Well, I took my first drink at the age of 14 and off I went on the path to nowhere. As I reflect back on my life and see the journey I have been on, I am so thankful that I am still alive. I grew up with fast cars and fast bikes. I look back to my teen years and I know my guardian angle was working overtime. I always worked, so I had a few dollars in my pocket all the time, which always seemed to get spent on the wrong stuff.
At the age of 16 I got kicked out of school for the last time. I saw no reason to go back and got a job at the warehouse where I had worked after school. I was driving truck there and hauling potatoes thinking I had it all figured out. The insurance company found out, however, that I was not old enough, forcing me to change jobs. This all happened about two months before I turned 18 at which time I would be able to get a CDL license. After changing jobs a few times, I ended up in Boise Idaho building log homes. It was a learning job, but I liked what I saw when the house was built. During this time, I drank every night and took whatever else was around me. I ended up getting some drunk driving tickets and lost my license which resulted in moving back home for a short time. My drinking improved after that and some more of my life went by. I ended up with a job washing these beautiful semi trucks. Since it was a dream of mine to drive truck, I ended up driving for this company at the age of 24 years.
As I look back on my life’s path, I had four miracles while I was driving. The first one occurred while I was heading home on Labor Day weekend. As I was driving, I looked up to see that the entire road was blocked by campers. In a semi you can see a great distance in front of you so I had one more car to pass then it will be clear sailing for a ways. When the last car went by I had my speed built up and went in the other lane, even though it was double yellow. When I got by the side of the car, I had a fast blackout and I saw the hill I was going up. Through the hill I saw a car with three smiling faces. I hit the brakes and got back over in my lane. After I had returned to my lane, here comes that little car I had just seen during my blackout. I then had another blackout and saw the car, however, this time there was four smiling faces and I heard the prettiest music I have ever heard. Wow. What an experience. All I could do is thank God for sparing the lives of the people in the car.
About four years went by, during which time I had divorced, married, and divorced again. I finally ended up back in a semi once again. Still drinking and still doing drugs and still thinking I had it all figured out. One night I was hauling a light load headed to Salt Lake City. I stopped at a regular truck stop, had a quick meal and headed off with about 130 miles to go. About ten miles down the road, there was a rest area and my truck wanted to pull in. I tried not to, but my truck always won. I pulled up next to another truck and tried to see why I pulled in: Tires…ok. Lights…ok. All appeared ok, so I thought maybe there was a problem down the road. Then here comes a driver and who asks me if I go into Utah much. I told him I did and he said he had put too much fuel on and is now 800 lbs over gross. He asked what the scales would do. I told him he needed to be legal, and that I had a light load. We put twenty boxes on my trailer and we got him into Utah legally. We stopped down the road and I gave him his potatoes back. We talked for a while and he gave me the phone number of the company he was driving for and I figured I would never see him again.
Some time passed and I had a load of cabinet wood on one slick with one bad strap. I soon found that ended up being a bad combo. I was going around a 25 mph corner and I put the bad strap on the back. All the sudden, it felt like I was twisting. I looked in my mirror and my tarp was ripping. All I could think is. “Lord, please don’t let there be any cars coming towards me.” This is also a good time to mention that I never wore my seat-belt just to spite the law. Then I went over on my side. When my truck landed on her side, I was going out the window to be smashed just when my seat-belt stopped me. I ended up with just a little road rash on my shoulder. Then my trailer hit a stump and all 18 wheels went on top and I got physically pushed in between my seats, keeping me from getting smashed with the body of my truck. Wow. What a ride and once again all I could do was thank God.
I got fired from the company I was driving for due to this wreck, even though I had only received a ticket for faulty equipment. That’s when the phone number I got from that Ohio driver came in handy. Off to Ohio I went to start driving for that company. After I had been driving for about four months, I was asked to change trucks. The new truck had bad steering tires. I told them about the tires, however, they said I only had to drive it for 1 week and they would replace the tires. These bad tires would come to haunt me in West Virginia. During a heavy ran, I was traveling down a hill following another semi. Since there was a sharp turn, I set my air bags in order to get ready for the corner, however, the front tires couldn’t handle the rain on the road. I was turning, but the truck was going straight off the side of the road, headed straight for the canyon. I stood up tall in my truck, took a deep breath to begin screaming. As I was about to scream, I was suddenly looking down upon my own body sitting in the truck. After a split-second, the next thing I knew I was sitting in my truck driving the hill following the same semi as before. All that I could do was thank God for saving my life one more time. Citing attitude problems, I was let go several months later, soon to find myself in Napoleon, Ohio. Soon thereafter, I met my wife, Debbie.
Debbie had a close friend, Bob, who I was introduced to. We quickly became close friends. Bob had purchased a 1960 Chevrolet School Bus from someone in Indiana. We all worked hard and long to fix it and paint “the bus,” which soon became a place for us to party. Shortly thereafter, we started taking trips to MIS on the bus. Returning every year, word of the bus quickly travelled and it became the place to be at the infield of MIS. In 2002, Bob realized he had cancer. It wasn’t long for the cancer to take Bob’s life, but shortly before he passed, someone led him to the Lord. After Bob’s death, I purchased the bus from his estate to keep Bob and his dream alive. The bus never had a name while Bob was alive and we couldn’t decide on what to call it. That’s why we simply named it “Bob’s Bus.” Each year I had the bus, I had been re-building it to keep it going. Still being a partier, I received two Dui’s during 2002-2006. During this time, I had also been keeping Bob’s dream alive by returning each year to both the June and August NASCAR race at MIS.
At each race, I always noticed the band that was playing. They were always playing good music and having a good time. I stayed away, however, as I knew they were a Christian rock band. Since I knew Christians never had any fun and I didn’t need to know about God, I kept my distance. At the 2007 August race, I noticed someone unloading a trailer for the band. I soon learned his name and asked Mike if he needed any help. He said he didn’t need any help as he only had one box. I jokingly said, “What? I’m not good enough to carry your box?” Kidding around, we quickly hit it off. I asked if he wanted to see my bus. Mike and another bus member came over to check it out. They were so amazed that the rest of the band came out later in the evening during which time they all autographed the inside of the bus.
Saturday night, Preacher Man Berry (from the band) told me that Mike Helton, the President of NASCAR, would be out at the concert to hand out shirts, sign autographs and thank all of the fans. I happened to meet Mike and asked him if he would like to see my psychedelic bus. He said he had heard of it and would love to come and check it out. After clearing out the bus so Mike could enter, my friends and I hung out with Mike to take pictures and get autographs. There was a long line of people waiting to enter the bus, so we all left to let the crowd through. On the way back to the band, Mike told me I needed to take the bus to ‘Dega. I said I had always wanted to go and that I had a friend down there, but I couldn’t do it. He told me (once again) I needed to take the bus to ‘Dega. I gave him the same answer and told him I can’t. He finally asked me why I couldn’t. I told him it was due to lack of money. He asked what it would cost and I quickly came up with $1,000 not knowing if that was what it would cost or not. He said he would pay half if I would go. Thinking there was no way I was going, I told him I would go. He then proceeded to hand me five $100 bills. Mike’s friend told me to take it, so I held out my hand. He placed the money in my hand and I told Mike my wife was going to kick my butt. So he gave me $200 more to make it right with my wife. I said thanks, but he said that the thanks went to me for being such a good fan. He said it was because of all of the fans that he was able do it. I looked him the eye and said I’d be there. He said, “I know you will.”
I prepared my bus for ‘Dega non-stop over the next month. I added a generator, air conditioner and before I knew it, it was time to go. I headed out for ‘Dega knowing full-well that it was the party capital of NASCAR. I was so excited knowing that I’d be able to party. And party I did: Thursday, Thursday night, Friday and Friday night. Everyone that had never seen the bus loved it. The story of the bus quickly spread to all of the other camps and the crowds of people started coming to visit the bus. One of my camp-site neighbors, Mark, was a member of “The Band Called River” (www.abandcalledriver.com). He told my wife that he wished I would stay sober. For the first time in my life, I decided to stay sober. Amazingly, this was the most fun in my life I had ever had. I didn’t have a drink and had a blast. As day turned into night, Wes (another member of the band) and I were talking on the bus. I told him I was thinking about getting a bible. He said he would see what he could do and we went to sleep.
Sunday morning, Debbie and I went to the church service at turn 1 and 2. Wes and the band were there. He told me he had a bible for me as God had lead him to give his bible to me. This was not just a spare bible Wes had. It was the bible his kids had used through 5 states. It was the bible he had taken around the world twice. It was the bible that he had taken on all of his mission trips. And more importantly, it was the bible that he received after he received Christ into his life. I told him I couldn’t take it, but he told me again, how God had answered his prayer and lead him to give his bible to me. With tears of happiness in my eye, I took the bible from Wes. Knowing full well what Wes meant when told me “Do it, Kevin. Just do it.” I raised my hands and told God I was sorry for all I had done in my life. I asked Jesus to please forgive me as I told Him I was giving my life to Him. There was a bright flash, brighter than anything I had ever seen.
After the flash was gone, I could see better; as if He had removed the plastic from my eyes. At the same time, I noticed even the air tasted better. He removed the desire for alcohol and drugs out of my body. I wanted to read the bible. He removed anger from my body and I began to love my family even more, with all of my heart. He helped me love from the inside out and not the outside in.
The bus has since been converted from “R” to “G” rated. It is now used to share the love of God with other people as He shared it with me. When people come to visit the bus, I share with them that there is much more to life than alcohol and drugs. I share my testimony with them so they know what God can do in their lives. I’ve replaced booze on the bus with bibles. Anyone that needs one, is welcome.