I learned to drive tractors when I was 10 years old, and one of the many lessons Dad taught me was to respect the power take off. The power take off shaft sat below the platform holding the driver’s seat. We connected power take offs to mounted corn pickers, self-unloading wagons, and a host of other implements.
The power take off transmitted power from the tractor to such things as snapping rolls on corn pickers, the rollers that gathered in the corn stalks. Another potential disaster was self-unloading wagons. These wagons had an auger at the base of the wagon that would steadily feed the grain out a spout. In the days when small feedlots were operating, many farmers would drive these wagons along feed bunks, dumping feed for their cattle. Disabling the power take off was not a big deal; however, there were many people who were so impatient that they would stop the tractor but not disengage the power take off. The results of this impatience were disastrous, leading to loss of fingers, hands, arms, feet, legs, and sometimes even life. Anyone foolish enough to be riding on top of a load of feed when the power take off was engaged was simply begging for a horrific injury. Some people have been injured or killed when their clothing has caught in the rotating power take off shaft.
In an effort to keep weight off Archibald, my injured left ankle, I am scooting around our house in a cheapie wheelchair. This morning as I was exiting the bathing room, scooting one of our blue rubber chairs to the door, and then transferring to the wheelchair, I began considering the potential for disaster if the brakes were not properly set on my wheelchair. To set the brakes, I must pull back on two levers, one over each wheel. While those maneuvers only take a few seconds, there’s a real temptation to leave the brakes off in hopes that the wheelchair will not suddenly scoot out from under me, leaving me to crash on the floor. And as I was reminding myself of the absolute need for patience, I remembered the lessons of the power take off.
Isaiah 60:22 tells us, “…At the right time, I, the LORD, will make it happen.” Many times, we want progress and results and we want them immediately. Sadly, most of us are far more likely to pray, “Lord, give me patience NOW!!!”
Somehow, we don’t think that the God who has spoken the universe into existence with a single word, the God who has created us and who knows us better than we do ourselves, that same God doesn’t really know what He is doing and should obey our whimsies and demands. We are so impatient that we are unwilling to take the smallest steps to ensure our own safety, such as disengaging the power take off on a tractor or setting the brakes on a wheelchair. Many of us are so ungrateful that we blame God when disasters strike, even though we have failed to take the necessary steps to prevent them.
This morning, Archibald and I have made it safely through the bathing room and dressing areas and are now ensconced in the sitting room, where we will spend most of the rest of the day. (Chair yoga is becoming a thing!) But I continue to pray for all those who must use wheelchairs-and tractors with power take offs, that we all will have patience so that our foolishness will not result in disasters.
Tags: disabilities, family, farm-accidents, farming, handicapped, life, love, wheelchairs
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