Gò0dNews for Everyone
The Great Chase
R
by Donald Cantrell
ecently, Kinsley, my nine-year-old granddaughter,
We got out of my truck, and Kinsley began to look at
and I were in South Dalton driving around so that
all of the snow cones and ice creams that the truck offered
I could pick up a small table that I had bought off
before settling on a Birthday Cake flavored ice cream on
Facebook Market Place. As we made our purchase and were
a stick. We had set out to go and pick up a small table for
about to turn my truck around in a local subdivision, we
my Sunday school class, and before we knew it, we were
encountered an ice cream truck.
involved in the “Great Chase” for ice cream. It was as if we
I asked Kinsley if she wanted a snow cone or an ice
were chasing down a stagecoach.
cream, and the reply was a deafening, “YES.” So, I pulled
As we got back into my truck to meet our family for a
up behind this vehicle, flashed my lights and honked my
quick dinner before church, I heard the most heartwarming
horn, to no avail, as the truck kept on going, but so did we.
words that a “Poppy” can ever get, as Kinsley said, “Thanks
As I followed the truck, I told Kinsley that it was not going
Poppy, that was so fun.” I think sometimes the most fun
to stop, and I heard this reply, “Poppy, let’s chase it down.”
things in life just happen without being planned. Kinsley
Just like that, the great chase was on as we followed this
knows that I often write articles in this magazine, so she
vehicle to the great unknown.
said, “Poppy, when you get home, you need to write a
The deafening shrills and giggles were worth the chase
story about this.” I love writing stories about our exciting
as I got behind the truck and followed it around curves
escapades, but even more than that, I love writing stories in
and over hills. The entire chase involved lots of deafening
her little heart that will last a lifetime.
cries of “Poppy, don’t lose the truck, I want an ice cream.”
As she gets older, she will forget all of the gifts that I
In a matter of minutes, which seemed like hours, the truck
have bought her over the years, but she will never forget
made a turn down a dirt road, which was a side entrance
things like the “Great Chase.” As many of you might know,
to Lakeshore Park, where the truck stopped, with its music
I have been her “Babysitter” since she was four months old,
playing, and the “Great Chase” ended.
and every day is a new day of adventure and exploration. The most precious things in life are often free and happen without any planning or forethought. I am so looking forward to the
54 // June 2022
About The Author
next “Great Chase.”
Donald Cantrell is a lifelong native of Murray county and has been pastoring and preaching since 1980. He has had the honor of publishing over thirty books and his sermon material is sold all over the world by various online companies. If you visit his house any weekend in the fall you will find them watching the “Florida Gators or the New England Patriots… Chomp Chomp.”
