A Little Island Time

BC’s provincial capital is a great place with aged European style buildings, small shops and street side cafes. We have just concluded TimeOut (an event designed to connect children, youth and young adult pastors from across the province). It was great to see over 100 people attend and have a chance to recharge amongst their peers. For Amber and I it means that there is only one more major district event left to help run – Historymaker (BC’s youth convention). Time is moving at an unreal rate. In just over a month, we will almost be done the in-office portion of our apprenticeship AND we will be married!

Last Saturday I proved that my acrobatic skills are far greater than even I realized. Along with 15 of my friends, I rented a scooter. Now contrary to what you may think, these scooters were quite manly and could do up to 70km/h. At one point I tried to pull a rather quick U-turn to get ahead of one of my friends. Unfortunately, I misjudged the turning radius of my man scooter and connected with the curb. Suddenly I found myself having an experience akin to Superman as I sailed head first over my handle bars. I flipped feet over head and one witness swears my head was at least 5 feet above the ground. At the last minute I tucked my head in and simply summer salted across someone’s front yard only to pop up onto my feet at the end of my roll. It seemed as if I should have arose to the applause of a circus crowd (accompanied by a “ta-da”) as a leaping performer would do.

There was not a mark on me, alas the same could not be said for my rented scooter of power. When we got back to the rental company, they did not notice the damage and technically their policy places the responsibility on the staff to note all damage. I had also paid for the $6 insurance. So I left without saying a word. As we were walking away, one of my friends told me I would feel guilty. I shrugged him off…until about 2:00pm the next day when I found myself standing at the counter explaining all that I had done. Because of my belated honesty I was not required to pay, but I was asked to tell people all about their business – so if you are ever in Victoria , than rent from BC Cycle; they have a wonderful assortment of scooters!

It was embarrassing. It was humbling. It was a good reminder that I need to be responsible in all areas of life. It was a learning moment that as a Christian I am not meant to simply satisfy the bare minimums of integrity, but to live at a standard beyond the norm.