Ouch

wind chime on left end

My friend Dave fell off of a ladder some years ago and broke his shoulder.  I fell off a ladder and broke a plant.

So I was going to hang up this wind chime on the bottom of the gutter on the front porch.  I do things like this because I can’t sit still.  I must always be doing something.  When I die, I think the world will stop and rest for a bit…. I just can’t.

So the ground in Florida is sand.  Florida is a giant sand bar.  I set up the ladder and was up on the top hooking up the wind chime when the ladder fell into a sink hole.  Down I went.  I grabbed onto the gutter to break my fall, and then I fell to the ground.  When I hit, I landed on this plant, and broke it in half.  The right half of the plant just sheared off.  I felt terrible.  I apologized to my wife.  

right side was broken off

Then I thought, "Hey this is Florida, anything grows here."  So I dug a hole and stuck the broken

piece in the ground.  Maybe it will come back.  If you are not from Florida, the thought of breaking off a branch, sticking it into the ground and expecting it to grow has to sound pretty ridiculous.

Right side has a new life!

The first few weeks were pretty tenuous.  It died from the bottom up, one leaf at a time.  Then I moved one of the sprinkler drips over by it. 

The plant has made an amazing recovery.  It is going to live.  Sheared off from it’s trunk, it is going to live.

What is the moral of this story? 

You may have something very painful happen to you.  You may think that you cannot survive. 

But you can.  And you will.

Grab onto the gutter and anything else that you can.  Drink deep of the water of life.  You can still live.  In God's economy nothing is broken beyond repair.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.



Travel with Pastor Jeff

Italy's Historic and Religious Sites
November 7-16, 2017
http://www.eo.travelwithus.com/tours/it17-brinkman-17768#eotours

Holy Land via Jordan
March 5-14 2018
http://www.eo.travelwithus.com/tours/hl18-brinkman-030518j-17768#eotours

Wesley's Ireland
October 8-17, 2018
http://www.eo.travelwithus.com/tours/wesley-in-ireland-2018-with-rev-jeff-brinkman#eotours