How To Avoid Being Flipped: DEATH TRAPS

     I still remember the first time I flipped a motorcycle. It was back in the day of what they call ATC's (all terrain cycles), Just like a quad with only two tires in back and one in front. It was up in Pine, Arizona and I was out in the mountains where I learned how to ride. I can remember climbing uphill in third gear with the throttle wide open. Then all of a sudden the front wheel lifted off the ground and instead of a wheelie it flipped me right over backwards. I got kicked right off the back of the bike and landed on my butt.  I though to myself "well this sucks". I didn't even know what happened really. I got up to my feet and the ATC was still stuck straight up on it's back tires and leaning on the grab bar at the back. I pushed it back over and saw what had caught me. It was a small tree that was almost invisible at the angle I had come, but it was rooted and strong enough that after the front tire had ran it over, it sprung back up and pushed the bike backwards. I was pretty mad that something so small and stupid could put such a damper on my fun.

    I don't know how long it's been now. Truthfully it feels like I've been riding all of my life. I probably couldn't count on one hand how many times I've flipped or some dumb thing like that has happened to me. At the dunes, over backwards, in my backyard, in the dirt, into a creek, over top of me, down a mountain . . Some things just happen when you ride hard. One thing Ive noticed though, is that a lot of the things that make you flip over are some of the smallest, dumbest things imaginable that are the result of a mere coincidence or not paying attention for one second. This is in comparison to what you would expect to cause such an accident, like jumping, wheelies, and everything in that order. I did all that, and I can't remember ever flipping over (OK maybe once or twice). It's always the small things that I'd never expected.

    At the dunes, there are what they call kiddie tracks. When you're younger, you tend not to venture out and ride in the actual dunes and inside the big bowls so you stay closer to flat terrain. What the little kids usually do is ride their dirt-bikes, quads or whatever around in circles or figure eight's and make fun out of a little track. Over time they cut tracks and berms so it becomes like an actual cut out mini race track. You can make em just about anywhere but they are easier to form in the sand. One of the first things you learn when you ride in the dunes is to watch out for these "death traps". Reason being is that you don't know where they are. When you're hauling at eighty miles an hour across the sand, you might see it, but by the time you do, you can't stop in time when you're going that fast. What happens is the berms and all else hit you like a car hitting a speed bump at two hundred miles an hour. It will throw you like a mad bull pretty much. And it's nasty. These and countless other things that seem small and not worth worrying about are the things that will flip you the worst.
     Now look at our choices and the difference between good an evil. If you're one who tries your hardest not to sin, would you up and commit the biggest sin you could. . . . just cause? Of course not. For those who avoid sin like the black plague, it's easy to avoid the huge things that are the more feared and looked down upon. But what about the smaller more unpredictable things? The adversary has been at his job for, well, a long, long time. He knows what he's doing, and he knows how to do his job. He knows that it's less likely for one to jump into deep waters for any good reason, and he puts smaller, much more hidden traps for us to trip on. Even ones we don't see coming, or that are so menial that we cease to recognize their true danger. It is this way that Satan can gradually tie us down and make our temptations worsen until he can trick us into transgression.
    They say it's you're favorite sin that does you in. What we can see as menial and small compared to much larger and deadly sins, could be just the thing that can bring us down. We can't afford to be afraid though. Fear and doubt don't come from God. Faith and courage do. "Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway." -(John Wayne).
    We will make mistakes. We will fall short. We will get hurt. But if we turn our hearts to God and Jesus Christ, and center ourselves on the rock of our redeemer. We cannot fall. (Heleman 5:12)

 

The Tetris Wizard

   So the other morning I was stacking wood. I actually was having alot of fun believe it or not. The funny thing was, it took me longer to decide where to put the specific pieces than to move it all. It's tricky, you have to fit them this way and that way, making sure they don't sit wrong and tip over the stack. I even had to redo it a few times before I could get the stack to sit right. It was good for me I guess.
   It made me think of the old game called tetris. It was ironic to me because I really hated this game. It just didn't seem fun to me. You had that small colum and all these different shaped blocks fell down at different speeds and you had to flip them and get them to fit like some crazy jigsaw puzzle. At the end you couldn't have empty spaces because you needed to fit them all and not cross a certain line. Needless to say I was horrible at it. I played Dig-Dug instead. Or Galaga. That was more my style!
   I though about it for a while while I was busy building that stack of wood. I though about that one saying about the pieces of a puzzle, something to the effect of: "We are like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. We are all unique, and have our own special place in the puzzle of the universe. Without each of us, the puzzle is incomplete." Something like that at least . . . 
   We have all heard the saying "God don't make no junk." It's true, He doesn't. We are all His children and He loves each and every one of us. Likewise, there is a place for each and everyone of us in His plan. He doesn't leave one of us out because we don't fit, or throw us to a seperate pile because we have a few too many knots or twists. He has a place for everybody. 

    Think of everyone you know, and everyone you who makes a difference in your life. It's not a coincidence by any means. It is in fact, by divine design. I have people in my life who I know are Godsent. They know who they are and they know how much I love them. I wouldn't be where I am today without them either. We all have these people in our lives, and sometimes we just have to look to realize that God is behind everything. I know sometime's it's hard. For some of us, it's tough because of our situations and circumstances that we find ourselves in. But I testify that there is a God, that He loves us, that no matter how far we wander off we can come back, and no matter how odd or difficult we think we are, God always has a place for us. Wer'e worth alot more than we often think we are. 
   Keep the faith Brothers and Sisters. God Bless!