the high school pastor at my church was over for coffee this morning and he told me a great story. last week, he was having dinner with a group of students, and asked if anyone had anything cool happen to them this week. one kid said, “well, i got a new truck.” brian asked how that happened, and the kid went on to tell this story…

he has to drive past three golf courses every day from home to school. driving past one, a golf ball flew over a fence, from behind him, and hit his rear-view mirror. the little mirror’s glass shattered and flew through his open driver window into the car. he stopped and checked out the car, but nothing else was wrong.

he and his parents took his (old, beater) truck in to a local dealership to have the rear-view mirror replaced. when the dealership started the work, they didn’t want their workers in the truck with the pieces of glass (safety first!), and sent the truck to a local detailer to have it cleaned out first.

a few days later, the teenager and his parents saw his little truck driving around town. they followed the truck, called the dealership — police got involved and an 8 police-car chase ensued. turns out one of the workers at the detailing place, who also happened to be an illegal alien, had been “borrowing” the truck for personal use, and had put a couple-hundred miles on it.

when the parents and teenager went back to the dealership, the owner (of the dealership) asked to meet with them. he said, “what can i do to make this right?” The mom responded (just thinking out loud) that she wasn’t excited about her son driving around town in a truck that had been stolen and resulted in a guy getting arrested for theft. the dealership owner said, “i totally understand; go out back and choose any new [ford] F150 you want.” the kid got a brand-new truck for free. then the dealership owner says to the parents, “what are you driving?” and they tell him they’re driving a 2003 explorer. he says, “well, give me your explorer and go pick a new one.”

so… i’ll be driving past golf courses on a more regular basis in the future. here’s hoping!