The Last Ride

By Maury Davis

When Maury Davis, a pastor in Nashville, Tennessee, faced a fatal cancer diagnosis with less than two years to live, embarked on the greatest American road trip, a 30 day motorcycle ride around the borders of the United States. During the trip, he wrote daily devotions for life-changing principles essential for his youngest son to thrive in a world without his father. His last opportunity, this legacy wasn't about the end of things, but the beginning.

In this devotional, Maury Davis takes readers on the ride of a lifetime, and, while allowing them to experience every mom-and-pop meal along the way, offers a legacy of hard-won wisdom.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BelleBooks
• Release date: Apr 7, 2017
• ISBN: 9781611947632

Book preview

The Last Ride

Finding life’s legacy on America’s greatest road trip

by

Maury Davis

MDM Books

Copyright

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events or locations is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2017 Maury Davis Ministries

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-61194-763-2

Print ISBN: 978-1-61194-745-8

Published by MDM Books, a division of Maury Davis Ministries

PO Box 331911

Nashville, TN 37203

maurydavisministries.com

Cover design: Debra Dixon

Interior design: Hank Smith

Art Credits: © Dary423 | Dreamstime.com

:Erlo:01:

Dedication

To Dillon

Introduction

It was around December 2012 when I asked the last of my children what he wanted to do for his graduation. His older siblings, known as the triplets—two beautiful blonde girls and their brother, who has all the Cajun blood in the family—had all graduated, completed college, and were married. He asked me if we could take a motorcycle ride around the United States of America the way my pastor, J. Don George, and I had done in 1996. As a father, the fact my children wanted to spend time with me was always heart moving, humbling, and exciting. I immediately said YES!

I called my original and long term road partners, my pastor, J. Don George of Calvary Church in Irving, and Jim Guinn from Guinn, Smith and Associates, and they both said WE ARE IN! We set the dates, cleared calendars, and began making the preparations. These two men have been friends, mentors, and road warriors as we have traveled around the country, riding the borders of the contiguous states twice and then enjoying a Heartland tour through the central states of America. We have now traveled through 48 states together.

I thought about what an incredible journey this was going to be for my 18-year-old son and the lessons he would learn, the memories he would have, and the joy we all would experience taking what we call, the Mother of All Trips.

What I didn’t know is that at the church I had pastored for 23 years, I would be dealing with a present day Absalom, a man that rebelled against his authority, that created incredible strife, dissent, and division. Even though it was being dealt with, the extra stress on all of our staff was both felt and significant. It really wasn’t a good time to be gone for 30 days. Far more challenging was the medical concerns my primary care physician shared with me in the spring of that year. He shared with me that he had discovered some markers in my blood that indicated a leukemia, and he wanted me to make an appointment as soon as possible with a hematologist and pursue further testing.

Anytime you hear the word cancer there is a sobering and a tendency to panic. I had to capture negative thoughts and process what was happening. My faith was challenged to the core because I also had a 15 million-dollar, mega-construction project under way, not scheduled to be completed until 2015, and the bank’s permanent financing was not yet secured. I Googled the type of cancer my doctor was concerned about, and the report was basically two years with no real treatment options. I knew if I began cancer treatments, the bank would be extremely nervous about continuing the construction process, and it made me search my heart for my core convictions. Do I really believe that seeking the Kingdom first is my foundation? Also, do I believe if I seek to save my life I will lose it, but if I give my life I will find it? The answer to both was yes! That began a focused journey that was sobering and demanding on the faith God had given me. I chose not to go to the hematologist, but to capture thoughts of fear and death and live my life with eternity in mind.

I’m not a foolish person, but my core conviction is that healing is part of the price Jesus paid for us to receive during his scourging. With every ache and pain I had to capture negative thoughts . . . and truth be told, that was challenging. I made the decision to not tell anyone since I wasn’t going to pursue any treatments. I also realized I wanted to be intentional about the development of my youngest, and I was determined to leave my family a legacy of love, wisdom, truth, and grace.

As the time drew near, I purchased the bikes Dillon and I would ride and gave him a couple of weeks on a road bike to learn before we set out. I realized that unless God healed me, this would be the last major memory he had with his father, and I wanted to make sure his memory was unforgettable and life-shaping. I prayed about this trip, and God gave me the idea to write a daily devotional for him about the 30 foundational beliefs, practices, and core-convictions that would cause him to live a great life in the will of God. I took the time to write out each one with scripture, personal application, and in a format that would take only a few moments each morning during a Father-Son devotional. I wanted to help him achieve his God-given potential and to be an asset to those around him. By the time we put those bikes on the road, I was dealing with unexpected weariness occasionally, and some days I just felt really tired.

I knew that this might be my last trip with my friends and son, and yet I knew it was a trip that would remain in his heart forever. Each day as we traveled the back roads and the borders of America, I would wake him up as I was heading to the shower and hand him that day’s devotional to read. After showering, I would sit with him and discuss it, and then we would have a morning prayer time before we headed to breakfast. My most frequent phrase on this trip was, Dillon, tell your face you’re happy! I have a great conviction that true Biblical beliefs and practices produce joy and happiness,