Keys to the Kingdom
By Carolyn Tucker
Uber for a Piglet
My daughter and family live 1 ½ hours north and my son and his wife live 50 minutes south from me. My daughter has a hobby farm and, after the piglets were born and ready to be sold, she mentioned that her brother wanted one of them. Since I was at her house at the time, without thinking it through, I volunteered to deliver the little pig. It would be no problem since Aaron was doing dirt work at my place that day. I’m fond of pigs, as Dad had a few sows with litters of piglets when I was a kid.
Well, when it was time for me to head home, Mariam said, “I’ll go catch the pig.” Obviously, she had taken me serious. So I said, “OK,” and off she went. She was gone quite a while, but eventually got to my car with the piglet. She put him in a nylon and mesh crate and set it in the trunk. I put down one side of the backseat so he could have access to the air conditioning. I told her I thought he would squeal all the way home and she said, “Oh, I don’t think it’ll be a problem – he’ll be fine.” Famous last words.
As I approached the I-49 on-ramp, he was squealing bloody murder. I thought, “What have I done? This is all my fault and I have 1 ½ hours of this ahead of me.” He had four different languages. When he was upset he’d let out an ear-piercing squeal. When he wasn’t upset, he’d oink. When he was annoyed by a rough patch in the highway, he’d let out a high-pitched squeak once. When he was off balance because of a curve, he’d grunt once. His favorite songs on the Tucker Family Band CD were “Peace in the Valley” and “Jesus on the Main Line.” I was nervous thinking that he could chew a hole in the material and get loose. I was speeding on purpose trying to shorten the trip as much as possible without getting pulled over by a state trooper. And if that did happen, I didn’t know if he would understand that I was merely a speeding, stressed-out uber for a pig and let me go with only a warning.
The stress, mingled with laughter, actually balanced out my emotions which prevented me from loosing my marbles on the way home. This epic situation taught me that I need to thoroughly consider all commitments before making them. My parents taught me to live with integrity and trustworthiness, and be a person of my word. “The one who makes a promise and does not break it, even though he is hurt by it” (Psalm 15:4 GW). Believers must stand by their word even if there’s a chance of temporary insanity while fulfilling the promise.
“When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to Him. It is better to say nothing than to make a promise and not keep it” (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 NLT). God considers us to be fools if we don’t follow through with our commitments! Therefore, we are not to make promises we know full-well we can’t keep. It’s better to be honest and say, “No.”
“A man who makes a vow to the Lord or makes a pledge under oath must never break it. He must do exactly what he said he would do” (Numbers 30:2 NLT). Once we commit, we must do it – whether to God or man. We’re all familiar with the colloquialism, “…the Lord willing and the creek don’t rise.” Remember, your commitments impact your relationships with others. If you’re supposed to be there at noon, don’t show up at 12:30.
The Key: Be careful what you promise and then deliver it. (No pun intended.)