Buford and Me

In my last blog I wrote about going to Gulfport, Mississippi to minister to Gulfport Police officers as a Chaplain following Hurricane Katrina. I told about meeting Officer Aaron Fore and Buford.

While I was on patrol with Aaron, he was dispatched to retrieve a stolen car. The report was that a black Chevrolet Suburban had been taken from a dealership. The SUV contained a GPS device that pinpointed its location.

We went to the address, spotted the Suburban and parked four houses away and waited for backup. The backup was one other officer.

Things had been hairy for nearly three weeks at this point. Aaron and his co-workers had been dealing with looters and armed robbers at an incredible rate. He would have liked to have more backup. All he had was me.

When we got out of the car, Aaron opened the trunk and took out Buford. (You may see a photo of Aaron and Buford in my last blog.) He showed me the switch to change between a single shot and a burst of three shots for each pull of the trigger on the .223 caliber H&K MP5. He set it to a single shot.

Then he handed me the assault rifle. I have shot rifles, shotguns and handguns. This was my first assault rifle. I held it the way I had seen Aaron hold it. It felt good. It felt awkward. Still, awkward was better than standing there in the street with my hands in my pockets.

Aaron told me to stay with the car, but be ready to back him up if anything happened.

Nothing happened.

The vehicle had been legitimately purchased the day before. The owner produced the paperwork. Evidently, in all the confusion following the storm, someone forgot to remove the GPS device.

It was disappointing to have to put the rifle back in the trunk.

I have experienced many such situations, as a Chaplain, as a minister, as a son, as a husband, and as a man. Feeling good and feeling awkward at the same time. Ready for something to happen. Hoping nothing will happen. Disappointed when nothing happened.

The Apostle Paul teaches us in Romans 5:5 that “hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

When we hope in our power, our strength, our cunning or in someone else, we will so often be disappointed. When we hope in God, the God who “poured out his love into our hearts” we are not disappointed.