Bo's Café (27 page)

Today, dressed in a tie, I feel like a character from an old Sinatra movie, on the Vegas Strip, making his way to the Dunes
to rough up someone with his brass knuckles.

But, alas, today Andy and I are exchanging cars.

At least that’s what he thinks.

I have waited for this moment all week. Maybe I have waited for this moment my whole life. Some call what is about to happen
convergence
. Andy calls it the
true legacy of exchange
. This is the stuff you expect to see only in movies. And now it is happening in my world. How crazy. Before the world began,
God showed the angels this whole scene on tape delay, and now it takes place on earth. This is what Andy has waited for all
along. He’s been modeling the necessary destination of the very relationship he initiated. He knew that for it to be authentic,
someday, in some areas, the student would have to become the teacher. The one being protected would become the protector.
This is the life Andy led me into. This is what I have matured into. He’s been working toward this since the day we met! He
just didn’t know it would happen like this.

I cannot wait to see the expression on his face.

I have my Oakleys on, the ones with glare-resistant lenses and unbreakable frames. I’ve called ahead, asking him to be outside
when I pull up. I’m very, very good, if I do say so myself.

I turn onto his street and spot him off in the distance, standing out front, next to my Mercedes.

Here we go.

I pull up next to the Mercedes, out in the middle of the street. I put the car in park, the engine still running.

He looks at me, confused. “What’s going on?”

We both stare at each other. I say nothing. I just smile and put my right arm on top of the seat. I’m suddenly flooded with
a blur of experiences he and I have shared on this amazing ride.

Threatening him at Fenton’s. Driving us up on the hill, blowing smoke rings into the night air. Hearing his voice as the sound
track for the scenes below I was starting to see for the first time. Talking me out of my own house, over the phone. Walking
me through my first visit to Bo’s. Listening to him describe his business failure. Watching me, in my office, trapping myself.
Holding cups of coffee at the marina. Letting go of the wheel, out on the ocean. Confronting my lies after I hurt Lindsey
at lunch. Sitting next to him as he bares his soul about his dad. Waking up to him on our doorstep behind shopping bags holding
ingredients for his Norwegian streusel.

“Steven?”

I am so excited I can barely say it with a straight face. “Good morning, Andy. Get in.”

He’s taken aback. “What do you mean? Where are we going?”

“We’re going to go see your dad.”

Andy is expressionless.

“You’re going to need these.” I toss him a pair of my Oakleys.

Andy tries to say something to buy time. “Uh, what do you… you mean right
now
? Because I was going to…”

“Look, I’m pretty sure this car will take us to the places you need to go. But I can’t make you get in.”

“But I thought we were gonna exchange cars today.”

That’s when I give him the answer I’ve rehearsed all week long. “I can’t, Andy. At least not on your terms. So are you getting
in, or am I gonna buy you a pound of coffee and send you on your way?”

Ka ching.

He looks at me a long time. Then he looks down, his hands in his pockets, gently kicking at the ground. The exchange is taking
place, only now in reverse. Like a boomerang, what Andy threw out as a gift has finally found its way back to him.

Then he looks up at me, almost smiling.

“You’re good. You’re very good. All right, Steven, let’s go see my dad.”

Go figure. Andy is letting me protect
him
.

Andy reaches in to open the door with the inside handle. He puts on my Oakleys and sits down in the passenger seat. He runs
his hands along the seat, and then sits back as far as he can, settling in for a ride down the coast.

He pulls out a cigar and begins to unwrap it. “Do you mind if I smoke?” he asks.

“Yes, I do.” I don’t, really. I’ve just wanted the chance to say that for so long.

I caught him off guard, just as I’d hoped. He answers quickly. “Oh, yes, well, sure. Sorry.” He puts the cigar back into his
shirt and continues, “You’re right. I’ve been trying to quit. I really am going to quit.”

And with that the giant Electra convertible rumbles its way out of his neighborhood.

Two prodigals, with vastly different journeys, are together again, finding their way back home.

We are grateful to those who continue to teach us God’s grace in spite of what is true about us, and for those who introduced
us to his dreams for our lives and now stand with us as we are privileged to share truths with others.

Thanks to our loyal board of directors, our dedicated staff, our generous financial partners, our advisory council, and the
friends of TrueFaced for your timeless encouragement and sacrificial investments. We especially thank Amber Ong Kakimoto,
Rod Gipson, Doris Wescott, Jason Lehman, David Pinkerton, Shannon McCarthy, and Steve and Carol Barger, in whose mountain
home many of these pages were penned.

Most significantly, we thank Toben Heim, our media director at TrueFaced Resources & Leadership Catalyst. Toben shepherded
this project through its last year with editorial, marketing, and publishing savvy that we three coauthors didn’t possess.
Like us, this TrueFaced message of
Bo’s Café
has rescued Toben’s life. Toben, you are a rare blend!

Without the invitation of William Young we would never have met our collaborators and publishers at Windblown. Wayne Jacobsen,
Brad Cummings, and Mick Silva—you have been an unexpected gift of immense significance. Thank you for your storytelling ways,
your editorial nuance, and your generosity.

We uniquely appreciate our friend Bob Ryan, a gifted playwright and musician, who again owes his life to the truths embodied
in
Bo’s Café
. Bob, your exquisite literary “catches” add intrigue and energy to this story.

Thanks to the men and women of Sharky Productions theater troupe, Open Door Fellowship, the Neighborhood Church, Spring Mountain
Bible Church, and EBMMAS (the Ernest Borgnine Memorial Music Appreciation Society), with whom we are privileged to enjoy community
and live in these truths.

We are grateful to the more than fifty volunteer readers, researchers, media experts, and storytellers who love this message
and use their talents to propel this incredible message of God’s grace: people like Nathan Mates, Bob Snow, Kathy Deering,
Mike Hamel, and Jason Pearson, who contributed their insights, critique, or substantial refinement to
Bo’s Café
.

Thanks to the men and women who followed God’s nudge in their lives, embraced these truths, and now represent that diverse
group around the world on which the story of
Bo’s Café
is based.

Finally, we thank our wives and families, who are the most loving and faithful mirrors of these truths in our lives, both
when we are living in them and when we stray from them.

Sharing This Book with Others

If you have been encouraged by the message of grace and life change contained in these pages and would like to share it with
others, here are some ideas and easy ways to help.

•   We will be blogging on
www.boscafe.com
at least once a week. Come by and check it out. We’ll have plenty of stories to tell about how this message is spreading.
Leave us a comment and tell us your grace-story!

•   Be our friend on Facebook. Just search for
Bo’s Café Book
and you’ll find us. We promise to confirm you as a friend! This is a great way to stay in touch with what’s going on with
the book and the authors.

•   We know many of you have blogs, Facebook pages, and Twitter accounts. We’d love to have you post a review of the book along
with a link to
www.boscafe.com
. You can also leave your thoughts at Amazon.com. Your recommendation is all many will need to pick up the book and start
their journey.

•   Create a simple button or use a JPEG of the cover on your Web site or blog with a link to
www.boscafe.com
. This is the easiest way for your friends, family, and readers to start their own journey into grace.

•   Buy a few copies to give away. We have a friend who takes a copy of the book on the plane with him just so he can leave
it in a seat-back pocket for whoever sits there next. Another friend gives a copy away to her server in restaurants. Of course
you can give them to people you know well too!

•   If you have a great opportunity for one of our authors to appear on your local radio station, morning TV show, or in a local
print publication, send us an e-mail at [email protected] and let us know about it. We’ll take it from there, providing
a review copy and other information to help them make their decision to help us spread the word.

•   We can’t travel and speak in all the places we wish we could, but if you have an opportunity for one of our authors to speak
at your church, your organization, or conference, send us an e-mail at [email protected] and we’ll see what we can arrange.

Our prayer is that more and more people will come to discover the life and freedom in Christ that living in his grace affords
us. We have given our lives to helping people move into relationships and environments of grace where they can be authentic
and who they were created to be. Thanks for your part in passing along the opportunity to live a grace-filled life!

John Lynch

As a great communicator and a talented writer, John Lynch is a vital member of the Leadership Catalyst/TrueFaced community.
John has coauthored a number of books and resources with Bill and Bruce, including the bestseller
TrueFaced
and the popular
TrueFaced
audio-video message.

Bill Thrall

As vice chair and coauthor for Leadership Catalyst/TrueFaced, Bill has a desire to see relational health in those he works
with. His eloquence and integrity have given him opportunities to teach these principles internationally. His wisdom has been
penned throughout the entire series of The Ascent of a Leader, Beyond Your Best, and TrueFaced Experience books.

Bruce McNicol

As cofounder and president of Leadership Catalyst/TrueFaced, Bruce has a passion to see tens of thousands of safe places like
Bo’s Café established around the world, whether they are families, businesses, schools, hospitals, churches, organizations,
sports teams, the military, or governments. Bruce’s degrees in finance law, theology, leadership, and organizational development
helped hone his gift to speak to the lives of others, which continues to draw international audiences.

Coming soon from Windblown Media

Newbury Park, California

The Misunderstood God: The Lies Religion Tells Us About God
by Darin Hufford

Is there more to God than meets the religious eye? From the publishers of
The Shack
comes a provocative book that further unveils the unfathomable love and grace of God. Author Darin Hufford takes God’s claim
to be love itself and holds it up against God’s own definition of love in one of the most beloved passages of the Bible—1
Corinthians 13. Scripture calls him the God of love, but religion often portrays him with the vindictive personality of the
devil. Which one is he and how can we be sure? If you’ve ever struggled to understand the nature of God, this book will help
you come to see that God is truly the definition of love.