Lessons From Scooby Doo?

I’m working from my house today because I have a sick kid, and I missed church yesterday being a bit under-the-weather myself. We’re both on the up-swing, but at least he gets to chill out and watch a little TV. It’s from this activity of his that I found inspiration for my thoughts today.

What is it that we can learn from Scooby Doo? We learn that Fred is an arrogant know-it-all, yet still likeable. We discover that Velma is full of knowledge and would do well on Jeopardy. Daphne follows Fred around and comes across as a prissy drama queen, but is really astute, and often discovers clues that help break the case.

But Scooby and Shaggy seem to be the biggest conundrum of all. They are always hungry, and they are always paranoid. (There are theory conspiracies that abound, but I feel that those are just a bit too “grown up” for a children’s show.) They don’t seem to want to be a part of the mystery solving, and most of the time end up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

However, it is through their bumbling and often ridiculous behavior that we learn some things. When they are afraid, which happens often, they run away. But, when they are really against the wall, and are forced to act, they often do what it takes to get away from the situation. For example, in this particular episode, they are being chased by “cursed mummies.” They run and run, but when they finally get chased into a room full of empty sarcophaguses, they are forced to trick the mummy, and actually trap him (her?) in one of the coffins. Then they use a conveniently placed chain and padlock to keep him inside.

When we’re being chased or plagued by fears, whether real or imaginary, how do we deal with them? Are we afraid of being laughed at or mocked? Do we fear for our jobs? Is confrontation like a dreadful disease that we avoid like the plague? There are times in my own life that I do all I can to get away from what scares me. I’ve run away, I’ve hidden, and I’ve even tried to eat enough ice-cream to help me forget about what scares me.

The thing to do is to face what we fear and do what it takes to contain those fears. We may not be able to lock the source of our fear in an empty egyptian casket, but we certainly can learn to face down the central reasons that we are afraid. If we lack confidence, we must remember that we are created in God’s image, and when we find our worth in our Creator, it can make it easier to grow more comfortable with who we are. We avoid confrontation because we don’t like to feel uncomfortable and awkward around other people. But, when we speak and live in Truth, we can approach the ones we must confront in a loving, careful manner, and even if it goes wrong, we can rest in the knowledge that we have done the right thing.

Being afraid is natural. But, we should never let fear get the best of us and make us immobile and cause us not to act. We can never beat fears if we run away from them. Facing them down is the only way to defeat them. Even if we’ve shouted “Zoiks!” and run away before, it’s never to late to face and bury our fears.

Once Upon A Time...

I find myself lately visiting a location that may not be altogether healthy. I call it “What If Land.” You may have been there before. Many people like to visit there from time to time. It’s a place where the imagination can run wild and can provide you with ideas that range from the hopeful to the downright silly. “What if I could actually fly like Superman?” “What if I really could dive into a pool filled with nothing but Jello?” “What if I could get out of debt and support a worthwhile ministry?”

Not all of the ideas that are visited in “What If Land” are good for us, however. Unfortunately, with many places, there are dangerous dark alleys and locations that in the old days might have been called “the wrong side of the tracks.” It is here where we find regrets and shame. “What if I had NOT done this…,” or “What if I had done this differently….” are places we visit, but can do nothing about. In fact, almost all of the scenes that play out in these dank spots will deal with past issues that we wish we could change. There is no hope in that. Some people will carry dread into future scenarios of “What if I die?” or “What if something tragic happens?” These things come to them in the slums of “What If Land.”

The scenic locations are filled with hope because very rarely, when a situation turns positive, do we go back and wish for different results. Why change something that brings joy and happiness? We like to dream the silly, because it lightens our mood or helps us escape the stress of life. We dream big because hope is a much more efficient and stable fuel than regret or worry. A really positive single moment in life can keep us flying high for days at a time, whereas a moment of pain can make us feel like we’re dragging a train behind us. It exhausts us mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically to try and move forward with shame as our power source.

The only thing we can really do from bad experiences of the past is to heal from them, try and learn from those mistakes, and move forward--doing all we can to avoid the same mistakes again. Wishing we could change what has already happened is hopeless. It’s impossible. But, “What if I steer clear of this mistake…” is a way to inspire us to do better and to get it right next time.

I have visited my fair share of dark alleys in “What If Land.” I don’t like it there. If I were to be completely honest, I spent a couple of hours there this morning in the way I handled a situation with my children. BUT, What if I go home and spend some time just loving on them and giving them my attention and affection? What if we wrestled on the floor and they laughed so hard they got the hiccups? These are much better tourist attractions in the land of “What If” than where I was earlier.

In fact, is it possible to become the mayor of our own individual “What If Land,” and do some major street-cleaning, and finally rid ourselves of living in the past? If God can remove our sins “...as far as the east is from the west…” (Psalm 103:12), can He not use that same power to point us forward? In fact, if He’s removed it from us, and we keep taking it up ourselves, aren’t we doing it our way and not God’s way, making it sinful? Hebrews 12:1-2 encourages us to “...throw off the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus…” How many races do you win by running backwards? We are meant to move forward, free from the burdens of the past, but wise from the lessons of the past.

Which “What If” are you clinging to today? Is it the prime spot with a four-star hotel overlooking the sea of opportunity? Or...well, you know. Don’t waste time in the dark spots. Fuel your jets with hope and inspire yourself of the world of possibilities that await us when we move forward towards Jesus.

The Core Of the Problem

About a month ago, we had a slow air leak in one of our tires. After not having much luck finding the source of the leak, I took it to a repair shop. Good news...I didn’t have to pay to repair the thing. Bad news...I had to pay to buy a whole new tire! That was not in our budget for the month, but we got it taken care of and are doing fine.

Several days ago, a different tire on the same vehicle started showing signs of an air leak. I checked the tire pressure, and where it is normally stays about 35 psi, it was around 12. So I aired the thing up, and it stayed fine for almost 36 hours. Then, on Saturday afternoon, it was down in the teens on the pressure gauge. So, I aired the thing up, got a soapy solution, and began to spray the tire mercilessly, looking for the offending hole. (For those that don’t know, the air leaking out will “blow bubbles” out of the soapy solution.)

I couldn’t find anything, and realized I needed to take the tire off the van to get the full view. I jacked up the van and began the process of removing the lug nuts only to discover that they were stuck and rusted in place. Thinking I just needed a bit more muscle, I twisted the lug wrench tighter. I heard a horrible shrieking sound, felt the nut turn a little bit, and then was suddenly off balance. Thinking the wrench had slipped free, I looked to the wheel only to discover that the nut was gone; As well as about a quarter of the lug stud. Oops. It had broken off!

Admitting that I was out of my league, I called up a good friend, and he came over to give me a hand. We decided to replace the stud first, so we made the run to the auto parts store, bought the pieces, and headed back to the house. In order to get the new stud in place, we needed to remove the brake rotor.

You guessed it...new problem. The rotor was stuck so badly that my friend thought we needed special tools to get it done, and he didn’t have them. We decided to put the whole thing back together and see if we could borrow the tools the next day and take a whirl at it after church. The whole time time we were doing all of this other stuff, we had been taking turns still examining the tire, trying to find the hole, and finding nothing.

Sunday afternoon rolls around, and the tire is back down to about 10 psi. I jack the van up, again, and begin the process of exorcising the demons from the lug nuts as I removed them, again, and then pulled off the tire. Again. My buddy arrived and we began disassembling the brakes. Here’s where we finally got some good news. While we couldn’t find the tools we needed, my friend spoke to a mechanic he knows, and we didn’t need them. The rotor was just stuck to the post due to some more rust. We sprayed WD-40 all over that sucker, and using a very sophisticated leverage system of screwdrivers, rubber mallets, hammers, and our legs and arms, we finally got that thing off.

We replaced the lug stud, reassembled the brakes, and put the tire back on. Still not sure what was going on, we just decided to air it up, and I’d take it to the shop the next day. As we removed the air compressor from the tire, the valve stem finally revealed itself to the problem as air blew out with enough force to shoot a paintball 100 yards. The little tiny “core” that is triggered from the compressor or tire gauge was blown, and even though the valve cap was on tight, air was still escaping. We “jiggled” it around to stop the massive air flow, and recapped the valve.

This morning, I had to put more air in the tire, and managed to make it to the shop. Once I told the mechanic what the problem was, he came out with a tiny piece, less than one-inch long. It was the new valve stem core. In literally less than 45 seconds, this man (and his special tool resembling a screwdriver) removed the old piece and installed the new core. Then, in a display of complete good-will, he didn’t even charge me anything!

Isn’t it funny how one tiny thing can cause so much trouble? That valve stem core weighed less than one ounce, and was shorter than the diameter of a penny. However, it caused several hours of trouble and concern. Even though the solution was apparently very simple, discovering the problem proved to be more difficult than I had hoped.

Many times, we can see the same things played out in us. One tiny little thing isn’t quite right in our lives, whether it’s un-checked sin, a single concern, or what we thought was just a menial task that we overlooked. That one “little thing” can lead to a world of hurt and cause many hours of lost time. It may even cause new problems as we attempt to figure out exactly what is wrong.

But, if we know something is wrong and we commit to getting it fixed, the rough road that comes from seeking out the real problems and subsequent solutions can help us in the long run. Repentance from sin restores our fellowship with God, but is often a painful process. Learning to trust others may be out of our comfort zone, but may be what we need to quit worrying. We don’t always want to climb out of the recliner to do that one last thing we forgot, but can save us time in back-tracking or having extra things to do in the chaos of trying to get ready work or school the next morning.

What is the little thing that is giving you trouble? Even if you don’t know what it is yet, pray about it, and commit to getting it resolved. God is faithful, and He will help you find what you need to do in order to keep the core of your relationship with Him strong and growing.

Life Is Messy

With a 17-month old around the house, we are constantly finding things in one place that should be in another. As he has become more mobile and independent, we have to watch more closely. Inevitably, we get distracted, and only discover what he’s been up to later on in the day.

Recently, after the kids were all in bed for the night, my wife and I sat down to watch a little TV. We find that escaping into an imaginary other world for awhile helps us to better handle the chaos of our own. As I got comfortable, my eyes drifted to the corner where we keep the toys for the little guy, and I saw what appeared to be a pile of dirt. With twin 6-year-old boys in the house as well, a pile of dirt isn’t necessarily foreign to us, but the placement of this one was. It wasn’t near a door or where the older guys might track it in before taking off their shoes, so it caught my attention.

I got up and walked towards it to see what I would need to clean it, hoping that a dust-buster would be all that was required. As I approached the small pile, I saw that the particles were larger than just dirt, and were spread out all over the corner with the toys, and were also scattered on the furniture near that corner. What a mess! Then as I began to look closer, I discovered what these small particles really were.

One of our son’s other favorite past-times is to open the cereal cabinet and drag boxes out whenever he wants a snack. It was cute the first two times. Now it’s just annoying. He had apparently gotten ahold of a box of LIFE cereal, and made off with a handful before we could wrangle the box from him. He stashed them on the floor, but then lost interest, and as he played, he crushed them, and the broken pieces transferred from him to his toys and the furniture.

LIFE is messy...as it turns out. Yes, a dust-buster worked this time, but that’s not always the case. What about in our daily life, when things get scattered and spread out? Sometimes we stash items from our “to do” list, and move on to something else, forgetting about them. Maybe there’s a relationship that needs some attention, but we can’t find the time, and before we know it, it is broken into little pieces. Unfortunately, It’s only until we sit down when we discover the displaced pieces of our life and remember these things we forgot to do, or find out just how shattered a relationship is. The messes can range from inconvenient to painful.

We can’t just whip out the cosmic dust-buster to get rid of these things. We have to clean up the messes, but in real-life, it’s more like putting together a deeply intricate puzzle instead of just throwing away the pieces. Fortunately, we don’t have to try and do this clean-up alone. God is there and can energize us to find that extra fifteen to twenty minutes to take care of the last thing on our list. He is there to provide guidance and direction as we painstakingly put the pieces of a relationship back in place. It may take time, but He is faithful, and can help us when we let Him.

At one point or another for all of us, life is messy. How we handle the mess is what helps us get stronger. Eventually we’ll see that life is not served best with milk, but with the solid food of spiritual growth, and we can get to that point where we can thank God for the messes.