What came into your mind when you read the title? Did you think I was referring to some kind of circus performer like a trapeze artist? I can see why. They do some amazing stunts while flying through the air. Actually, I am talking about a trampoline that took a famous flight.
When my daughter Sara was around thirteen years old, we bought her a trampoline. I made sure it had a safety net all the way around it. She absolutely loved jumping on it and bouncing around. Of course, she wanted us to get on it with her. Tim jumped on it a few times, but as for me, I couldn’t keep my balance enough to even try to jump. I politely crawled off of the trampoline.
Then one fateful afternoon, we had a severe thunderstorm with damaging winds. Let’s stop for a second. Are you thinking the wind picked up the trampoline and that’s how it flew? While you would be correct; that’s not the whole story behind the trampoline’s feat.
I remember at one point in this particular storm where I became a little concerned at how the trees were swaying in the wind. It was different than in most storms. As soon as it was over, my grandmother called. “Sara’s trampoline has slammed into the house at the basement. It’s still standing against the house.”
You see, my grandparent’s house was next door to ours. So, we immediately ran down and sure enough, the trampoline was crammed against their house. The slope of the ground kept it in place. Then we all had the same realization. It wasn’t just tossed there by the wind. To go from where it was sitting in the yard to where it was then, that trampoline had to make an almost ninety- degree turn.
If it had just been blown by the wind, it would’ve either landed in Pedigo Road or sailed over into Papaw’s cow field. Tim and I walked out into the gravel driveway looking for scrape marks in the rocks from the traveling trampoline. There were none. That meant it had been picked up by the wind and carried the whole way. If the wind was strong enough to do that, what else did it do? I immediately ran down to the front yard and looked around. A few yards from where the trampoline had sat, stood a white pine with double trunks. It had some kind of disease and was in the process of dying anyway. I realized one of the trunks had been broken off, but it wasn’t laying on the ground. It was leaning against the other trunk as if it had been placed there. Plus, it was at the perfect angle to keep it from crashing into the ground. When we looked where the trunk had been broken off, it looked as though it had been twisted and not snapped.
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.” Romans 1:20 (KJV)
I think God shows himself in the beauty and complexity of nature. Also, He shows His awesome power in how He controls it. Personally, I don’t know how you can look at nature and not recognize the Lord.
So, how does this story make the trampoline famous? I called the news station at Channel Six and talked to one of the meteorologists. He brought a crew out and filmed a segment about all the evidence of the winds being in a circular motion. Sara was so excited and she wondered how many people would recognize our place. I was actually hoping for the opposite since we hadn’t had time to do yard work and the Meteorologist has to walk through some tall weeds! Too bad the winds didn’t take them with the trampoline.
Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.