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The Third Time Is Not Always A Charm

They say there is a first time for everything, but I say there is a third time for some things.

the third time is not always a charm

What I’m referring to is the mistakes we make. Sometimes we can learn from our mistakes. There are other times when we just keep repeating the same mistake over and over.

If you do something for the first time that ends in failure, you may not want to try that again.

I know of people who had a car accident when they were first learning to drive. They were afraid of repeating their error so they decided not to ever drive again.

I think mistakes are important for us to learn from. They shouldn’t scare us away. We should use our mistakes to make corrections, to change the formula, to improve the process. 

That is why I keep using my garage every day. I don’t park outside the garage; I drive my car inside. 

The reason I tell you this is because the other day I drove my car into my garage door. 

You might be thinking that anyone can make a mistake, but this is not the first time I’ve done it.

This is the third time I’ve driven into my garage and wrecked something.

There is another saying, “third time’s a charm” … well, not when it comes to garage doors, it’s not. 

The first two times were a little different. I had a bike on top of my car both of those times and so I didn’t really hit my garage door but the frame above the door – one time destroying my bike rack and the other time knocking the side view mirror off my car.

This time it didn’t involve my bike, but the bike rack still gets a starring role in the story.

Usually when I come home from work, I hit the garage door button when I turn the corner onto our street. That way the door is almost up by the time I get to my driveway. 

This particular day last week, Lily was shovelling the driveway when I came home and she had the garage door already up. 

So when I hit the button, the door started closing instead of opening. As soon as I saw that, I hit the button again, but that only stopped the door. It didn’t send it back up. 

Meanwhile, I was smiling at Lily as I passed her on the driveway until “BOOM!” … The door was just low enough to catch the top of my bike rack.

I probably would have snuck under the door if the rack had not been there, but the lock on it is jammed and I can’t take it off.  

The accident pushed the bottom panel of the garage door off the track and put a good-sized dent in it. Now the alignment is off and the door doctor says I will have to replace the panel. 

At least we don’t need to replace the whole garage door. 

… And just maybe, after the third time, I’ve learned my lesson.

Here’s the thing: It is good to know that God will forgive you when you sin – even if it’s not the first time you have sinned that way. This doesn’t give you a license to sin, but it does give you hope that your failings can be forgiven even if you haven’t learned from your past mistakes.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What failing do you need to learn from? Leave your comments and questions below.

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Braking Is Overrated

There are times when it’s necessary to put on the brakes, but more often it’s better to be aware and adjust your speed. You don’t always have to brake. 

I drive behind so many people who put on their brakes going down a hill, with no one in front of them, and not going faster than the speed limit. They just like to put on their brakes.

Maybe they like to test their brakes to see if they’ll work in an emergency. 

To be honest, we don’t need to brake as much as we need to be aware of our surroundings.

When I mountain bike, I try to use my brakes as little as possible. Every time you touch the brakes, you lose some momentum. 

It’s not exactly the same in a car, but still we should look first before we brake. Many people brake before they look … or just hit the brakes because they haven’t in the last thirty seconds.

What really bugs me is the bumper sticker I’ve seen lately while driving around my city. I saw two cars in front of me the other day, both with that same sticker. It read “I brake for turtles”.

There may be many things you should or could do when you see a turtle on the road, but braking is not one of them.

Turtles don’t move very fast. It’s easy to gauge where they will be when your wheels go by them. You can move slightly in the lane to make sure they come between you tires.  

Please don’t brake. You’re more likely to cause an accident if you do, and then you might skid or be pushed by another car right into the turtle, squashing him in the middle of the road. 

I like turtles. We owned a turtle for about seven years. 

I remember when we got Winston, the water filter was so powerful it would literally push him around the tank, despite his desperate paddling like mad to get some control. … He was only the size of a toonie at that time.

We gave him to a family several years ago and sadly lost track of his address. With no cell phone or email for him, we had no way of tracking the poor little guy.

I still think of Winston and wonder what he might be doing today – maybe sunning himself on his rock or, heaven forbid, in some kind of turtle soup. 

I do like turtles, and I don’t want to see them get hurt, but let’s not brake for them. 

… For that matter, I can’t remember the last time I saw a turtle on the road, yet our city spent eleven million dollars to put up fencing so that turtles couldn’t get on the road! 

Instead of braking, look. If you see a turtle, you can avoid hitting it without evasive maneuvering or screeching to a halt. 

A good rule for driving – whether there is a pack of turtles on the road or you just haven’t touched your brakes in the last ten seconds – is to simply let your foot off the gas and look.  Just look around; just be aware. You might even save a turtle’s life.

Here’s the thing: Many times we react quickly to what is happening in our lives. We react immediately, much like touching the brakes on a car. But rather than reacting, it is better to pause, get a sense of what God might be doing or teaching you, and then respond with the correct action. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to refrain from reacting to right now? Leave your comments below.

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It Was My Most Difficult Drive Ever

Even though the driving conditions were excellent, last night was one of the most difficult drives I have made.

I’ve driven through snowstorms when all you could see were the big flakes coming right at the windshield. 

I’ve driven in rainstorms that were so heavy and dark that I was thankful when lightning flashed so I could see the lines on the highway.

But a drive like the other night’s ranked up there as one of my all-time most dreaded times behind the wheel.

Ironically, the weather couldn’t have been better. The roads were dry; the sky was so clear the moon and stars lit up the road.

The traffic was light and I was never hindered by trucks or cars from passing slower vehicles. 

What made the trip one of the worst was that I was tired … really tired.

I’d done a lot of driving in the previous two days, and had some late nights. Earlier in the afternoon we’d taken a two hour trip to see Lily’s mother for Mother’s Day.

I never go to bed at 9:30 pm but that night I could have. Instead, we were just starting to make the two hour trek back home.

I’ve had some scary night drives in the past. When I was young and foolish, I fell asleep in a buddy’s car driving back home from out-of-town.

When he woke me up, I thought we were home. He instead said we had a flat tire. I also noticed that my shoulder was a little sore.

I couldn’t get out of my side of the car, but when I climbed out the driver’s side and came around to my side, I noticed we had two flat tires, and racing stripe-like indents all along the body of the car from the steel cable on the guard rail. 

My friend, who was driving, had also fallen asleep. 

Another time in my 20’s, I was driving up to my girlfriend’s cottage late at night after working all day and leading a youth group activity in the evening. 

My girlfriend was tired and said she was just going to close her eyes. I turned up the music but it didn’t help. I woke up when we hit the shoulder. I swerved back onto the road, and eventually stopped the car about twenty feet down in the ditch between the highway.

I sure didn’t want that to happen this time, but I was so tired it could have. I snacked on a few things, changed my position often, and kept shaking my head.

I leaned forward so that my chin was almost on the steering wheel. Lily rubbed my back and pinched my shoulders – anything just to keep me awake.

We talked to our daughter on the phone for about thirty minutes of the trip. It was a good thing because just being involved in that conversation helped to keep me from closing my eyes.  

I was never happier to turn into our driveway. I think I was asleep within minutes of walking into the house.

Here’s the thing: When you are tired, there is a tremendous pull to give in, close your eyes and rest – even when you know that it’s dangerous to give in to that temptation. The urge is so strong, it can be overpowering. The best way to prevent that danger is to not put yourself in the situation at all. … When it comes to sin, the same is true: don’t put yourself in a place where the temptation is too great to resist.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you do to keep yourself from temptation? Leave your comments below.