SIN & SEATBELTS???

It's vacation time for the Jackson Family!!  We are so excited to be going all the way to Arkansas to see my beloved grandparents and then on to Texas to see my parents.  The car is loaded, children are comfortable in the back, complete with pillows, blankets and video games.  So, off we go!!  Chuck and I are in the front seats having good conversation - talking about all we plan to do when we arrive.  Rest and relaxation - aaahhhh - the joys of vacation time!!  We've made it about 3 hours, into Mobile, Alabama, with little to no arguing from the children.  Looks like it's going to be smooth sailing (well, driving).  LITTLE DID I KNOW WHAT WAS COMING!!!

Marleigh, my dear daughter of 9 years, is buckled up, but laying sideways in the car.  Head on the pillow against the door and feet in the seat... she's resting.  She decides to sit up and talk to her brother for a bit.  But, instead of putting her feet down, she keeps them in the seat and turns backward (now facing the backseat).  So begins the downward spiral of "smooth sailing"!!

Conversation begins between brother and sister.... all is going fine then the conversation takes a turn.  It goes a little like this:  Mason:  "Marleigh, look - on the roof- it's a spider"  Marleigh:  "eeeekkkkk, Mason, kill it!!"  she screams, while jumping into the center of the back seat.  (Let's don't forget, she is turned backward and still buckled up.)  Mason:  "Marleigh, you kill it, it's just a little spider and it's over on YOUR side!  I can't reach it."  Marleigh continues her frenzy and insistence on Mason to kill the spider.  I've heard enough!!!  I unbuckle, turn around and kill the little spider myself.  Marleigh resumes her position in "her" seat - problem solved!!  NOT QUITE!!!! 

After a few minutes I hear Mason saying "Ummm, Marleigh is stuck in her seatbelt."  What??  "What do you mean "STUCK"?, I say.  "Ok, not a problem - just unbuckle the seatbelt and straighten it up, buckle it back."  Problem solved - NOT QUITE!!!!  "She is unbuckled and she can't get out of it.  It's wrapped around her waist."  "Ok, not a problem", I say.  I unbuckle, again, turn around to help her out of the seatbelt.  "Hmmm", I think... "this is NOT good".  She really is STUCK!!!!   The thing is, when she was resting with her feet in the seat, then turned around backward, then jumped to the center, then moved back into her own seat... somehow the shoulder strap is UNDER the lap belt, wrapped around her waist.  Now, Marleigh is a tiny thing, so surely she can just wiggle her way out of the seatbelt, we will untangle it and "voila"!!  Not quite!!!!  We stop the car.  Get out and walk around the back to see if we can get her out.  Well, because she "jumped" to the center, that pulled the shoulder strap and caused it to lock (like it would if you slammed on the brakes suddenly), so it would go back in but not come back out, therefore causing the belt to tighten with every little move.  What a predicament!!!  What are we going to do??  By now, Marleigh is in a panic, not able to breathe, because it is cutting off circulation or something and I am in a panic because I don't know how to get my daughter out of this death trap!!  THANK GOD we brought Chuck's mustache scissors with us.... we literally had to CUT THE SEATBELT!!  Finally.... PROBLEM SOLVED!!  Only problem now is that she has to sit in the center, right next to her brother, for another 10 hours!!!!  WHEW!!!!  What a trip!!!

So, I'm thinkin'.... Isn't that just the same way SIN works!!!  We are riding along, having a great trip and before we know it we are right in the middle of a situation and haven't a clue how we ended up there!!  Maybe we got caught sleeping for a while and when we woke up we were in the middle of a tangled up sin and didn't know how to get out of it.  It has wrapped itself around us and with every move it gets tighter and tighter, cutting off our air supply and we have no where to go.  We are trapped!!! 

Proverbs 11:4  "The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires"  NIV

I say instead of laying down, turning backward and getting TRAPPED, stay UPRIGHT and RIGHTEOUS.  It is so great that we can call on GOD and He will stop the ride, come to where we are and cut us out!!!  We may have a few things to fix afterward (like I'm going to have to get that seatbelt fixed), but at least we are now free!! 

John 8:36 "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."
NIV