Motorcycle?

How God Gave Me a Motorcycle.

In 2000 my wife, Marcy, was running and winning 5 and 10K races. She was room mother and brownie troop leader for our daughter and soccer mom for our son. In August of 2000, she was diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. This is a motor neuron disease which doctors say is always fatal.

October of 2000 Marcy had to resign her executive director position at Happy Tales Humane - the no kill animal shelter she started here in Franklin. She stopped walking Thanksgiving of 2001, had to get a feeding tube to eat September of 2002, and since March of 2003 has been quadriplegic and on a ventilator at home. As Marcy’s caregiving took more and more of my time, I had to leave the advertising agency I helped start. Caring for Marcy is now my job 24/7/365.

It’s been more than 30 years, but I used to own a motorcycle – a Triumph 650 Tiger. I remember the exhilarating feeling of freedom I had on my bike.

My new bug for a motorcycle started Summer of 2007 when our friends Garland and Gretel came to pray for us. They come almost every week, but that night Garland met Gretel at our house and he rode the Honda 1100 he had just bought from our Pastor.

I didn’t know either of them rode but Garland told me there is a whole group of church members who ride. Anyway, my friend let me ride his bike and I was bit. He told me what he paid for the motorcycle and I had no idea such a nice bike could be bought for that price.

Things as they are here financially, I wouldn’t have given a motorcycle a second thought, but we had just sent out a request for funds for a new treatment for Marcy and were blessed to receive pledges for $11,100 towards that treatment. The maximum anticipated cost of the treatment was $10,000.

So I figured I could buy a motorcycle for the “extra” $1,100 and happily started looking in that price range. But then I had second thoughts - is this the right thing to do with this money? I decided to ask God.

While praying, I was reminded that we hadn’t tithed on the $11,100 pledged. I really wanted a motorcycle, had lots of things that needed money, but that day I wrote a check for $1,100 and sent it to the church, planting a seed for approval for Marcy’s treatment, collection of the rest of the funds, and, if possible, a motorcycle for me.

After the check was in the mail, the next day in prayer, God reminded me of my cash drawer. Since 2003 we have lived off the love of others. Sometimes people send us cash in the mail anonymously. At the time, some of those donations I just put in a drawer in my dresser to keep from having it out on a counter while I waited for the opportunity to go to the bank. I did this from time to time and kept forgetting to take it to the bank – we were blessed with enough other help that I didn’t have to remember it.

So I counted the money in the cash drawer after God’s reminder. You may not believe it, but there was $1,100 in that drawer!

I took that as God’s sign that I can spend $1,100 on a motorcycle. I found a good deal on an old bike, offering $1,100 for an advertised $2,200 bike. He took my offer.

So now I get to ride sometimes. Even if it is only a trip to the grocery store that is less than 2 miles from our house, it is like a vacation for me. I travel out of my daily routine and maybe even back in time.

And every time I ride, look at, or think about my motorcycle, it is yet another reminder of God's grace and mercy.

And the motorcycle is a reminder that tithing is not for God – He already has everything. Tithing is for me – for my spiritual and physical well being.