You're the Inspiration

Remember Kostas in Greece whose mom thought we were trying to take her son away? Well, in the ensuing years, she decided to bring a lawsuit against us for what had happened. In the lawsuit, she named my dad as the outreach director, Don Stephens as the ship leader and Costas Macris as the church pastor who had given Kostas a Bible. 

Costas Macris was the one who let us know about the lawsuit. When we heard about it, we just laughed. It seemed so ridiculous. They weren’t even going to inform my dad and Don. They were just going to try them in absentia. But Costas appealed to them to please consider returning for the trial. He believed the Greek Orthodox Church was using Kostas’s mom to bring the lawsuit in an effort to shut down the Protestant churches in Greece. If the lawsuit was won, Costas Macris would have been sent to prison and Don, my dad and potentially even YWAM in general would have never been allowed back into Greece. After praying about it, Don and my dad decided to go.

They flew to Greece for the trial while we were there in San Pedro. The day of the trial, a friend and I went to a local amusement park called Knott’s Berry Farm. Toward the end of the day she called the office to find out what had happened. To our shock, all three men received a sentence of 3 ½ years in jail and a $900 fine. Fortunately, they let them go pending an appeal and my dad got back just in time for Christmas.

Steve Wallett was home for Christmas in a town between L.A. and San Diego. We were both into a band called Undercover. They were a California group people called a Christian punk band. They were playing at Sea World in San Diego on New Year’s and Steve and I went to see them. And in an interesting turn of events, before the year was out, we would see them together again on a completely different continent.

After Christmas, the Canadian government returned the little ship to Florida and I was going to drive from L.A. to Jacksonville with my parents. Jackie Nutter, from South Africa (the lady who had been our hairdresser for the past few years) was also going to join the little ship. She was going to drive her car across with us.

In British culture, the word nutter is a pseudonym for crazy and we had an ongoing affectionate joke with Jackie about her last name. She really was crazy but in a fun kind of way. So the four of us looked forward to our journey together.

Only my dad and Jackie drove so my mom and I would switch off riding with each of them. During the trip, my dad started another family joke. He would always drive in front and when we would pass something unusual or amazing he would wind his window down and do an exaggerated point to the building or sunset or sign that was already obvious to the rest of us. Even though it was already so apparent, his antics in pointing it out made us laugh.

As far as I knew, my dad didn’t listen to the radio but as we drove we would switch around to different stations. A group called Chicago was popular at the time and they had a song called “You’re the Inspiration”. It came on and my dad started singing. I was thinking, “What in the world? My dad’s singing to a song off the radio?”. When I asked him about it he said he was singing to God. The chorus goes:

                                                You're the meaning in my life, 

                                                You're the inspiration.

                                               You bring feeling to my life, 

                                                You're the inspiration. 

                                                Wanna have you near me, 

                                                I wanna have you hear me sayin', 

                                                No one needs you more than I need you. 2

Many times on the journey, we sang that song together.

We had several overnight stops at various motels with the requisite minimal sleep because we were joking and laughing late into the night. One overnight was just outside New Orleans. My mom and Jackie were eager to go into town and expected my dad and I would be too. I guess I didn’t realize what an opportunity it was to be there because my dad and I decided we were too tired and stayed to do laundry instead. If I had it to do over again, I would have gone. It seems that everyone should go to New Orleans at least once if they have the opportunity. I have still never been. 

I only stayed a few weeks in Jacksonville, during which time my dad taught me to drive. I learned on Jackie’s car which was a stick shift. The only hills in that part of Florida are overpasses and there was one right next to the ship. So that’s where I learned to start stick shift on an incline. I got my license within two weeks and then moved to Switzerland…to a town built on a steep incline. But as I was only 17 and you had to be 18 to drive in Switzerland, I would have to wait a few months before I could test my very minimal hill-driving skills.

Jacksonville, FL on the "little ship"
(overpass in the background where I learned to start a stick shift on a "hill")


2. FOSTER, DAVID / CETERA, PETER You're The Inspiration lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group

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