Life's Ups and Downs

I love roller-coasters. I didn’t always, but that was only because I had been too scared to try. When I was pretty young, my dad, of all people, talked me into riding one called “The Shockwave” at Six Flags in Arlington, TX. It was a double-loop, which back then was about as scary as they came. Nowadays, a double-loop is mild compared to some that twist you around and upside down as many as sixteen times. However, my dad’s argument for having me try it was this: “If you try this one and like it, you’ll probably like all of the other roller-coasters here!” Sure enough, after what seemed like waiting for hours, we made our way onto the car, and strapped in.

As the coaster train began to move out, I remember very clearly having some major second-guessing going on in my head, but I figured since my dad talked me into it, and he was right there with me, I was probably going to be okay. We slowly made the first climb towards the sky, and I promise you, I passed a few angels sitting on clouds just shaking their heads. The train dipped forward and we began to plummet towards our impending death. Just when I knew I was surely going to meet my Maker, an amazing thing happened: the train began to climb up into the loop. The track held us, and my world was suddenly, and literally turned upside down.

While I was being tossed about and lifted and dropped, I began to experience the exhilaration that comes with and adrenaline-boosting ride. I was very quickly transformed into a roller-coaster junkie, and now my mantra is that I will try it once, no matter how high, how upside-down, or how fast the thing goes. So far, I haven’t chickened out once.

Many people relate life with a roller-coaster ride. With the ups and downs we face, and sometimes the blind dips and dives we go through, it’s not a bad comparison. Some people love the unknown and really enjoy the challenges that life throws at them. For those, it’s exhilarating. For others, it’s very rattling, jarring, and even painful. The stress that it puts them under can leave them wishing for the very gentle and predictable kiddy train ride.

In either situation, I think back to my first ride. I was very apprehensive, but I was riding with my dad. Our Heavenly Father doesn’t leave us to take this ride by ourselves. He’s right there with us, and never leaves us alone. (Joshua 1:5, Matthew 28:20) The other thing about roller-coasters is that there is always a track. Even if you don’t see it, and the twists and turns seem to come out of nowhere, there is a design. Engineers spent a great deal of time and energy designing every detail of that track. Similarly, there is a God who knows every drop-off and climb that our life will take. Even when our track takes us to dark places, God has already been working to move that track to higher ground.

Life is not always the thrilling ride that we like at Six Flags. Sometimes it is terrifying and leaves us looking forward to the end of the ride. We must remember that we are not riding alone, and we are not free-falling at random. There is a track for us, and God will continue working to bring us closer to Him. It is our job to trust Him and follow where He leads so that we may experience all that this life has to offer, until we reach the eternal life that is promised to His Followers.

Until that day, strap in, take a deep breath, and look at your Father next to you to gain comfort and peace in the unknown.

Chain Reaction?

I’m not a big believer in what is loosely called the “chaos theory.” A butterfly flapping his wings in one part of the world and causing a tsunami in another part of the world seems a bit of a stretch to me. However, I am a believer in chain reactions. One event leading to reactions and results that influence how other actions and consequences occur does seem plausible to me.

In my last post, I talked about how my mower went on the fritz. The busted mower led me to write about it which led to another event that had an impact on my family. A couple of days after posting about my lawn mower turmoil, I was speaking with my wife on the phone on my way home after work. She asked me the question, “Did you go shopping or anything today?” I thought that was an odd question, and wondered if something posted in our checking account that she didn’t recognize. However, when I got home, she greeted me as I walked in the door and said, “come here, I want to show you something.”

She opened up the blinds to a window with a view of our back deck. Right up there next to the back door was a big box that contained one brand-new lawn mower. We’d been paid a visit by someone who obviously knew about the situation, and decided to do something very, VERY kind for us. SO, to that person, if they should happen to read this, thank you very much. Your generosity is very touching and actually created a very cool excitement within my little family. We were all talking about it for the rest of the evening! God used you to meet a need for us, and that means so much, and again, I thank you for your very thoughtful act.

I have to admit, I actually got a bit excited about mowing the grass! I’m the kind of guy that enjoys playing with “new toys,” so I was ready on Friday morning when the time came to get the mower out so I could fire it up. I did all the new mower prep, and when I pulled the starter cord, the engine came to life with a very satisfying roar.

As I began to mow, I honestly spent the time considering how this was truly a blessing in my life and how I needed to be thankful. I actually prayed right there while I was mowing, which is very different from my usual mowing pastime of mentally singing 90’s power ballads. As I prayed, I began to realize how often I ignored the blessings in my life. Sure, I’m aware on a big scale of how blessed I am, but as the old hymn challenges, I was attempting to count my blessings.

Eventually, I discovered that I could not name them all, because every new blessing I considered triggered a wave of other blessings that actually preceded it, and then the ones that came before that. Basically, I spent the two hours mowing really moving to a good place emotionally and spiritually. (We’ll discuss physically later--as allergy season kicked me in the face due to the pollen count.)

When I was finished mowing, and before I showered, I felt very compelled to send my wife a quick message telling her how wonderful she is and how thankful I am for her. I hugged on my kids when they got home, and even though it’s only been two days ago as I write this, the simple act of “counting my blessings” served as one of the greatest spiritual renewal experiences I’ve had in a long time.

Okay, so some would argue that this set of circumstances actually does not constitute a chain reaction. But, it certainly shows how one blessing can inspire us to consider the many other blessings God has brought before us. I dare say that if we ever get to a place where we are feeling somewhat stuck (like that old mower’s starter cord), taking the time to think about all the blessings you have received can serve as a jump start your heart needs to get back on track spiritually. At the very least it can brighten your day.

I never dreamed that my little thoughts about my my broken lawn mower and asking for and waiting for help would turn out like it did. The experience has truly been one that got to me on a deeper level than I could have imagined. I won’t tell you that all of our experiences will turn out this way, but why try and copy this experience when God can bring you a brand new one full of His blessings for you?

Mechanical Mess Up

I am not what you would call “Mechanically Inclined.” So I was rather upset when I encountered lawnmower issues last week. Here’s how it went down: Our yard was starting to look pretty rough, so I decided to get out and go ahead and cut down the budding growth. Not so much grass, mind you, but lots of little early spring “weeds” that were taking over. I managed to get most of the front yard done, which was my main concern since it stands out on a busy road, and people see that. However, with about ten minutes of work left to go, I starting hearing a terrible grating sound from under the mower.

Thinking I may have run over something, I quickly shut the mower off. I detached the lead from the spark plug (which is a trick someone else had to teach me), and lifted the front end of the mower to see if anything was tangled around the blade. What I discovered was that part of the metal bracing under the mower had literally torn, and was in the path of the blade, thus accounting for the horrible sound. Realizing that I simply needed to bend the piece back out of the way, I grabbed a rubber mallet and a pry bar from my tools.

Very gently, I laid the mower on the side and quickly got the metal piece out of the way. Unfortunately, I forgot that laying the mower sideways is not the best suggestion, as oil then flowed from the exhaust area and left a pool on the front walkway.

I cleaned the oil up as best as I could, and then added a bit more to the engine, as I had lost some in the sideways mower maneuver. After reattaching the lead to the spark plug, I tried to pull the starter cord, and my arm just about tore away from my body. The cord would NOT move at all. It was totally jammed. I tried to slowly twist the blade a bit to see if that would help, and it did not. At this point, I realized that I had a real problem. At least for me on my own.

You see, there will come a time and place when we all encounter something that we are just not equipped to handle on our own. My limited knowledge of lawnmowers kept me from going any further to figuring out my problem. I will have to rely on the skills of others at this point. In our lives, we will bump up against issues and problems that seem WAY out of our grasp, and can leave us feeling hopeless.

However, God is always there to provide a way through difficult times. He gives us His Word to provide insight, the Holy Spirit to give us His constant presence, friends to be by our side as we work through the issues, and people we admire and respect from which to seek council and advice. There is always someone who can help you. Part of growing in our faith and spiritual life is learning that we can’t do it all on our own. If we could do it all, we would have no need for God or for Jesus. In His infinite wisdom, God has given us many tools that we can use to fix our problem. We just need to be willing to swallow our pride a bit, and ask for that help.

It’s mostly just inconvenient that I couldn’t finish mowing the front lawn...and if you drive by, you’ll see that it’s kind of funny-looking as well. I can’t help that. But, I do know that within a few days, I’ll have some help and get the problem solved. The good news is, maybe I’ll learn some new tricks to keep the mower running for a bit longer. I may never be as good with engines as some people, but every time the mower has given me trouble, the help I receive from others pushes me just a bit further in my own understanding. You think that same principle applies to other areas of life?