Project With A Purpose

It's been a year and a half since I resigned from Denver First Church of the Nazarene. I was Senior Pastor there for over 15 years. It was demanding enough that it kept this country boy busy.

After 39 years as a pastor it's been a bit of challenge to figure out what to do at times. Sure, I still preach most Sundays and I truly enjoy that privilege, but through the week I've been a bit bored. On occasion I've even teased Jane that I haven't had a purpose.

I've spent some time on Craigslist looking for some old car to restore/rebuild/or hot rod. Last fall I found a 1935 Chevrolet pickup truck that looked like a worthy candidate for my "purpose" but I couldn't get the owner to agree with me on the value of the vehicle.

This weekend I browsed Craigslist again and found a 1935 Ford pickup with a flathead V-8. It's in rough shape, as you can tell, but as of 1:00 p.m. today.....she's all mine.  I think THIS should give me a sense of purpose. I've been subscribing to car magazines for years. I've watched every episode of "Overhaulin'" for the past five years. I've tivoed the Saturday morning car shows for the past six months. I know the hosts by name. Car Crazy and My Classic Car are two more of the "must see" items on my viewing agenda. I've even subscribed to Hot Rod Magazines DVD series on how to restore a car. No more excuses now.

Do you know that via the World Wide Web you can find instructions on how to do anything from rebuilding a flathead to installing hydralic brakes? My problem is that there's usually a break down somewhere between the printed instructions and the end of the wrench I'm using.

You see, I'm an instant gratification kind of a guy. I don't want to spend five years rebuilding this vehicle. I want to drive it to the Show and Shine at Denver First Church on June 13th.....THIS YEAR. I won't make it.

I borrowed a large trailer from the Morans and tomorrow I hit the highway up to Denver to pick up this pickup. I'll bring it home, park it in the drive way while I do the autopsy and, no doubt, worry my neighbors sick. "There goes the neighborhood."