{"id":100,"date":"2011-11-04T16:52:40","date_gmt":"2011-11-04T16:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ihsteps.com\/wordpress\/?p=100"},"modified":"2011-11-04T16:52:40","modified_gmt":"2011-11-04T16:52:40","slug":"qbeam-me-up-lordq-by-tammy-maseberg-accompanying-fiction-to-november-2011-newsletter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/?p=100","title":{"rendered":"“BEAM ME UP, LORD” by Tammy Maseberg (Accompanying fiction to November 2011 Newsletter)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kara Scott\u2019s heart had never pounded like this, not even during a competition.\u00a0 This would be her last year of high school gymnastics and was her first time in the gym in five months.\u00a0 She had been in the sport since she was five years old, but never had that skinny bar in front of her looked so ominous.\u00a0 She thrust her sweaty palms into the chalk basin one more time before stepping onto the mat. \u00a0\u201cLord Jesus, please help me to not be scared.\u201d\u00a0 She brought her left leg up and touched her foot to her right knee.\u00a0 Yep\u2014her balance seemed good.\u00a0 She took a deep breath and looked at her dad, who was also her coach.\u00a0 \u201cYou can do it, Kara, nice and easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Five months earlier, everything came crashing down\u2014literally. It happened during the District meet when Kara was competing on the balance beam, her strongest event.\u00a0 She was favored to win the individual state title in it.\u00a0 But during her final tumbling pass that day, she fell and hit her head on the beam.\u00a0 Or, so that\u2019s what she was told.\u00a0 She couldn\u2019t remember that day at all\u2014not even the customary \u201cBeam me up, Scottie!\u201d from her teammates. The concussion was serious and caused her to sit out the rest of the season and all of summer training.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

She spent two days in the hospital enduring tests and much poking and prodding, although all that was fuzzy, too.\u00a0 She just remembers being angry and frustrated but not knowing why.\u00a0 Not only did her head feel like it would explode at any minute, but it was spinning like a top.\u00a0 When the doctors told her that her gymnastics season was over, she flew into a rage of tears.\u00a0 Gymnastics was her life\u2014there was nothing else.\u00a0 Figuring out what happened that day was like doing a jigsaw puzzle in her mind with several missing pieces.\u00a0 She begged her parents to let her watch the video of her fall, because she thought it would help her settle the confusion. They finally gave in.\u00a0 Seeing her head hit the beam made her sick to her stomach.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was a frustrating time for Kara and for her dad.\u00a0 He had coached and groomed her to never quit and to always give it your all.\u00a0 Now, she felt like she had let him down.\u00a0 She could not understand why God would let such a thing happen.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t He know that gymnastics was all she had?\u00a0 The only thing that was important to her?\u00a0 The most maddening part was that her balance, which is essential to a gymnast, was off.\u00a0 She felt like she was tipping to one side.<\/p>\n

Kara still didn\u2019t feel great when school let out for the summer.\u00a0 Regionals and then State came and went without her participating or even attending.\u00a0 She couldn\u2019t bear to watch.\u00a0 Her archrival from across town won the state title in the balance beam, which only compounded her resentment of being sidelined.\u00a0 She clenched her teeth to fight off the tears every time she thought about it.<\/p>\n

Kara\u2019s days were spent napping and watching TV.\u00a0 Her mom wanted her to go out with her friends just for some different scenery, but she refused.\u00a0 She continued to be slightly unbalanced, and her head still hurt, too.\u00a0 One afternoon, the anger at God she had tried to suppress finally erupted into the silence of her aloneness, \u201cYou know how much I love gymnastics!\u00a0 You know how good I am at it.\u00a0 How could you take this away from me?\u00a0 If I can\u2019t even walk across the room without losing my balance, how will I ever get on any apparatus again?\u00a0 What am I supposed to do now?\u201d\u00a0 Nothing\u2014no big revelation, but lightning didn\u2019t come down to strike her dead, either. \u00a0The outburst just made her head hurt more.<\/p>\n

The next day Kara noticed that the childhood Bible that Nana had given her was on the coffee table.\u00a0 She wondered why it was there; she hadn\u2019t taken it off the shelf in years.\u00a0 Out of sentiment for her grandmother who had died last year, she opened it up.\u00a0 There, on the inside cover, was Nana\u2019s message to her:<\/p>\n

\u201cHappy 10th<\/sup> Birthday my dear, sweet Kara!\u00a0 You are a big girl now\u2014seems like only yesterday that you were born.\u00a0 May God bless you as you read His words of love to you in this beautiful book.\u00a0 Always stay close to Jesus; He will never let you down.\u00a0 Remember to keep your balance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Keep my balance?<\/em> Her skin tingled\u2014Nana knew she was off-kilter, even back then.\u00a0 By the time Kara was twelve, she was eating, drinking, and dreaming gymnastics.\u00a0 No one was more excited than her dad.\u00a0 He wanted Kara to realize her full potential, and that meant spending many hours in the gym.\u00a0 Her mom worried that the pressure was too much.\u00a0 Nana was supportive, but always talked to her about maintaining other parts of her life, as well.\u00a0 Of course, Kara didn\u2019t listen.\u00a0 Slowly over the years, gymnastics became her life<\/em>, not just something in<\/em> her life.\u00a0 Her relationship with God pretty much slipped by the wayside, her grades were only high enough to keep her participating in the meets, and her only friends were the girls on the team.<\/p>\n

Now that her beloved sport was put on hold, and hopefully not permanently deleted, she felt completely lost.\u00a0 What was there to life otherwise?\u00a0 She flipped through the pages of the pre-teen Bible and read a little here and there until the lightheadedness made it hard to read.\u00a0 Each day she read a little more, hoping she could get her eyes re-trained.\u00a0 After about two weeks of that, she realized she could focus better and for longer periods of time.\u00a0 Her head no longer hurt nearly as much.\u00a0 And, the words in the little Bible were becoming more interesting to her, more familiar, and more comforting.\u00a0 When Kara told her mom that she thought God was trying to tell her something, her mom took her in her arms, \u201cYes, Kara!\u00a0 I\u2019ve been hoping and praying that you would use this time to draw closer to Him.\u00a0 He is showing you that your life is so much more than just gymnastics. You are His child, and He loves you way too much to make you that one-dimensional.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, now she was in this place again, staring at the apparatus in front of her that was so familiar and yet completely foreign and scary.\u00a0 Even if her mind didn\u2019t remember what happened last spring, her body sure did.\u00a0 \u201cYou can do it, Kara, nice and easy.\u201d\u00a0 Kara smiled\u2014Beam me up, Lord<\/em>\u2014and pulled herself onto the balance beam.\u00a0 She positioned her feet and took another deep breath.\u00a0 Relief and joy spread like a flowing river, from the top of her head to her perfectly pointed toes.\u00a0 She was here and she could do this.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.\u201d\u00a0 (Romans 8:28, NAS)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a92011 Tammy Maseberg All Rights Reserved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kara Scott\u2019s heart had never pounded like this, not even during a competition.\u00a0 This would be her last year of high school gymnastics and was her first time in the gym in five months.\u00a0 She had been in the sport since she was five years old, but never had that skinny bar in front of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fictional-stories","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}