Date: 8/18/2009
<br>Author: Devin Pickard
<br>Title: Riley
<br><br><br>Who in the world drives several hundred miles north to Canada to hunt bear ..... at age 87?  Who in the world convinces his bride of a lifetime to travel with him as he hauls a 35 foot trailer and 4-wheeler to go on such a trip ..... at age 87?  Who in the world dared anyone to tell him what he could or could not do ..... at age 87?  My friends, Mr. Riley Spears is “Mr. Who in the world?”  <br><br><br>Riley Spears, the father of our own coach and elder, Lafayette Spears, died last week in an automobile accident while he and his wife Ms. Mary traveled toward yet another hunting adventure.  Oh, by the way, did you understand the fact that he was 87 at the time of this final journey?  I am intrigued by anyone who refuses to do what everyone else “expects”  them to do.  I am mesmerized by any individual who does not allow circumstances or  age keep them from doing what their heart is set on doing.  We have all witnessed folks going up against great odds to accomplish one thing or another.  Though I did not know him very well, I have a gut feeling that Mr. Riley was gonna do things his way or no way at all.  I have heard my father-in-law, Carl Burton, tell a number of stories about going hunting with the Spears clan.  I have listened to Lafayette tell of how “militarily firm” his dad was in the raising of he and his siblings.  I listened to Bill Mac and David Homan at his funeral on Sunday tell about their experiences with this man who was labeled as “true red, white, and blue”.  Once again, any little tid-bit of information that I gathered about Mr. Spears had one underlying theme .... like Frank Sinatra, he was gonna do it “his way”.<br><br><br>I have decided that one of Satan's greatest tools in his arsenal is the ability for him to get us to buy into the fact that we can't do “this or that”.  It goes something like this ..... “I can't get over that addiction” ..... “I can't do anything to save my marriage” ..... “I can't live a good enough life now to cover all the bad things I've done in the past” ..... “I can't change” ..... “I'm too old now to become a Christian” ..... “I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't”.  The 'Ole devil loves the phrase that begins with “I” and ends with “can't”.  This phrase is the locked gate that keeps us from traveling down paths that can lead to a better life.  Why is it that you think most of those types paths are overgrown, barely visible, and seldom trodden?  It just might be that many of us choose to daily believe the lie of “I can't”, thus never unlocking the gate that will lead to a more fruitful life ..... and even possibly eternal life?<br><br><br>This past Sunday I had the privilege of baptizing Archie Fleet into Christ.  Life has been a little more than just difficult for Mr. Fleet and his family as of late.  It would be easy for Mr. Fleet to just take the “fifth” as far as God  is concerned.  But, rather than being bitter or angry, Mr. Fleet opted out of the “I cant's” and chose to take his own life in his hands and then turn it over to the hands of Christ Jesus by not just saying “I can”, but also “I will”.  Mr. Archie decided it was time to walk through the gate and do it “God's way”.  During the funeral service for Mr. Spears, Mr. Homan shared with us the fact that he had baptized Riley into Christ some time ago.  In essence, he said that Mr. Spears had decided that Frank Sinatra's famous song wasn't going to be the soundtrack for his life anymore.  I guess “Ol' blue eyes” lost a fan to the Creator of the Universe .  Good choice Riley.      <br><br>Go the extra mile - Devin<br>