Day 144- A Blow up First

It was late Saturday afternoon and I needed a "first."  Joel asked me about it and so he and I started brainstorming.  One idea led to another.  I mentioned shooting something and Joel liked the idea of blowing up something.  Typical father/son talk about something fun to do.  We came up this idea: we would shake up coke cans (full of course) and shoot them to see how big of an explosion it would make.  I shot shook up cans of coke for my "first."

I invited the family to be a part of this and everyone agreed.  Since everyone wanted to do this but certain members were a bit unsure about the noise and kick of the gun, I let them shoot the .22 rifle. I shot the .22 and a shotgun.  If you are wondering, if you shake up a can of coke real good and then shoot it, there will be a pretty cool explosion.

I went first with the .22.  The family was surprised how big of an explosion that made.  Joel went second since he helped come up with the idea.  He was fun to watch and pretty excited about it. Laura was a bit more excited about this one than I thought she would be.  She nailed it on the first shot.  This was reminiscent of several years ago when she went deer hunting and killed a deer the first time she shot at one.  In fact, it was the first and only time she's ever shot a high-powered rifle.  Hannah Grace went last because she was a bit timid about the noise. Afterwards, she was very happy that she shot one as well. After that, I shot one with the shotgun and it really blew up big. When we were finished, Joel said, "That was awesome." He said it like he meant it.

Guess who took over the photography at this point- I have lots of pictures similar to this one

As Christians, we need to be careful about blowing up.  We can get shook and shook by things like unkind comments, disappointments, stress at work, being misunderstood and if we are not walking in the Spirit, that pressure can build up until we explode.  That can cause a mess that is really hard to clean up.  Those explosions usually happen with words that we say that later we wish we had not said.  Often, we can really damage hearts of the people that are close to us.  Even though we can apologize and receive forgiveness, there is still some residual damage to relationships when that happens.

The key is to not let the pressure build up.  The coke cans were sealed and the pressure was not let off until we shot them. If there had been a hole somewhere, the pressure would not have built up.  As followers of Jesus, we can let the pressure off in healthy ways like praying, talking with a close Christian friend, worshipping, and things like that.  The pressure has to be let off somehow.  I have found that turning to Jesus is the best way to release some of that.  He understands what we are feeling better than anyone. He already knows how we are feeling so we might as well tell Him.  While doing that, we can confess our sins and thank God that He can handle our emotions and whatever turmoil we might be going through.  Also, talking things over with a godly friend is very helpful.  If there is someone that is mature enough to not get drawn into my emotions and also help me see this from God's perspective, that can be so helpful.

So, don't get blown up!  Instead, pray up, confess up, and give up to Jesus.  The Bible says in Hebrews 4:16 says, "Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

Looking calmly toward the abundant life
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. Purple
2. Watching LSU baseball with Joel
3. Hannah Grace is enjoying her swimming