A British sports car that I occasionally enjoyed driving in 1969 as a high school senior was the 1960 MG known as the MGA. My high school buddy, John, drove it to school everyday and, amazingly, he let me drive it during my lunch hour, which was just before his.</p><p>While American muscle cars like the Shelby Mustang 500 GT, Oldsmobile 442, and the Pontiac GTO were about attaining top speed on the quarter mile drag racing strip the British sports cars were lower and smaller and designed for racing circuits with lots of curves. The MGA was one of those.</p><p>One lunch hour another friend, Paul, went with me, asked to drive, and I consented. We went to a deserted new sub-division that had lots of curved streets but no houses built yet. It was perfect for tooling around in the MG.</p><p>I don't know what Paul did. Maybe he hit the brakes and turned the wheel at the same time. All I know is that suddenly we were in a full end-to-end spin. When the car stopped we were heading in the opposite direction.</p><p>Paul sat there stunned for a few seconds while realizing with me that we were still alive. Thankfully that low MG was built to slide and not roll over. We came out the other side shaken and stirred but unhurt---except perhaps for Paul's ego. Turning the motor off, he eventually got out and traded places with me. We never talked about it again and I suppose he developed a huge respect for little British sports cars. I can still feel the surreal smoothness of that spin.</p><p>Those kinds of surprise end-to-end spins happen in our lives on occasion. We confidently plan to have our life moving in one direction and suddenly find ourselves sliding around and heading the other way!</p><p>The Good News is that in Jesus Christ "we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them," (Romans 8:28) and that his plans for you "are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11)</p><p>I drove the rattled Paul safely back to school that day. We'd gotten our thrill ride.</p><p>When such unexpected "thrills" enter your life quickly look to the Lord. Even better, try to remember before any of your daily "rides" out into the subdivisions of life to, "Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed" (Proverbs 16:3)---no matter how much they may spin!</p><p>John Parker is the pastor of ChristChurch, located at 260 N. 6th Street in Chowchilla. 665-2093 | <a href="mailto:john@plugintolife.com">john@plugintolife.com</a>