Gun Powder and Kids Don't Mix

As a child growing up in the Sierra Nevada mountains with no physical boundaries, it was reasonable to think playing with black powder was an likely event. After all, using dynamite to soften the ground for planting an apple orchard was just part of the adventure of growing up. At the age of 8 or 9 (our landlord a mountain man), showed me how best to use dynamite for a worthwhile purpose. Handling the dynamite was no problem, but you had to be careful with the blasting caps.

I was probably 10 or 11 years old and had an older friend Ben. In his dad's shop was a jar of black powder. I suppose his dad used it to load his ammo. I really don't know. But, we thought about how cool it would be to drill a hole in a piece of wood and create something like a gun barrel. We could drop powder down the barrel, shove something in the end of it and propel it forward with the explosion when ignited.

It was a good plan until Ben forgot to move the jar of gun powder away from the block of wood. When he lit the gun powder in the wood, the flash ignited the jar of explosive. The glass shattered and pieces were embedded in his face. It was bloody and I had to lead him to my house to get help. It was incredibly terrifying. We moved from California to Texas shortly after and always wondered if this event contributed to my parents decision to move.

But by the grace of God, I don't think we could survive our childhood. It's only by the grace of God there is any reason to our life.

"When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts". Acts 11:23