Before I hit the road into internet-free Eastern Kentucky (I exaggerate. A little), I’ll tell you about my experience last Thursday. It all started three years ago. One Wednesday night after Connections I got home to find a message on our machine from one of our elders. Would I accept a phone call later that night from a friend of his? he asked. His friend was, I was told, an elder and a police officer. It seemed he was looking for a speaker for an event. I called back and said “sure.” Minutes later I was on the phone with one of the kindest, most gracious men I have ever had the good fortune to meet… but I didn’t know that then. He needed a speaker for the FBI Academy meeting… the next morning. This was a big anniversary meeting for them and everybody thought someone else had arranged the speaker. They were in a bit of a bind, you might say.

I agreed to make the hour and a bit drive to Windsor, Canada and speak the next day. Popping out of the tunnel into Canada, the Customs and Immigration Officer asked me where I was going and how long I was going to be in Canada. “About two hours. I’m headed toward Patrick O’Reilly’s pub.” Asked what I planned to do there, I said “I’m speaking for the FBI Academy meeting there.” He asked me if I was US Marshals, FBI, or State Police. I told him I was a pastor and he said, “Oh, then I don’t have to ask you if you have any weapons” and he waved me on in. Those who know me well may now clean the spit off of their screens.

I must have done a half decent job because later that year I was invited up to Mackinac Island to give another speech to a law enforcement group. Since then, I’ve given a few more, including a eulogy for fallen officers in Ypsilanti that was later printed in the FBI Bulletin, the Michigan State Police magazine, and a couple other places. I’ve also been asked to speak at the world day of prayer for law enforcement officers the last four years. The same State Police Inspector who first got me into this called me several months ago and asked if I would be interested in speaking to the top muckety-mucks in the State Police during their annual conference. Asked what I should speak about, he suggested that I talk to them about finding personal and professional priorities; how to find their touchstones.

If you’ve never tried speaking to groups, you might not know this, but there are some rooms that are WAY tougher than others. At the very top are law enforcement officers. They are not only clannish — i.e. those who aren’t LEOs can’t possibly understand them — they are hardened and cynical. YOU try to do a job where you will be lied to every single day and see how long you keep your cherubic demeanor. After a lot of prayer — some done by me and a lot done by super kind people who keep me in their prayers — I walked into the conference to find what I always find: the nicest, most helpful people on the planet. They did everything but offer me a kidney and that was before they knew I was there as a speaker. If our churches greeted each other this warmly we’d be busting the walls… but I digress.

The speaker before me was a State Police Colonel from Virginia; the guy who ran the investigation after the Virginia Tech shootings. He was a fascinating, informed, and engaging speaker. And he was manifestly one of them — a ranking member of the LEO clan. I listened to his second hour and was very impressed. I looked at my notes and thought… “not sure these are up to that standard.” Introduced and put up in front of the assembly I knew I had my work cut out for me. They didn’t even get a break between the last speaker and me and I was the last speaker before they were free to go. I looked at my notes once during the next 65 minutes. We had a great time. We laughed a lot but we also covered some pretty serious material. They gave me every bit of their attention and, afterward, I was showered with kind words, business cards, and thanks. I ate lunch with some of the men and got two very interesting invitations. One told me (and backed it up with an email the following day) that he’d love to have me come up anytime to take some laps around their driving course. He told me I’d need to take my Dramamine and hang on for dear life, but I’d have control of the car for as long as I wanted. Cool! Another invitation was to come up to the range and play with the firepower they have stored up there. Mega-cool.

Prayers and God carried me. I know it wasn’t me, my skill, or my personality. Once again, God did something through, around, and in spite of me. I sometimes wonder if He gets tired of carrying me. Hope not, because I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep…