May 10, 2006

[Rev. Doc]

Learning From Experience

"learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow."
Isaiah 1:17

Speaker Andy Sherman tells about learning to ride bulls in the rodeo. At eighteen, he told his father he wanted to be a professional bull rider. His father said, "You want to do what? Why would you want to do that?"

Andy said jokingly, "I don't know - I guess I like the hours. You just work eight seconds at a time. That appeals to me."

His father, concerned about the inherent danger, responded, "I absolutely forbid you to do that!" And, at that moment, young Andy instantly knew his life's calling!

The only problem was -- he couldn't ride. Always 7 1/2 seconds away from making the eight-second buzzer. He decided to enter "Rodeo School."

The first day of school he was told to get on a bull. He got on and was immediately thrown off. The instructor said, "Get on another one." He was thrown from a second bull. Then a third. And a fourth. He finally asked the instructor, "Are you going to show me how to ride these things?"

"That's how you ride them," came the reply. "Just get on one and ride."

By the week's end, Andy had climbed on, and been thrown off, about eighty bulls. But he learned how to ride. Experience can be a great teacher.

Prayer: Ask God to help you learn valuable lessons from your experiences in life.

"Experience is not what happens to you, it is what you do with what happens to you."
~Aldous Huxley