The Coach Who Emptied the Bus

In 2019, a high school cross-country coach in rural Oregon named Dave Turnbow was loading his team onto the bus after a meet in Bend when he realized one runner was missing. Seventeen athletes were accounted for. But not Marcus, a quiet sophomore who had finished near the back of the pack and slipped away without anyone noticing.

The bus was warm. The team was tired. The highway home was three hours long. Every reasonable calculation said to call Marcus's parents, file a report, and head out.

Dave Turnbow shut off the engine.

He told his seventeen runners to stay put, grabbed a flashlight, and walked back into the cold November woods along the course trail. He found Marcus a mile and a half out, sitting on a fallen log with a twisted ankle, embarrassed and shivering, convinced no one would come back for him.

Turnbow carried that boy on his back to the bus. And when they climbed aboard, the whole team erupted — stomping their feet, banging on windows, shouting his name. Marcus buried his face in his hands and wept.

That is the heart of Luke 15. The Good Shepherd does not do the math. He does not weigh the inconvenience. He shuts off the engine and walks into the dark, because the one who wandered is not a number — that one has a name. And all of heaven stomps its feet when the lost are found.