The long journey of politics and life.

When I bought my 2000 Jeep Cherokee in 2001 I had no idea that I would still be driving it 13 years later and see it roll over a quarter of a million miles.  I also had no idea that it would happen on Primary Election Day in 2014 and that I would be a candidate on the ballot.

I had no idea that it would carry my new wife and I over the mountains of New Mexico for our first anniversary in 2001 or to 14,000 feet in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado in 2002.  I never could have guessed that it would transport my first son home from the NICU when he was three weeks old in 2003 or that it would carry me all over Texas to earn a living and grow our family in all the years since.  It was fun to be with my little guy this morning as we drove our Precinct in Johnson County, Texas to put our campaign signs at the polling places in anticipation of the next leg of the journey God will call me to.

Win, lose or run-off isn't what matters.  It's about the journey, the people you meet along the way and what you do with the time you've been given.  250,000 miles is a long way, but it's not the end of the road and neither is my mission.  The specifics of that mission will be the question tonight when the polls close.

I think it's a good thing to pause every now and then on the milestones of life and just be thankful for the road that got you there, and maybe the vehicle.  Mountains, valleys, mud and rocks and sometimes just smooth highway.

May your road be smooth and may you have four wheel drive when you need it.

A.J.