“Ahhhhh! Ohhh,no,no no no…I’m ok. I’m ok. I’m alright everybody; it’s only pain. I’m ok.” I’m not ok. I just ran into the end of the bed because that’s what I do. I’m making a big show of it because it would cost far too many points to fall to the floor.

Donnie’s Law of Points: If I can make someone laugh, I win and I get points. If I make them laugh on purpose, I get extra points. If I collapse into the floor like a puddle of goo after walking into the bed and charlie horsing my leg, I lose points. It’s a simple system; I’m a simple man.

I run into things. A lot. It’s like my brain doesn’t get it that there’s a body below my neck and that it needs to account for said body when walking around the bed, or through doorways, or past anything generally.

I don’t try to run into things. I’m not one of those idiots. It just happens. A dark room ups the odds against me. If you put me in the dark, I’ll hurt myself without even trying. I have a gift.

Takeaway: Darkness ups the odds that you’ll hurt yourself. You need a light. We all do.

John 12:46 (NLT) “I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.”

Jesus didn’t come to make you feel bad, point at you and laugh, or tell you what a goober you are for getting hurt. He came to give you light. Turn the light on. It’s less painful that way.

“Ewwwwwww! He’s eating its head!”

Our cat Moose is the coolest cat that’s ever lived. He was eating some animal he killed. It was gnarly, and gross, and cool in a gladiator kind of way. Moose the Destroyer. Moose the Awesome. His original name was Chloe. True story.

He wasn’t always this mini house-lion. I wasn’t always his biggest fan. When my daughter found him as a kitten, he was scrawny, dirty, a castaway kitten. He didn’t know it at the time, but that joker won the cat equivalent of the lottery: he found my daughter.

Side note: As much as I like to think that I run things, the two cats inside my house are proof that I don’t. I don’t want pets in the house. My daughter does. When she fully realizes her power, we will all cower before her. Just kidding…kind of.

As for Moose, this cat is a chameleon. No, he’s the Predator. We thought he was a girl cat at first, but that’s a story for another day. He hunts; he taunts; he sleeps. He runs up to greet us when we pull into the driveway.

When I saw fleas, and dirt, and malnourishment, my daughter saw something else. She saw something amazing. “Look at him! He’s so little and cute!” she squealed.

Moral of the story: The only opinion that matters is the opinion of The One who really runs things.

Matthew 16:18 (NLT) “Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”

Peter is my favorite disciple. He gives me hope. He’s rash; he speaks what’s on his mind, and he is often wrong. He cut a dude’s ear off. With a sword. He was all or nothing, and Jesus dug it. I can dig it.

Honest sharing time: We Lopez dudes are all or nothing kind of guys. We are, as the wise philosopher Yoda once put it, “Do. Or do not. There is no try,” kind of guys. Peter’s last name may have been Lopez. Yoda’s definitely was. Definitely.

On it’s own, none of Peter’s personality quirks or failings mattered. Yours don’t either, really.

And that’s because Jesus has the final say. All you need to do is go all in on Him. In an instant, He can change your name, the meaning of your life, your destiny. He can make you the more you that you were always meant to be. He did for Peter. And He did it for thousands, millions of others.

My daughter really had the final say about Moose. It only mattered what she thought. When it comes to cats, she really runs things. The One who really runs things has thoughts about you. And it’s His opinion that really matters. Jesus gets the final word.

Honest sharing time, again: I have a horrible sense of direction. I got lost in a mall, once. What’s worse is that it was in a foreign country, Panama if you’re wondering. I was just trying to get to the bathroom. True story.

I don’t know driving shortcuts. If a road is closed or if there’s bad traffic, I’m a turtle turned upside down on its back. There’s flailing, wiggling, and general hopelessness.

I’ve learned the hard way that despite what others may tell you, despite what you want to believe, and despite what you may want to be true- there are only two directions, and one of them won’t get you where you want to go.

John 14:6 (NLT)- ‘Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”‘

And now, the story of me getting lost, in a mall, in a foreign country…

A long long time ago, in a country far away, I’m standing in the food court of a mall. The mall is lovely, clean, air conditioned, and modern looking. This is my first time in a third world country, and the mall stands as a beacon of familiarity in a sea of strange sights, smells, and sounds.

Apart from my having no idea what the people are saying, the food court is pretty much the same as any other mall food court I’ve been in. It has that faint generic fast food smell. It has those chairs with the uncomfortable metal backs that encourage you to lean forward, eat quickly, and get back to shopping. I’m not shopping. I’m here on a welcome respite during a missions trip with my church. In Panama, air conditioning and fried chicken = luxury.

I have my wife with me, as well as a small team of folks from our church, and I’m holding a tray of fried chicken. “Where’s the bathroom in this joint?” I asked. It should also be noted that I have the bladder of an adolescent flying squirrel.

“The bathroom? It’s right there around the corner. There’s a sign right there.” Right there. Around the corner. There was a sign. The corridor that leads to the bathroom is maybe eight feet away from our table. I should have had someone draw me a map.

Fast forward a bit and I step out from the bathroom and step into the corridor I had just walked down. I look both ways, and remembered a horrifying truth that’s haunted me all my life. Yep. I should have had someone draw me a map. I have no clue whether I came from the right or the left. So, I did what any sensible adult would do. I crossed my fingers and just picked the direction that seemed right

I walked right by our table, right by our group of volunteers; I walked right by my own wife! I was lost, and as luck would have it, I was walking in the wrong direction. Donnie’s Law of Geography: when left to my own devices, I will choose the wrong direction every time.

At this moment, I stop. I am lost in a foreign country. In the few short seconds after that realization, I see my future, and it’s ugly. I would be living in this mall for the rest of my life simply because I couldn’t find my way to our table.

‘Whatever happened to Donnie?’
‘I don’t know. They say he went to the bathroom and never came back.’

This is now my life. Destitute, living on scraps, being that weird guy who mumbles to himself. The gringo, they’d call me. The mall gringo. This was my future, and it was all because I have the bladder of an adolescent flying squirrel. I was five feet away from our table.

“Hey. Donnie. Hey, where are you going?” my wife asked. She had the puzzled look of a wife who can’t decide if her husband has lost his mind, lost his wallet, or simply lost his way.

“Oh thank God. I got lost,” I mumbled, trying to disguise the panic in my voice. I’m not cool enough to play it off as something else. Panic had stolen any capacity for pretense.

Today I was reminded of ‘The Mall Incident’ while reading John chapter 14. Jesus’ closest friends were confused, scared, and clueless about what to do next. Jesus was about to finish the work He came to do. He was down to his last minutes on earth. So He calls to the people closest to Him, and He reminds them one more time, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

If you’re looking for the way to God, you’re in luck. We have a map. But there’s only two directions. Jesus is the way. It’s the truth, and there is life in that way. Real life. True story.

“That light is driving me nuts,” I thought as I waiting in traffic. Honest sharing time: I’m not a morning person. If I’m honest, I have a magical window of time right after my coffee has kicked in and right before lunch where I can be most patient, kind, loving, funny, intelligent, etc. After my coffee and just right at lunch, I am most like Jesus. Yes, coffee helps.

In the next lane of traffic, sent straight from the depths of hell itself to try me at the early hour of 7:45 am, was a CPI security van, and it had some hellish yellow strobe light on top of it. ‘Look at me! Look at me!,’ it screamed into my retinas. So, of course, I did.

Stick with me. I promise I have a point. On the back of this demon powered hellscape of a van was a Carolina Panthers logo, and underneath the logo it read: “CPI, the official security and home automation company of the Carolina Panthers.”

“Psh, I wonder how much that cost them,” I said aloud, really to no one in particular. Isn’t if funny how God is always listening, and sometimes He answers at the strangest times? I was immediately impressed with the thought, ‘How much did God pay for you?’ Me- the grouchy in traffic coffee hasn’t kicked in yet me. The logo on the back of this van wasn’t much, but I’m sure it cost a pretty good bit to have that put on all their vans.

I’m not much- I’m not famous, super wealthy, the smartest, the funniest, the anything-iest. But God paid an outrageous price to put ‘God Almighty- The Official Savior of Donnie’ on my life. ‘Jesus, Messiah, God in the flesh- The Official Redeemer of Donnie’s Everywhere.’ ‘God, The Official Father of Donnie.’ And He paid that price for you. He thinks you- the grouchy sitting in traffic you, the broken you, the messed up you, the great you, the kind even when you don’t want to be you, the just as you are you- are immensely valuable to Him.

Takeaway: The value of a thing isn’t based on its functionality or its aesthetics. The value of a thing is based on what someone is willing to pay. He paid it all for you. You are highly prized by Him.

“He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time.” – 1 Timothy 2:6(NLT)