STUCK - PART 3

This is part three of a post from two years ago called “Stuck.” In parts 1 and part 2, I shared a few experiences, from when I was younger and got stuck in some bad situations. In part 3, I want to talk about a few other times I was stuck.

My cousins and I were out riding around the old back roads. I always liked going down roads I had never gone down before. We were in a place that is known to flood when it rains a lot. There were sand bars on the road and in the fields left there from times when the river had overflowed into that area.

The road was getting rougher the farther we went, and I didn’t want to mess my car up, so I decided to turn around and head back to more familiar roads. I soon saw a little opening where trucks and tractors entered the field so I drove in to turn around. Well, that did it. The tires quickly sunk into that sand and my car came to a complete stop without me even applying the brake. WE WERE STUCK!

We all got out of the car to see how bad the situation was. It was pretty bad. Just about that time an old car came around the curve and slowly eased up to where we were and came to a stop. There were several shady-looking characters in the car and one of them stuck his head out and asked, “Y’all Need Ne help?”

Now, as far as I know, those men may have been the nicest guys in the world, just out riding around, like we were, but we were just teens and, at the time, most of our experiences with people who drink had not been good ones, so we said, “No Thanks.” They drove on and we started working to get the car unstuck. It wasn’t as bad as we had first thought, so we got it out of the sand, and we were soon on our way.

Another time that comes to mind is a little disturbing to me when I think back on it, but I’ll just go with “desperate times call for desperate measures.” My oldest son wasn’t even two yet. He and I were out just riding around. I came upon an old road that I had been down several years before I started driving. It was once the main road that connected two towns, but it hadn’t been used by the general public in many years. It was mostly used by deer hunters and dune buggy, and ATV riders. It was literally a dirt road.

As I drove down the road I was thinking it was still in pretty good shape. After we had driven for a while, I came around a curve and the road was blocked. A tree had fallen into the road. Even if the tree had not been there, it would have been impossible to continue on because there was a mud hole right where the tree had fallen. I was thinking we will have to turn back, but I noticed a trail bypassing the tree and mud hole. It appeared that several vehicles had left the road and had driven around the base of the tree.

There was a hump all down the side of the road where the road bank was higher than the road itself, so I knew that might be a problem. I was driving a small Toyota car, and it was pretty low to the ground. I knew I would not get over that hump traveling at a slow speed, so I gave it some gas and turned the wheel just as I came upon the detour. Instead of the car going over the hump and around the tree as I had planned, the tire hit the hump and simply slid down it, turning the car back on the road, and into the mud hole, and up under the fallen tree. I WAS STUCK AGAIN!

I tried to reverse the car but it only spun. I had some experience with stuck cars and I was sure it only needed a bit of a push while someone gave it a little gas. I had a dilemma because I had nobody to help me. My son was only a baby and he couldn’t help. He didn’t even know there was anything wrong. He just sat there in his car seat looking around.

We needed to get out of there. We were a long way from the main road and it would be getting dark soon. There was no time to walk out. I don’t remember seeing any light bulb pop up over my head, but I had an idea. I could turn the car on and put it in gear, then I could control the accelerator from under the hood. Then when the car came out of the mud, I could pull the coil wire off and the car would stop. Great idea, right? I wasn’t sure, so I unbuckled the car seat and took it out of the car with my son still buckled in it. Then I put him on the other side of some small trees on a higher level so I could still see him and there would be no way for the car to get anywhere near him just in case things didn’t go as planned.

With the car in gear and the wheels turning backward, I started pushing and it started moving. It was working! Then all of a sudden the hood started closing on me. It was being pushed down as the car was backing under the fallen tree. “No, no, no!” I screamed. I had to kill the car and it was still stuck.

While my son was just sitting quietly in his car seat just watching the action, and I was standing there, totally frustrated and as mad as a hornet, I was wondering why these kinds of things always happen to me. Just then, several people came by on ATVs and a couple of the guys helped me get the car unstuck. I was grateful and I thanked them, then we turned around and headed home.

There are many different ways we can get stuck, both literally and figuratively, but no situation is impossible with God on your side. I don’t remember the exact words I prayed that day, but I’m sure I asked him to tell ME what to do, not to send somebody to help me. I’ve learned, though, that God doesn’t always answer our prayers the way we want him to. He answers them in a way that is best for us. What I tried to do was dumb and dangerous. That was my idea, not God’s. I know he sent those nice people to help us that day, and I’m thankful he did.

We need to learn to wait on the Lord like it says in Psalm 27:14. We need to stay in constant communication with God and develop a close, personal relationship with him so we can hear and know his voice when he talks to us. We don’t need to wait until we get into trouble to talk to him. He has a lot to tell us every day, so we need to be quiet and listen. Prayer is two-way communication with God. It’s the key to a healthy relationship with him. So start using that key today.

Stuck - Part 1

http://teddylynn.blogspot.com/2015/12/stuck.html

Stuck - Part2 

https://teddylynn.blogspot.com/2016/12/stuck-part-2.html

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© 2017 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

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STUCK - PART 1

When I was really young I remember an incident where I was playing with several of my cousins. The adults were all gathered on the porch of my grandparents’ house. While the other kids were running back and forth jumping in and out of the road ditch, I looked into the culvert that went under the road and saw the light coming from the other end. Believe me, I don’t know what possessed me to do it, but I crawled in and headed for the other side.

I didn’t get far at all until I couldn’t go any further. I tried to back up, but no luck there either. I was stuck. I got scared and started screaming. Thank God someone heard me. My mother came and somehow managed to pull me to safety.

Well, you would think I would have learned my lesson, but no. A few short years later I found myself in almost the same situation again. We were on a school field trip, at the city park in the next town over. There was a real jet airplane there for children to play in. For some reason, I decided to crawl inside one of the wings. Once again, I came to the point where I couldn’t go forward, nor backward. I was stuck again. All I could do was cry for help. The teacher came and got me unstuck.

A few years later, I was messing around with a survival knife my grandmother had bought for me. I was so proud of it. It was awesome. The handle was a green camouflage color. It had a compass on top, which screwed off, revealing a hollow inside where all kinds of survival things were stored. Again, for some reason I can only venture to guess at now, I stuck my finger into the hole in the handle.

Once again, I was stuck. I began to panic. What could I do?! This time, out of the blue, it came to me. I had an idea. Just relax, and pull your finger out, slowly. It worked! I was so relieved. I was so happy. Did I learn my lesson? No, but I did learn something very important. Looking back at these, and other incidents, I see how God has watched over me. How he has always provided help for me, and when no one was around to help, he told me what to do to get out of the situation I was in.

Many times we think we had an idea when it was actually the Holy Spirit talking to us. We don’t always realize it, but he speaks to us all the time. That quiet voice we hear that tells us we shouldn’t do certain things, or sometimes it’s just a feeling. That’s the Holy Spirit. That’s how he speaks to us. The closer we get to him, the easier it is to recognize his voice. Don’t wait until you need help to talk to God. He has more to tell us than just how to get out of a jam. He’s the ultimate Father, and the best friend you’ll ever have. He always has time for us, so make time for him. You’ll be glad you did.

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© 2015 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

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THE KING OF THE HILL LOST HIS THRONE

No matter how good we are at parenting, or how well we train our children, they still disobey sometimes and I was no different when I was young. My grandmother raised me from the time I was three and she was like a mother to me. I remember several times when I didn’t listen to her and bad things happened, but I remember one in particular where I could have died.

I was twelve years old and we had just moved next door to my Mom and Dad. We were in a valley and there were hills all around. My cousins had built some wooden contraptions they called coasters, which were like go-carts without motors. They would pull them up the steep gravel road and ride them back down. They let me ride a couple of times and I was hooked. I had to build one for myself.

When my Grandmother found out we were playing in the road, she said it was too dangerous. We could get hit by a car. So, I found a hill in the woods and made a road there. It was awesome. Everybody LOVED it. It was summer and we were out of school. We spent hours riding down that hill every day. Pulling our coasters up was not an easy job but, the ride down was well worth whatever hardship it took to get back to the top of the hill.

I guess a couple of weeks went by, and I mean fun weeks. It was the most fun I had seen in years. Then one day, out of the blue, one of my cousins had a wreck on his coaster and hurt his ankle really bad. I don’t remember if it broke it or sprained it or what, but he couldn’t walk. Well, my Grandmother, being the good parent she was, banned us from the hill in the woods because now, that was too dangerous.

I knew she was only looking out for us because she didn’t want us to get hurt. I knew the Bible said Children should obey their parents, but I thought to myself, “She’s worried about nothing, I won’t get hurt. I know what my cousin did wrong. I won’t make the same mistake he did.” I tried to convince her, but she put her foot down and gave her final, No.

That didn’t stop me from going back though. It took me a couple of days to get my courage up, but finally, I headed out. I got my coaster and pulled it behind our house and up to where my Mom and Dad’s house would be between me and my Grandmother, so she wouldn’t be able to see me. Then, I cut across a field of honeysuckles and sage grass.

My grandmother couldn’t see me, but God could. I’m so glad he did. I stopped and looked back just in time to see a black, tornado-shaped mass coming up out of the ground. It was a swarm of bumblebees. I was highly allergic to bee stings at the time. One hornet had stung me a few years earlier and caused me a lot of trouble, so all I could think to do was run, and that’s what I did.

As I ran back toward home screaming, I remember getting stung on top of my head first. Then, just as I jumped a ditch, I got stung on my butt. Just when I thought I might get away, they were all over me. I saw my mom and started yelling at her, “They got me, they got me!” She told me to take off my clothes and she sprayed me with the water hose until the bees decided to leave me alone.

When it was all over and I was standing there in my underwear, soaking wet, I had only been stung seven times, but knowing I was allergic, they loaded me up and took me to the emergency room. I don’t remember much about being there, but I know it could have turned out worse than it did. I know I saw a lot more than seven bees come out of that nest, but God was with me and I didn’t die that time.

I wish I could say I never disobeyed again, but that would be a lie. I share more stories about other times I disobeyed in my book series, "THE JOURNEY TO HEAVEN, and INSPIRATION FOR THE JOURNEY. (Link Below) 

Looking back at all the times I didn’t listen and got hurt, or got into some other kind of trouble, I realize just how important it is to obey God. At times we may not understand why he doesn’t want us to do certain things, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore his warnings. We shouldn’t look at God’s commandments as a list of DON’Ts, but as warnings to protect us from harm. God loves us and he wants what’s best for us so we can be safe and happy. We will always go wrong when we do what He tells us not to.

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https://teddylynn.wordpress.com

© 2014 Teddy Lynn – All Rights Reserved

My books are available in paperback and digital format on Amazon @ 
https://www.amazon.com/Teddy-Lynn/e/B01MZDB6L6