Dumb Move

 

I am working on a stained glass project for … well, just a stained glass project for someone.  When I use my wet grinder, I feel tiny little shards hitting my glasses, so I wondered if some of those pieces were sticking in my mustache, beard, eyebrows and hair.  So, I decided to make a shield for protection.  I had to make a stand, so I cranked up my propane forge to bend and flatten a piece of ½” rebar.  As I was finishing, I took the bar out of the forge and quenched it in a ready five-gallon bucket.  But the bucket was only halfway full, so the rebar only went halfway in.  After I had cooled the rebar, I dropped it on the concrete driveway and went about tidying up the area.  After the tools were put away and the forge turned off, I picked up the rebar (on the quenched end).  I thought, “I wonder if the other end has cooled sufficiently?” and slid my hand down the rebar a hand’s width at a time.  When I got near the end it was still hot and I immediately let go, but not before I had burned the palm of my hand.  Dumb move.  In that split-second, my skin turned the color of a chicken breast in a skillet.  Really dumb move.  I had checked to see if the rebar was hot, and it was.  Not too long ago, I tested a knife that I was sharpening with my thumb, and it was sharp.  Another dumb move.  Two weeks ago, I was pulling on a wrench to remove the oil plug from my car’s engine.  The plug let loose, and I scraped my hand against the oil pan.  I knew that the oil plug was going to pop loose, but I was still surprised when it did.  Another dumb move.  But one decision that I made that was not a dumb move was to put my faith in Jesus Christ!  April 17, 1956, I trusted Jesus as my Savior.  Proverbs 3:5&6, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”  Trusting Jesus was the best decision that I ever made.  Yes, it was!