Volleyball Poles

I began teaching at Berean Academy in Hixson, Tennessee in 1977 shortly after it had started.  I taught P.E. and French, drove the bus, and was the janitor.  A man of many talents.  Ha, ha!  I made a set of volleyball poles out of steel pipe, eyebolts, and car wheels.  The rubber tires/rims filled with concrete made great anchors for the net.  We used the parking lot at dismissal, so I had to take the poles in and out each time that I used them for volleyball at P.E.  It was easy to move each pole by tipping it over, twisting the pole, and rolling the tire base wherever I wanted.  That was until the day I was rolling one of the poles out and my wedding ring got caught on the back of the eyebolt.  I immediately knew I was in trouble.  So I grasped the pole as hard as I could to stop it, but the rolling momentum of the tire was powerful.  My hand was pulled over the pole as I slowed the rolling base.  At the last second, I did a flip over the pole to save my finger as the tire finally stopped.  I pulled my ring off of the end of the bolt and surveyed the damage to my poor finger.  Other that a cut, my finger was bruised, but still intact.  The next thing that I did was to look around to see if anyone had seen my mishap.  Apparently, no one was looking, and my dangerous mistake was a secret … until now.  I’m sure that the dear Lord laughed as He watched the event unfolding, for God’s eyes are everywhere.  Solomon said in Proverbs 5:21, “For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.”  Often, we are reckless in our behavior, and we may think that our mishaps are unseen.  But always remember, God sees everything … even foolish P.E. teachers!