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REWIND
(This is my story,
BUT I do NOT approve of this message!)
By Scott Crabtree
Editor’s Note: Scott and Tricia Crabtree and their family
have recently moved to the Columbus, Ohio, area and are
beginning Deaf Bible studies to prepare for the opening of the
LIFESIGNS Deaf Baptist Church.

Occasionally on deputation, missionaries have
days where they just wish they could have a “do
over.” Unfortunately, in real life there is no such
rewind button. We headed out of town for a meeting in West Virginia. The traffic
was extremely heavy as it happened to be game day between the University of
Tennessee and Virginia Tech. It seemed that ALL of Tennessee and Virginia were
headed to the game. With the intensity of the traffic, I was not really keeping an
eye on my speed—someone from the highway patrol was, though. First ticket in
150,000 miles of traveling—grrrr! He must have been a Virginia Tech fan and saw
my Tennessee tags! Yes, I know, even a deaf man can hear the comments by some
who would say I probably should have gotten a ticket at other times and did not.

You know who you are.

Upon arriving at our destination that day, we were to meet the pastor’s family for
the first time at a nice Italian restaurant. We sat down and one of their sons showed
up a few minutes later. I stood up and reached over to shake his hand. As I did so,
I knocked over a full glass of ice water onto the table in front of the pastor’s wife.

We began to try to clean it up with the non-absorbent napkins, which only made
it worse! I was kicking myself for being so clumsy and then started to sit down. It
goes downhill from here. Little did I know that when I stood up to shake the hand
of the pastor’s son, my chair had fallen over behind me with its four legs sticking
up in the air. Fortunately, I landed between the four legs on the floor. People in
the restaurant were staring at us. My nose was at the table’s edge and all I could see
was the pastor looking down at me saying, “Bless your heart,” which means “You
dope” or “It’s all good” in Tennessee and West Virginia vernacular—whichever one
applies! Unfortunately, on the way to the floor, one of the legs of the chair caught
my pocket, which proceeded to tear an 18-inch hole all the way down the side of
my pants!
We had a delicious meal with the pastor (a nice reprieve from the day so far), and
I walked out of the restaurant holding my pants together. My wife and daughters
laughed at me all the way back to the car. When we got to the hotel on the top floor,
our key cards would not work. I started to go to the lobby to get new keys—my
girls were still laughing at me. Jessalyn said, “Run like the wind, Dad. Run like the
wind!” My wife then remarked, “With the hole in those pants—not such a good
idea!” Sometimes you just cannot wind—I mean win!
14 Reseeding America – Spring 2018