Summer is officially here. Mitchell has already approached First National Bank of Dad twice today. I have good summertime memories. I got my driver’s license right after Memorial Day weekend in 1978. My mother had a 1976 Oldsmobile Regency 98. It was a boat… During my first night out with the car by myself I took it up on Loop 289 in Lubbock to accomplish a major driving objective. I would even call that experience a rite of passage…The objective? I needed to see, in precise terms of course, just how fast that Oldsmobile would go. It was actually a pretty hot car. Thankfully none of Lubbock’s finest enforcers of traffic laws ran across me that June night.

My friend Jake (not his real name) and I would often go play tennis after work that same summer. Cruising around the Sonic on 34th street was a necessity after a few sets of tennis. We were certain that there were members of the female gender just waiting for us to pull in at the Sonic, and sweep them off their feet. I think female feet were pretty safe at that particular Sonic during the summer of 1978. One evening when Jake picked me up, he told me that his dad had been arrested the night before. I was shocked! I did not perceive his dad to be the criminal type. He was accused and later convicted of sexually assaulting Jake’s younger sister. I did not know what to say to Jake. I felt awkward. I learned that the world is a dark place in the summer of 1978.

By the time the summer of 1979 rolled around, I had my own car. My mother’s Oldsmobile was back in the safe arms of its rightful owner. I ran around with quite a group of friends. We were mischievous, to say the least. When we were bored, we would ride around in Scott’s 1971 Pinto Station Wagon, and spray unsuspecting motorists who had their windows rolled down at the stop light with water from a pressurized sprayer that I would operate from the back seat. It was great fun. I experienced first love that summer of 1979. I will not mention her name to protect the guilty, but I think most will concur that first love changes you forever. Occasionally I will hear a certain song from the Commodores that brings a flood of memories back. I learned that relationships are complicated in the summer of 1979.

I had my future mapped out in the summer of 1980. I graduated from high school early that year. It was not because I was the brightest bulb on the strand at Monterey High School either. My debate partner and I were removed from the team for disciplinary reasons in the fall of 1979. The principal urged me to go on and finish after the second quarter in February. I made plans to attend Texas Tech in the fall. I was going to do the following: major in marketing, make a gross amount of money, and remain single all of my life. I had no desire to be married or to be strapped down with the responsibility of children. I would share my stacks of money with no one. I really should not repeat all of the things we did during that fateful summer. I learned how to be arrogant and foolish in the summer of 1980.

Summertime is fun…I have wonderful memories of the people I spent so many hours with. I am grateful to say that most of the friends during that period of my life are still friends today. Scott is an engineer for NASA in Houston. Paula teaches taught 4th graders. Marty (the debate partner) is a broker. Elizabeth manages a Mercedes dealership. Lisa is raising her triplets and teaching too. I have lost track of Jake…

And, I am a minister. My friends still chuckle at the very idea of John speaking to a church every Sunday! I think of Jake when the police department calls me out to assist a victim of sexual assault. And I can’t help but laugh to myself when I am with an officer who tickets some unsuspecting 16 year old trying out his parent’s car. In ministry, I see lots complicated relationships and young people who are still in the arrogant stage. I still have a lot to learn during this summer of 2009. I wonder where my car might be right now. My 17 year old said something about playing tennis and I think I heard the word “Sonic” mumbled under his breath…You don’t suppose…