In March of 2021 it was my pleasure to purchase a beautiful, yellow, and silver, 2005 Screamin’ Eagle Electra Glide from a lifelong friend. While he had bought the motorcycle brand new, he had not ridden it very much because he owned several other bikes. At sixteen years old, the Screamin’ Eagle was still in good condition, and only had 848 miles on the odometer. Yes, I said 848 miles! I named her Miss Frances after the previous owner’s mom.

When I brought Miss Frances home, I set about doing a few things for her. I dislike fairing lowers, so as soon as she rolled off the trailer, I removed them from the highway bars. The tires still looked brand new, but they were sixteen years old, so naturally, they needed to be replaced. The gas tank had some rust inside, the fuel filter was gunky, and the fuel pump had gone bad from lack of use, so those things had to be addressed.

After the initial work, a full service, and a fresh tank of gas, I started her up and she ran like a top!

Fast forward to November of 2022. Every year, a group of brothers and myself take a ride from Greenwood South Carolina to Galveston TX for the Lone Star Rally. Now, for most of my road trips, my motorcycle of choice is my 2015 Street Glide Special. The NAV system along with other modern conveniences make touring simple and easy. This year, however, I was toying with the idea of riding Miss Frances to Texas.

Now keep in mind, it has some 2005 quirks. The five-speed transmission and five-gallon tank weren’t a big deal, but the lack of antilock brakes and the skinny back tire made me a bit nervous, especially where wet weather was concerned. Still, I committed to riding Miss Frances to the rally, and prepared for the trip.

There were absolutely no issues, and I had a great ride there and back. Since that road trip went so well, I decided to take her to DC the following May for Rolling to Remember. As before, she was flawless and there were no problems.

When I arrived at home after the DC trip, I pulled my garage door closed, and stepped over to look at her odometer. Two years after I purchased what some people would consider a barn find, Miss Frances had gone from 848 miles to a little over 11,000. There would have been even more miles on her if I didn’t own two other motorcycles as well.

Looking at her mileage made me think.

The day she rolled off the assembly line, she was the finest, top of the line, touring machine Harley Davidson produced in 2005. Then, for most of her first sixteen years, she sat in a garage covered up. She was taken care of, and her owner loved her, but she was built for touring and not sitting. Until now, she had never reached her full potential, and when she did, she shined!

Full Potential…

Just like those Harley Davidson engineers had cross country touring in mind for the Screamin’ Eagle Electra Glide from day one, when God designed each of us, he had a specific purpose in mind.

Then, just as that motorcycle sat covered up for years and never achieved her intended purpose, we may have wasted precious time living life our own way. We may have spent years ignoring the God ordained direction He intended for us when he oversaw our creation.

Miss Frances would have wasted herself away and wound up as scrap metal if she had not been given that second chance to shine. In that same way, if we live our lives only for ourselves and not for Jesus, we are destined for eternal separation and destruction. But we too have another chance!

Are you wasting away? Are you living out your full potential for Jesus? If not, what are you waiting for? Take hold of Jesus' hand today, because now it’s YOUR turn to shine!

You will never regret it!

Ephesians 2:10 NIV “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”