A Trampoline Emergency

The kids love jumping on the trampoline at our house. We've only had it for a few months but it gets a lot of use. A couple of weeks ago my wife and I decided to make it a little safer by putting up the protective mesh net. We figured this would help our children play more safely. What we didn't realize, is that those nets act like a sail.

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My wife texted me the other morning to tell me that our trampoline had been blown from its normal spot to the middle of our field 25 yards away. The wind caught the net and scooted it across the ground. I grunted in disapproval as I read the text but then went back to work figuring I'd deal with it later.

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In the early afternoon of that same day, my wife called me, frantic and scared. Our trampoline had blown another 75 yards and was sitting at the edge of the pond. She was holding the trampoline down as the wind continued to blow. The wind was blowing so hard, it continued to move the trampoline closer to the pond, even with her standing on the legs with her arms wrapped around the pole. She did not want the trampoline to be destroyed in the pond.

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I jumped into action to rescue my wife (I'm so brave). I told my boss I had a family emergency (didn't mention it was my wife holding on the the trampoline) and then raced to the store to buy an anchor for the trampoline. We had been told to anchor the trampoline but had never gotten around to doing it. Now it was an emergency so I rushed into the store, bought the anchors and raced home to find my wife still clinging to the trampoline.

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I pulled out the first anchor, which looks like an auger, and scewed it into the ground. I then repeated the process three more times until all four anchors were secured deep in the ground. We let go of the trampoline and it stayed in place. Even with the fierce winds still blowing, the trampoline was secure. YAY!!

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This experience reminded me of this passage from the Book of Mormon.

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Helaman 5:12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

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If we are not anchored to the Rock of our Salvation, or if our anchor is shallow, we risk being tossed about by the mighty winds that the devil will send forth to destroy us.

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If I had taken the time and made the effort to anchor the trampoline, prior to the "mighty winds" I would not have had a problem. If I had heeded my wifes first warning of trouble when the trampoline was only 25 yards away in the field, I could have avoided a great deal of pain and effort. But I only responded when the situation was critical and was fortunate to stop the trampoline from blowing into the pond and being destroyed. I sank my anchors deep...better late than never, but it would have been even better if I had done it early, instead of late.

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Hopefully I will learn this lesson, that it is better to make small corrections as they arise, instead of waiting for the devastation and emergency that occurs when I, or a child, teeters on the edge of destruction.