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You are here: Home / faith in action / Knocked Over!

Knocked Over!

January 4, 2011 by Amelia

Have any of you seen Despicable Me? If not, go rent it. HILARIOUS movie. It’s even funnier when you watch it with young children. Whoever thought up the little yellow “minions” definitely had toddlers in their life. We’ve all started to quote the movie quite regularly around here. One of our favorite lines is right after Gru blows up the rip-you-off carnival game and he says, “Knocked over!!” I had my own “knocked over” moment New Years Day. No one blew anything up. I did this all to myself.

We have a handy little storage area in our basement underneath the stairs that is perfect for storing things you don’t need very often – like Christmas decorations. There is a very sturdy beam right about shoulder height that you have to duck under to get into the spot. Like I said – it’s perfect for things you don’t need very often. I had been in and out of the area a dozen times, being very careful to duck each time I went in. On my last trip into the storage area, I was zipping along, bent over, when next thing I knew, I was “knocked over” on my rear and seeing stars. Oh, I had ducked, just not far enough.

There I was, home alone, on the cold basement floor, not sure whether to laugh or cry. I was grabbing my forehead and rocking back and forth muttering, “Ow, ow, ow, I can’t believe I did that!! Ow, ow ow!! I can’t believe I did that!”

I dragged myself upstairs and grabbed an ice pack out of the freezer. I laid down on the couch to nurse my pride, still not sure whether to laugh or cry. After the throbbing stopped, I picked up some knitting while I let the ice do its work in an effort to avoid a massive headache and an ugly goose egg right in the middle of my forehead. (As I write this, three days later, my forehead is still sensitive to the touch!)

I lay there thinking that running into a 4 foot beam is a good way to get someone’s attention and make them slow down. Then I realized this wasn’t the first time I’d been “knocked over.” It’s all too easy to convince ourselves that God is “in” anything we want Him to be in, or that He’s not “in” something we don’t want Him to be in. We’ll construe Bible verses, other’s opinions and circumstances to make them mean what we want them to mean. We can cruise through life and avoid all the warning signs that there’s a large beam blocking the path ahead. Then when we run into the immovable obstacle, we nurse our wounds and curse the builder who put the beam there. Who cares that the beam is a necessary support for the structure at hand, it was in MY way from doing the job I wanted to do. There have been times I’ve been knocked over and while nursing my wounds and my pride I realized how many warning signs I had ignored along the way. Whether it was a deteriorating relationship, a work I wasn’t supposed to be involved with, or a job I had avoided, I can be good at seeing only what I want to see, and terrible at listening to God’s voice of direction and warning.

So this year, I’ve made a resolution to learn to listen. To slow down. To heed warning signs. And to learn to hear the subtle prodding of God’s Spirit. I’ve had enough goose eggs for awhile.

Filed Under: faith in action, LOL, Story Girl Tagged With: despicable me, faith, funny, holy spirit, listening, movies

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Susie says

    January 4, 2011 at 11:20 pm

    Beautiful, Amelia! You really got me engaged!

  2. amelia says

    January 4, 2011 at 11:28 pm

    Thanks, Susie! I’m so glad I didn’t have a humungous bump on my forehead at church that night! lol!

  3. Topher says

    January 5, 2011 at 7:26 am

    Lightbulb!

    That’s all I was going to say, but wordpress told me it was too short. So to wordpress I say

    “I really hate THAT guy”.

  4. amelia says

    January 5, 2011 at 1:06 pm

    hahaha!! Your comment made me laugh Topher!!

  5. Holly says

    January 5, 2011 at 2:43 pm

    Good post! It is a good reminder that we really do see what we want to see and miss everything we may not want to see! I have been there, done that! My large beam recently was the top of my car – I did not duck low enough and hit my head so hard. I continued on my way and forgot about that event earlier in the day. Then, I wondered why I had a horrible headache that night and the next couple of days. Then, it dawned on me 3 days later! Wow….

  6. Susan says

    January 5, 2011 at 6:25 pm

    Love the movie…really LOVE your writing. 🙂

  7. mom says

    January 5, 2011 at 6:41 pm

    Wow guess you’ve been missed so many comments. Hopefully we will hear more from you this year. Yes? As many times as I’ve been knocked on the head you’d think I’d get samrter. Ha!

  8. admin says

    January 5, 2011 at 9:51 pm

    Oh no, HOlly!! Ouch! I’ve done that way too many times getting in the car. You’d think I’d learn from my mistakes. Maybe you couldn’t remember why your head hurt because…well…you hit your head! lol!

    Thanks, Susan 🙂 I can see T-Rex and J totally quoting the whole movie together!!

    Haha, Mom! Now I know where I get it from. Yes, I’ll be back here much more this year!

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