Flashback: Clean it up and Try again

The first day at a new job is an unforgettable experience. Let's just say mine at the Auto Shop was less than ideal.

Tony truly is an awesome boss. However, his methods of teaching are a little... Different, shall we say. I started working for him back in the fall of 2009, and as a young, still in highschool kid, I had never learned how to use a ratchet wrench, much less work on automobiles. I don't even know why Tony hired me really. I had no experience and could only work a few hours a week.
Maybe it was the fact I was working for free....
Or it could have been sympathy.

Whatever the case, he did hire me to work there and allowed me to restore my car in his shop. I'll never forget that first day. I strolled in around 9:00am, expected to be given an orientation on what Tony expected, what he was going to show me, etc. Instead, he handed me a wrench and some keys and said "There's a Mercedes Benz out front, the black one, pull that around and change the spark plugs and the oil."
I stood there kinda shocked and dumbly said, "Can you show me where the sparkplugs are?"
"After you pull the car around and get it open, sure." Tony replied

So I, a 17 year old guy with minimal driving experience, got into the $30,000+ car and terrified I would bump it into something, pulled it into the shop. It took about 20 min I was going so slow. After another 10 minutes, I finally figured out how to open the hood. Tony showed me where the spark plugs were, and explained how they worked with the timing system. I of course asked what the timing system was, which he went on to explain that as well. It is now 10:00 and I finally had a tool in hand ready to do... something. Tony went back into the office.
I still don't know what he did in there all day.

So a little more confident, now knowing what exactly to remove, I located a socket, and then proceeded to figure out how exactly the wrench worked. Sounds dumb, but it did take me a few minutes. I proceeded to remove one sparkplug. Pulling it out made me feel so victorious. I had five more to go... On plug number 3, I broke it. Granted it was a bad plug and was going to be tossed, but is was quite embarrassing for me. Thankfully, nothing dropped into the engine itself. That would have made for a worse day for sure.

Around noon, I had gotten four plugs out. Tony came in to check on me, commented on the broke plug, and told me to take lunch. So I did, and got back to it around 12:30. Finally, around 1:30, I had removed all six plugs. Now, heheh, I just had to put the new ones in. At 3:00, six hours later, I finally had successfully changed all the plugs in the mercedes, and not lost track of the timing wires. (A plug job takes me now about 30-45 minutes, which is the standard speed.) 

Tony came in, checked what I had done, then said to change the oil. This is where the first flashback lesson comes in. In my arrogant little mind, I instantly thought "Haha! I changed the plugs perfectly (even if it took a little longer than normal), and I know how to change the oil. Piece of cake." How does that saying go again? Pride before the fall? Well, I removed the plug, drained the old oil, and removed the old filter. I forgot oil would still be in the filter, and because of that dumped it all over my shirt.

The new filter and oil came in a bit later, so now it is about 4:00pm. An hour left until the day is over. I checked the ring on the oil filter, screwed it in, and poured the oil into the engine as proud as could be. I mean, hey, I got a whole car done in a single day. Without wasting any parts or breaking any tools. I was feeling pretty sure of myself, completely missing how badly I had performed in hours/labor.

Then Tony walked in, I remember this like it was yesterday.... He looks under the car, and asks...
"You put the plug back in?"
Ever have that moment of complete and undeniable stupidity founded in arrogance? That was me. Right then, my little image of "master mechanic" was crushed like a car compactor in a junk yard. I had forgotten to put the pan plug back in, and had proceeded to pour four quarts of brand new oil all over the shop floor. I was devastated. I knew right then, I was going to get fired on my first day. I was a horrid mechanic. I couldn't even change the stinking oil without wasting money!

And then Tony said something which has stuck to me this day. He is not a believer, he rejects Christ, but what he said was something which had the incredible qualities of grace.
"Well, clean it up and try again, this time with the plug in."
He didn't get mad, he didn't fuss at me, he didn't even make me pay for the oil (I tried). He didn't tell me to stop working. In fact, he made a joke out of the situation, and told me to try again.

Tony may not be wise in the ways of the Lord, which saddens me immensely. But he is wise in the ways of leadership and direction. Which got me, because when I make a mistake, too often I am quick to snap at them and make sure they never forget the wrong they did. Tony taught me that day, my first day, you are going to make mistakes. Your employees are going to make mistakes, and lots of them. He, a non-believer, choose to show grace and patience. While I, a professing Christian, was (and still am) short and quick to punish. That first day I was not only ashamed of the lack of my skill, but more-so at the fact God had to use one who blasphemes Him daily to teach me just how messed up I still was and am.

Everyday I have to clean it up and try again. How about you?

Flashback: A little girl named Boope'

Setting: August 2010, in the Zambia bush. On a six week mission trip with Mr. Matt.

Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Boopé. Boopé lived in the Zambian bush, which is equivalent to our rural areas of the US. She lived in a one room mud hut with a thatched roof. No electricity. No running water. No comforts of any kind, save for the grass doll her mother made her. 

Boopé was also an orphan. 

Her father died in 2009 of malaria. When he came down with the sickness, they had no way of getting to a hospital which was a 45 min car drive away. So, Boopé's mother cared for him until it was clear he was not going to get better. She had no money for a bus ticket, so had to borrow a bike from a neighbor to transport her husband to the hospital. It was a 70+ mile trip, and he died on the way.

A $2 (USD) bus ticket would have gotten him to a hospital where they could have given him a shot, and he would have recovered.

Boopé came down with Malaria in early 2010. Mr. Matt was there, and by God's grace went to the bush a week which he was not supposed to. They got her to a hospital and she survived.

Left to Right: Boope's "Uncle" (a man just helping the two survive), Boope, and her mother.

This was one of the very first stories I heard when I went to Zambia. It was also the first time I seriously asked God "Why?". Yes I had seen the orphans on the street. Yes I had seen the poverty of the Nation.
   But when I heard a father died, because they could afford a $2 bus ticket, I was shaken. How many times have we blown $2 on a soda? A candy bar? Heck, even lost $2 worth of change.
It could have saved the man's life.

To say I was upset would be an understatement. Internally, my head knew it was God's plan, but my heart was revolted that such a plan would include a little girl who had nothing lose her father as well. This is the thing which I came to see being shown to me over and over again while in Zambia. It had to be drilled into me again and again. I remember searching Psalms, Proverbs, James, and more for scripture which would tell me why He let such a thing happen.

I found the answer in the latter part of Job, Chapters 38-42. A small excerpt is below.
Click here to Read Job 38-42

Moreover the Lord answered Job, and said:
   “Shall the one who contends with the Almighty correct Him?
He who rebukes God, let him answer it.”

Then Job answered the Lord and said:
   “Behold, I am vile;
What shall I answer You?
I lay my hand over my mouth.
   Once I have spoken, but I will not answer;
Yes, twice, but I will proceed no further.”

That passage struck me so hard I remember it quite vividly. Who was I to question the Lord's ways in such ignorance? To think I knew it would be better if her father lived. Reading that passage could quite possibly be the most humbling experience I've encountered. My, coming from America with money to "help", "sacrificing" myself to serve, and then seeing how really prideful my heart was (and still is) in rejecting the fact God does indeed know best.

Who are we to question the Lord in his perfect, abundant, exponential, awesome, mighty, incredible, omnipotent, and eternal plan?

Looking at Boopé and her mother. They weren't angry with God. They didn't turn away from Him. They continued to attend church and desired to learn.
   I learned that week I may have been able to give physically, but Boopé, her mother, and their story gave to me spiritually. How incredibly humbling, to find the people you traveled the world to help and teach, first inadvertently taught and helped you through their example and spirit.

Flashbacks: The Power of Stories

We all have life stories.

Stories of joy, stories of suffering, and stories of lessons learned. The cool thing is, God uses these events in out lives to teach us things. To grow us in our character. And to strengthen our relationship with him.

I have found though, all to often we forget these events, which hurt us, and prevent us from teaching others what we have learned in life. Often we remember the lesson, but not the context. Thing is, people don't remember lectures about why you shouldn't do something....
   They remember stories, and the result of the actions which took place in that story. The lessons learned from life experiences stick with a person. Look at scripture, how did Christ teach? Through stories.

So I personally have been challenged to not only recall past stories, but to share and record them. I never have journaled, which is huge flaw on my part. But it is simply something I cannot do. These coming "Flashbacks" is an effort on my part to record past events of my life which taught me something. I do this not for my benefit, but for the benefit of my future family, and maybe you might learn something too. I'd also like to challenge you, what are your memorable flashbacks? What are events, people, times which are burned into your memory from experience?

I'll be answering those questions in the future. I hope you will join me and do the same.