes. I didn’t say anything dumb and I didn’t have the guts to tell Chad that I almost royally jacked things up.
I think there is probably a sermon illustration in here somewhere. What do you think the moral of the story is?
The moral is at least you didn't have a cup of coffee and a bran muffin stuck in traffic. Now that's panic.
hahaha that is awesome dude…i know your heart was jack hammering…
Don't sweat the small stuff. Stay alert while driving. Sounds like a scene from the Amazing Race!
The moral is clear. Next time let Chad drive around while you go inside. Or maybe it has something to do with how you chose to spell decision in the title to this piece.
pay the $2 it would have cost to park?
then you both could have walked in, gotten a soda, and relaxed before the plane even landed.
The moral of the story is: worrying about perceived problems causes real ones. That being said, I would have done the same thing. 😉
Laughed til I cried. Moral: When you have messed up and cry out to God in that desperate tone, He is always there. The point is instead of cursing or swearing, you cried, "Dear God". As a mom, I could ignore a lot of clamoring cries for my attention, but when a certain desperate tone rang out, I was on it like a momma grizzly bear. Maybe that's an example of God's love.
You should not have any gods before me.
Dear Anonymous, who are you? Are you saying that you are god, or quoting the Bible, or saying that is the moral of the story. Without proper quotation it could come accross as you are an anonymous god.
If this really is the worst decision you have ever made you are a very lucky/blessed/good-decsion-making person.
either that, or they're trying to upstage what Paul said when he spoke to the Athenians in Acts 17.
Scott, it was potentially the worst decision because it didn't just affect me. I was representing a company that I don't work for and representing a friend. In the moment panic set in…plus it was a catchier headline then I met Andy Stanley.
That's funny.
Geoffrey, very true.
Lindsey, I am not sure the cost of parking. It might have been more than that in LA. Plus we didn't think it would be that long. Plus it wasn't up to me. I have a lot of excuses, but I agree with you.
Daniel, I couldn't because I had never met Andy and he was expecting Chad. I don't work for the company so I didn't want to make a bad impression. Oh and thanks for the tip about the title. I don't know what happened there.
Ghaudy, 2 things. A. Thanks for leaving a comment on the blog and not on Facebook. 2. That's a funny comment. Has it happened to you?
Mim, I like how you are thinking.
Park in the parking garage. You go in to pick up Andy Stanley and let Chad drive. That God works it all out! That you gave us another reason to keep reading your blog. Awesome brother in the Lord you are!
Great tale. You could take the application in a thousand directions (get it? directions?). How about something on timing? We always think we've got to hit the marks we set when we set them, but there's this whole other guy running the show.
Great story. As far as a moral goes, hindsight is 20/20. You did a good job keeping your cool, and you did good with the hand that was dealt.
You are an amazing story teller Rob! What was Andy Stanley going to say-you big fat dummy, you've made me late? If he's the man I look up to-he would have shown you grace regardless. You would have told him the story and he would have belly-laughed!
Funny story Rob. I wasn't feeling too bad for you until I realized it was LAX!!!! What a nightmare. That traffic around the airport is crazy.
It was actually John Wayne and it was awful traffic. Plus I didn't have a fat clue where I was.
Melissa, he would have belly-laughed and then said Chad don't ever let this guy anywhere near me.
Meema92, I'm not sure I did a good job in the moment. I was yelling pretty loud. Oh and sweating.
Clay, that's funny. I like the way you think.
Thanks Becky.
Moral–we should be at least this much in awe when we approach God.
Haha, after living in Norfolk and dealing with two tunnels, yes.
Seekingpastor, 2 things…1. What is your real name. I should know this because I read your blog everyday. 2. Dang! That is the moral and will one day end up in a sermon. Dang.
I really did laugh out loud!!! How funny!!! This story will NEVER wear out!