Aaron watched everything. It wasn’t adrenaline. It was something else. Just like the thoughts he and Emma were thinking and just like the dream the guys had dreamt, something was happening and it all started at the moment of Jack’s death. God was doing something through them. Something big was going on here and they were being prepared for a time such as this.
Convert and Aaron walked over to the truck that had caused the accident. It was a brand new model that had to have been worth at least fifty thousand dollars. Convert looked down and saw that dealer plates were still on the vehicle. They made their way to the front door, which was wide open, and looked inside. No one was there. They looked around to see where the driver was and saw no one who looked like they were also in an accident.
“Has anybody seen the driver of the truck?” Aaron asked.
No one knew who had drove it and no one had seen who had climbed out. Convert looked back in the vehicle to see if anything had been left behind. There was only one thing in there, but that one thing made Convert feel very uneasy. He wasn’t sure why it made him uneasy until he remembered a conversation he had had with a couple of teenagers in his driveway. He suddenly remembered how they were dressed and everything came back to him. Inside of the truck was a zip-up, black, hooded sweatshirt that looked just like the ones they had been wearing. Convert looked around again and didn’t see anyone he recognized. This could be a coincidence, he thought. With everything going on as it was recently, though, he wasn’t sure anything was a coincidence anymore.
Halftime
A Break In The Clouds
On Tuesday morning at 11:00 a.m., the friends and family of Jack McKenzie gathered around his casket to say their final goodbyes before he was laid to rest in Oak Tree cemetery, which was just a few miles north of Galesburg. The funeral had been held at his church just an hour earlier and his visitation was the night before that. Marie and Convert were touched by the amazing outpouring of love and support that they received from the Galesburg community. Jack had touched the lives of so many people and these very people made sure to tell Marie how much they loved him and what he did for them in their lives.
The receiving line at the visitation had lasted almost three and a half hours, but Marie stood strong and greeted everyone with the appreciation they deserved. She was brought to tears many times, but she always held her composure. Convert had been pondering the acts of strength he had been having recently, but he knew it couldn’t match to the internal strength of Marie.
To Aaron’s humble honor, he had been asked to officiate Jack’s funeral. He had the closest relationship to Jack out of all the other pastors in town. Just as Jack would have wanted, he made sure to emphasize Jesus as the most important part of Jack’s life. Marie was very proud of him, as was Convert. Emma sang Amazing Grace at the close of the funeral and it sounded as beautiful as she was. Convert could see the interest that Aaron had in her and made a mental note to ask him about it since he could easily tell that she was interested in Aaron too. It would be fun to see Aaron’s reaction.
Now all that was left was to say their final goodbye. Convert stood silently and stared at the casket. He couldn’t believe the man he considered his father was inside it waiting to be placed in the ground. Marie walked up and put her hand on the smooth oak finish and without talking she stared sweetly at Convert. As if they had spoken telepathically, Convert walked up beside up her, put his arm around her shoulder, and laid his hand on the coffin too. They stood there silently for a few seconds and then walked away together. After them, some others came up as well, including Emma. All of them reached out and placed their hands on the coffin. It seemed as if there was some unspoken thing going on with Jack’s church members as they were the ones who were doing this.
After everyone paid their final respects, Aaron prayed and dismissed everyone to a lunch prepared for them back at Jack’s church. There may have been food ready, but Aaron had no appetite. The finality of saying goodbye to Jack hit him harder than he thought.
People started to get in their cars and drive away. Emma saw Aaron still standing there and walked over to him. “The service was wonderful,” Emma said as she gently placed a hand on his back. “It was exactly what Jack would have wanted.”
Aaron turned around surprised by her touch. “Thanks. It was the least I could do. He did so much for me. Your song was beautiful too. I could have listened to that all over again.”
Emma turned shy from his compliment. “Thanks. I was really nervous.”
“I didn’t think Supergirl got nervous,” Aaron said with a grin.
Emma smiled back. “I’m not Supergirl, though, I’m Lois Lane remember?”
“Oh, that’s right. Lois is the one that looks for Superman. How’s that search going?”
“I’ve got a few leads,” she said with a grin of her own.
At that moment, Convert approached both of them. He could see the smiles on their faces and he definitely knew he would be having a conversation with Aaron about it later.
“Are you ready to go back to the church, Aaron?” Convert asked. “I was wondering if you wanted to ride back with me? I drove my own truck here because it gets me carsick when I ride in the back of other cars.”
“Sure, that’s fine with me,” Aaron said. “I guess I’ll see you back at church then, Emma.”
“No problem,” she replied. “I’m going to ride with Marie so I’ll see you there. Thanks again.”
Emma moved forward and gave Aaron a hug. As they were hugging, Aaron looked up and saw Convert grinning at him. Aaron couldn’t hide his own smile. He knew Convert would be asking about this later.
Everyone made their way to their vehicles and began to drive away. Before they got into the truck, Convert and Aaron gave one last look at Jack’s casket. To say they were going through a flurry of emotion was an understatement. “Goodbye, Jack,” Convert said. “I’m not gonna’ stop.” They both closed their doors and Convert pulled the truck out on to the highway to head back to the church.
Aaron looked out of the window of the passenger side of the truck as they made their way back to town. There was a lot to think about and never enough time think about it. The corn that lined both sides of the road blurred by as it always did during harvest time. Pretty soon it would all be gone and the winter would follow. That was always the downside to autumn. The scents, colors, and comfortable temperatures gave way to cold, snow, and gloom.
“I got a question for you, Convert.” Aaron said.
“Sure,” Convert replied. “What do you got?”
“What was the significance of putting your hand on the coffin? I guess I can understand you and Marie doing something like that, but then a lot of the members of your church did it as well.”
“Did I ever tell you about the tire on the fence post?” Convert asked as his arm rested on the top of the steering wheel.
Aaron thought for a moment. “The tire on the fence post? No. I don’t think you ever told me anything about that.”
Convert grinned. “I’m surprised I’ve never brought that up, but then again I don’t think we have ever driven out this way before together.”
“What would that have to do with it?” Aaron asked genuinely interested.
“Driving this stretch of Route 150 between Henderson and Galesburg always reminds me of it because this is where it occurred,” Convert replied. “I actually can’t believe I never told you.”
“About what? A tire? Did you have a blowout or something?”
“No. It isn’t about me exactly. It’s about Pastor Jack.”
“It was something that happened to him?”
“Yeah, him and Ralph many years ago.”
“What happened?”
Convert relaxed a little and took his usual posture that said he was ready to speak. “About a year ago, I had already been renting Jack and Marie’s basement apartment for about
a year and one summer night Jack asked me if I wanted to come out to the deck and have some iced tea. It had been a hot day and I had spent most of it shingling a roof so I was more than happy to have a cold drink. We sat out there for a while. I loved those times. He was so wise and I learned so much from our conversations. That truly is one of the things that I will miss the most.”
“I hear you,” Aaron replied. “We were very blessed to know him. I could only hope to be so wise someday.”
Convert grinned. “You’re way ahead of the game at 24 than I ever was. Anyway, Jack and I were talking about whatever when he asked me the same thing I asked you: ‘Did I ever tell you about the tire on the fence post?’”
“I asked him what tire he was talking about and he replied, ‘Did you ever notice that tire hanging on the fence post in that farmer’s field on the way into Galesburg from where we used to live?’”
“At that moment I did remember what he was talking about. Halfway into town from the flashing light on the intersection of 150 and the Henderson blacktop there was an old tire that had been hanging on a farmer’s fence post for as long as I could remember. So I said, ‘Sure. I used to notice it as a kid when we took the bus into school. As a matter of fact, now that you mention it, I do remember many times when Ralph would simply nudge me and point out the window saying: “There’s the tire!”’”
“Jack grinned at that and began to tell me that everyday as he drove into work he would see this tire hanging on the fence post, but never paid it much attention. However, on Sunday mornings when his wife, Marie, and Ralph were in the car with him, Ralph would always point the tire out. Ralph had done this for about a year and it was rare for him to forget mentioning it as they drove past. Jack didn’t understand why Ralph always wanted to point out the tire, or why he was fascinated by it. That is until the day they saw the tire up close.”
“How did that happen?” Aaron asked.
“Well, it was summer time and Ralph was getting ready to go to a week of church camp. This was the summer before I met him, but I remember him later on telling me about how much fun he had and how much fun it would be next year to go together. I can’t tell you how excited I was for that, but as you know that day never came.”
Aaron looked over at him silently. Convert had gone through enough pain to last two lifetimes.
“Anyway, Jack and Ralph had gone into town to get a new pair of flip-flops at the shoe store in the mall, but they were without a car because a neighbor had dropped them off so Marie could have it if she needed it. The plan was that the neighbor would take them home too, but things didn’t go as planned. While they were at the mall, the neighbor realized that he had completely forgotten about an appointment he had so he had to leave. Jack said it was no problem because he would just use the payphone to give Marie a call and she would pick them up. So the neighbor left and Jack and Ralph found the pair of flip-flops they were looking for and a big box of cheese popcorn. Man, that stuff was the best.”
“Well as soon as they got the popcorn they made their way to the payphone to give Marie a call when all of the sudden the entire mall lost power. Jack grabbed the phone and there was no dial tone on that either. They waited for about a half hour and still no power and no way to call home for a ride. They went outside and saw that the traffic lights weren’t working either. The power was off in the whole area and as a matter of fact, even though they didn’t know it at the time, half the city had lost power.”
“What from?” Aaron asked.
“I actually don’t know, but it doesn’t matter for this story anyway. What mattered was how they were going to get home. So while they were standing there eating popcorn Ralph suggests to Jack: ‘We could just walk home.’”
“Jack thought about it for a little bit because it was a warm day and it was about a five mile walk down 150. He didn’t know if he wanted his eight-year-old son walking for an hour in the sun and heat. However, Ralph said the magic words to him.”
“All he had to say was, ‘Please’?” Aaron asked.
“Not ‘please’ rather ‘adventure’ as in ‘Come on, Dad! It will be an adventure!’ I’m sure seeing Ralph smile and looking at him with his huge glasses was impossible to resist and apparently it was because that’s exactly what they did. They started walking down Henderson Street, which as you know turns into 150. They eventually passed Lake Storey and a couple miles later on the side of the road they came up to the tire on the fence post.”
“Jack told me that when Ralph saw it he was ecstatic and begged him if he could run up and just touch it. It didn’t make much sense to him, but he simply couldn’t deny the joy on his son’s face, so he told him to go right ahead. Ralph ran through the weeds that seem to always grow along the side of roads and he went up to the tire. In almost a sense of reverence he placed his palm on the side of the tire and looked back at his dad. Jack had no idea why this was such an event for Ralph, but he could see that this was a genuine moment for his son. As Jack walked closer to him, Ralph said to him, ‘Dad, you need to come here and touch the tire too!’”
“Without a reply, Jack walked up to his son and with one hand on his son’s shoulder he placed his other hand on the tire. Jack looked down to see his son staring at him with a smile that was actually bigger than the glasses on his face. ‘We were here together, Dad,” Ralph replied. ‘We were here together.’”
“And with that they started walking again.”
“What did he mean? What was so special about the tire?” Aaron asked.
“Well, Jack asked the same thing as they walked the two or so miles left to get home. Ralph told him: ‘Remember last year when the kids at school were making fun of me and you told me that Jesus loves me and I am valuable to him? You said that I’m important to God because He made me important and that my value doesn’t come from what people think of me. You said instead that the value of something comes from what someone is willing to pay for it and I am extremely valuable because Jesus paid for me with His own life on the cross.’”
“Jack told him that he remembered, but didn’t understand what that had to do with the tire. So Ralph replied: ‘After you told me that, I wanted to always remember what you said. So the next day when we drove into town I noticed the tire that was hanging on the fencepost and I thought it was perfect. That tire was old and used up. It couldn’t be used on a car anymore so it wasn’t worth anything. I don’t know why the farmer put it on there, but he never used it again because it had been hanging there for a long time. I decided that since it had no value, I was going to make it valuable to me. The tire hanging on the fencepost reminded me of Jesus hanging on the cross. It reminded me about how valuable I am to Jesus and it also reminded me about how valuable I am to you and mom because you are the ones who teach me about Him. Even though it’s worth nothing to rest of the world, it was worth something to me and that’s why I was so excited to actually touch it. I was just happy to be up close to something that means so much and I was glad to share that moment with you.’”
“Jack choked up when he got to this part of the story and I don’t blame him. It was a wonderful reminder of the worth God gave us and it was a great reminder of the kind of boy Ralph McKenzie was. The rest of the trip home was uneventful, but that simple walk stayed in his mind the rest of his life. Sadly and tragically it was only four months later that Ralph passed away when their house caught fire thus changing all of our lives.”
“I truly can’t comprehend how heartbreaking that was. Jack and Marie are the strongest people I have ever known. So this happened forty years ago, then?” Aaron replied.
“Yep, and Jack would remember it like it was yesterday,” Convert said. “After Ralph passed, the ride into town that used to give so much joy became a trip of pain. Every time Jack saw that tire he would burst into tears because it reminded him of his beloved son. As a result, Jack began to take a new way into town that took longer, but would avo
id the tire just so he could avoid the grief. The problem was that the new route also began to remind him of his son because he would think of the tire he was purposely trying to avoid. He couldn’t escape it. Marie, who was equally heartbroken over the loss of her only child, understood what Jack was trying to do, but knew that avoidance wouldn’t fix the hole in their hearts.”
“So one day as they were leaving home together, Marie asked him to drive by the tire. Jack was shocked and didn’t know how to respond. However, the look on his wife’s face told him that it was something she needed and he wasn’t going to deny her of that. So they took that route and when they got to the tire she asked him to pull over. He was hesitant, but knew she wasn’t simply asking. They pulled over and when they stopped she opened her door, got out, and walked towards the tire. Jack got out of the car and even though he was confused he followed her.”
“Marie walked up to the tire and placed her hand on it. ‘What are you doing, Marie?’ Jack asked her. ‘Why are we here? You know how this breaks my heart.’”
“Marie looked straight into his eyes, gently took his hand, and placed it on the tire. ‘Our son was here and he loved this tire. I loved him and I love you. We are not going to avoid this tire ever again because we are never going to avoid anything that reminds us of the joy our son had. God gave us eight years with him, we will see him again, and we have this reminder everyday until that day.’”
“With that they embraced and wept, but it was on that day that everything changed. They still grieved their son, but they always celebrated his life. What used to be moments of pain turned to moments of gladness as every trip into town came with the gift of seeing the tire on the fence post: the worthless tire that was worth something to Ralph because it reminded him of the worth he had to God.”
The Scarlet Plan Page 17
