14 Oct, 2010
Hide and Seek
Today’s Story:
Police: Suspect Tries to Escape on Lawn Mower
Story Excerpt and Picture Courtesy of AOL.com Getaway cars are supposed to be fast. And they're supposed to be cars. Those two facts apparently eluded a Florida man, who police say attempted to evade arrest by riding a slow-moving lawn mower.Sheriff's deputies in Hillsborough County were searching a house for stolen property when they got a tip that one of the suspects, identified as Charles McDaniel, was trying to make his escape nearby, according to TampaBay.com. When most people think of a getaway vehicle, a lawn mower isn't the first thing that comes to mind. But police say that didn't stop Florida resident Charles McDaniel from getting behind the wheel of his grass-cutter and trying to give officers the slip on Wednesday. He was arrested not far from his home. Officers reportedly found McDaniel, 25, not far from his home attempting to flee on a ride-on mower. Police cuffed McDaniel, who allegedly chucked a stolen .38-caliber pistol into a ditch on the side of the road before his arrest. McDaniel has been charged with theft of a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm and being felon in possession of a firearm.
He should also be charged with poor planning, according to Bobby Cleveland (pictured above), the man who holds the world record for reaching the fastest speed on a lawn mower. Lawn mowers aren't good getaway vehicles. Cleveland told AOL News that there are few escape vehicles slower than a store-bought mower. "You could get it to about 7 or 8 miles per hour -- max," said Cleveland, who last week shattered existing speed records when his souped-up mower reached 96.529 mph on Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats.
But getting a lawn mower to that kind of speed takes a great deal of work on the engine and transmission, not to mention a great deal of skill behind the wheel. Store-bought grass-cutters just aren't built to be elusive, he said. "It's not an escape vehicle," he said. "You're sitting up there too high, so there's nowhere to hide. And they're just a little too slow."
Even if McDaniel had managed to initially evade authorities on his mower, the vehicle could have left behind thousands of little clues that would have led police right to him, Cleveland said. "All the grass clippings would be a giveaway."
Psalm 139:7-12 (NIV)
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths,you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.
What does God's Story Scripture teach us about running or trying to flee from God? It doesn’t matter if you’re on a souped-up lawn mower or your average 7-8 mph mower, God still knows where you are. High or low, near or far, dark or light – God’s Hand is still there to guide us and hold us steady.
How can we connect God's Story Scripture to our lives?
When’s the last time you played Hide and Seek? Perhaps you’ve been playing the game more recently than you thought. Have you been hiding (or trying to flee) from God? Think about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. After they had sinned, they hid from God. Kind of silly, wasn’t it? God knew where they were. But we’re kind of silly, too. We think we can hide our sins from God, or that He won’t care if we tell a ‘little white lie’ or gossip. But He not only cares, He sees. He knows. We can run, but we can’t hide. And even though that sounds scary, it’s comforting that even when we’re at our ugliest, and have sinned, God still seeks us out. He loves us to much to let us be lost in sin.How can we connect today's story, God's Story Scripture, and our story to others?
- Is there unconfessed sin in your life that you’ve been trying to hide from the Lord? Confess it and ask Him to forgive you.
- We may think that we’re good at playing Hide and Seek, but our friends can tell when we’re disconnected from the Vine.
- Are you hiding the truth of God with your friends or seeking opportunities to tell them what He’s doing in your life?
- Use today’s story to share how God knows everything about us and yet still loves us all the same. Share the story of Adam & Eve (Genesis 2 & 3)
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