July 5 – “Just by accident”

So what did you do on July 4th?  That's the day for barbeques and family gatherings and watching (or setting off in person) fireworks, right?  I remember as a kid around six or eight years old, that we would get some of those plain old Black Cat fire crackers.  It was fun to break them in half and pour out all the gunpowder - or whatever the stuff is inside that blows up – into a big pile.  The of course the next step is to touch the pile with a punk.  Those were the slow-burning sticks that had but one purpose, to light fireworks.  Most of the time they worked pretty well.    There was that one time, though that we had a big pile of powder, ready to blow, but we just couldn't get our stash to catch.  We tried different punks, but the most that would happen was a brief array of sizzling smoke.  Finally, my mean older brother and the older guys who lived next door convinced poor little gullible me that the thing to do was light a match, then get close enough to blow on the site when the smoke began.  They assured me it would work.  And being the totally trusting middle child that I was, I agreed to handle it.  It worked.  As I leaned over close to the pile, ready to provide the added air to bring the flames to life, I lit the match.  And the tiny spark touched the powder.  And the entire pile exploded in a fireball that resembled a miniature atom bomb – right into my face.  I jumped back in horror.  My eyebrows were singed.  Bits of my hair curled into little balls.  My heart was racing.  And my brother and the neighbor guys?  Doing their best – not particularly effectively – to maintain straight faces and not burst into the hysterical laughter which was building within.    So the Fourth of July, New Years Eve, and any other opportunity to shoot off fireworks became pretty much a spectator sport for me.  We sit on our front porch on summer Friday nights and watch the displays over at Moody Gardens.  And last night we even decided to forego the city spectacular altogether in favor of a quiet evening catching up on TV shows we missed while at camp.  Until around nine o'clock.  We got a call from one of the kids from church who needed a ride home to Jamaica Beach.  He had been at his girl friend's house just around the corner from us and didn't particularly want to walk the eleven miles back home.  Me neither, Casey.  So Chris and I drove him home.  And on the way back we were treated to the Galveston fireworks show over the beach.  Didn't even have to fight the crowds for a parking place.  By the time we got to our turn off of the seawall the show had ended.  We were home before the massive exodus began.  Pretty pleasant evening, even if it wasn't what we expected.  Once again we learned, things that happen "just by accident" are very rare.    Proverbs 17:3 says, "The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart."   Father, thank you for being so in control that even the little things reveal your majesty.  Amen.