But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubborn inclinations of their evil hearts. They went backward and not forward. Jeremiah 7:24
There was a rocket launch the other night on television that brought back memories of getting a front row seat to one a few years ago. We were out on a boat with the radio tuned in listening to preparations for launch. It was such an exciting feeling to hear the countdown to liftoff! I’m sure it took an incredible amount of planning and coordination in order to make it a success. So many things had to line up for it to happen while we were on the water. The weather, mechanics, and logistics could interrupt the takeoff of the rocket by NASA.
Although so many hours were put into making the launch a success, what we saw only lasted minutes. I asked the boys what they remembered of the short time, and they took a few minutes to think about that sunny day. They remembered those men and women patrolling the waters, making sure those present were at a safe distance from the launch area. They remembered the noise and how loud it was. They remembered the big cloud of vapor and a certain smell from the rocket launch.
I learned the basics from the NASA website. It said that rockets burn fuel. Most rocket engines turn the fuel into hot gas. The engine pushes the gas out of the back. The gas makes the rocket move forward. In space, the engine has nothing to push against. This is when the rocket works by Newton’s third law of motion which says that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
I learned all about Newton’s laws a few days ago. I decided to move a few rocks to make a sign that is at the end of my driveway look better. I was doing what you could loosely term “landscaping”; however I decided to do it without my hubby’s help. Oh, no big deal, I could move those rocks without any problems. The first day I moved several of the medium sized ones without any issues. I just put a few in the wheel barrow and used my incredibly strong muscles to take them up the driveway. Success!
I had bigger plans though. We had some larger rocks (that my hubby later informed me probably weighed three times my body weight per rock) that would look great around the sign. The hubby may or may not have said that I wasn’t to try to move them without his help. I may or may not be a little “strong willed” and decided that I wanted to get it done. The “me want now” mentality may or may not have happened. I enlisted the help of the oldest and off to work we went. It was hard work, but laughing and fun certainly played into our work time. We got them all moved with only a few scratches and scrapes. It was time to put the final one into place. This is where good old Newton knew what he was talking about.
The laws of motion were demonstrated quite painfully in an experiment with two rocks and my finger. Remember, I homeschool and experiments are good. We like to actually see things rather than just read about them. It sticks in minds better. Always wanting to expand the knowledge of my children, it was time to give a physics lesson. I believe I focused on the first law of motion in this particular educational experience. It says that an object at rest will remain at rest, and an object in motion will remain in motion, at a constant velocity unless or until outside forces act upon it. My finger was on that moving rock in motion until it ran into the rock that was already in place, being smashed in the process. How about that boys…did you see what I was trying to teach you?
After x-rays of my finger showed it wasn’t broken or fractured, I realized a couple important lessons. Yes, the bible says to obey your husbands. As hard as it is to say, lesson learned. Hopefully it sticks with me for a bit! Just like the rest of the Bible, this is true even when we fight against it. When our hubbies do love us and try to protect us, even when we don’t make it very easy on them, we need to listen as we want them to listen to us.
Lesson two had to do with my impatience (a whole other topic), which showed my stubbornness. I didn’t listen, I didn’t pay attention, and I paid the price. It set me back on all my jobs I wanted to complete because I had to take the time to get my finger checked plus run around with a bum finger for a few days. Definitely not going forward…
What advice from God have you been ignoring? Are you going to wait until you are shown a negative reaction to your action? Be smarter than that and learn from what God tells you the first time. Don’t be so stubborn that you have to get a firsthand illustration!
