If you can't figure it out the first time, send em round again!

VIKING VOYAGER

So, first of all let me say that I think very highly of Greg and what he has ment to my life as a great influence of a man of God. His faithfulness is something that everyone could learn a little something from. With that being said...

During the dinner and prayers that the BSM held at Greg's over the summer, Greg would often tell a story to liven the mood, to help better illustrate a point that he had, or just if one popped into his head, he would tell it. So it was one particular dinner and prayer when we were almost ready to pray after eating a bunch of hamburgers, hotdogs, chips, etc... The mood had eventually calmed down to one in which we could really take in what other's wanted us to pray for and meditate on talking with God. We were almost ready to start the prayer, and Jon K volunteered to pray. So, he next had to decide who was going to end the circle of prayer. Jon chose to volunteer his then fiance Anitra (sitting on Jon's left) to step up to the plate. People laughed that he was making this decision for her and he explained himself saying that he wasn't sure if Scott Holman (sitting on Jon's right) was going to want to pray, so if he was the last one to pray, then the prayer would never end. Then he jokingly said that we could send it around again and let someone eventually end it. People laughed at this ridiculous notion, but when the laughter died down, Greg was still chuckling a little bit to himself. Everyone was like, "Whats up with Greg?" So Greg was going to start to tell us a story that popped into his head, but he got interrupted by someone acting stupid (I think it was me, even though I can't remember what I was doing). Regardless, Greg almost didn't tell this story, but I'm glad he did.

He said that when he was a Senior in high school, his class took a trip to the Worlds of Fun amusement park in Kansas City, MO. The whole bus load of kids piled out in front of the park on that morning and rushed in to see what fun and excitement awaited them. When they got inside the gates, the kids wanted to go to the newest and most fun ride the park had to offer, The Viking Voyager (see above) . Little did Greg know he was in for the ride of his life.

Once the group got to the ride and to the front of the line, they were getting ready to pile into the boat. Greg jumped in first and got the best seat at the very front were all the action happened. The high-schoolers asked the worker on duty, who according to Greg, "had only worked there 20 minutes now," (each time he tells the story, it's a shorter time interval), if they could put more than four kids in the boat. He said sure, no problem. So they were off with 5-6 students crammed into this floating device of fun to have the time of their lives. They went through loops and turns and over hills, much like your standard log flume ride. And much like any amusement park ride, it was soon over. The boat pulled up to the dock and everyone got out of it, except Greg. He was stuck! As the ride had gone through the course, the one to two extra people pushed Greg's legs under the bar that held the people in place and held the boat together. Since his legs were flat on the ground and the bar (that was padded, but not comfortable) was on top of his knees pushing his feet to the floor of the boat. So, after seeing that he couldn't get up, the worker and some of Greg's friends tried to pull him out. They tried and tried and couldn't get him to budge. Meanwhile, the other boats had begun to pile up behind Greg's boat and each time they would come in, they would bump into his boat, making his ride that much more unpleasant. On top of that, the line behind Greg was getting long and the people in the line were getting restless. They started to shout out ideas of how to free him from the torture that he was in.

Now just sit back for a minute and imagine that this was you. Stuck in a ride and prolonging other people's fun that is due them. After all, wasn't this Worlds of Fun? Not a very fun situation for Greg to be in.

So finally amidst the shouting came a voice more clear and coherent then them all.

"Just send him round again so we can figure out what to do with him."

Another shouted, "Yeah that way some of us can get a chance to ride." Everyone in the crowd felt this was the best thing to do, so thats what the worker did, sent him around again.

Greg took a trip around another time just by himself. This may seem fun to you or I, but Greg knew that something was to come, something that he may not be fond of.

When he got back to the dock the second time, no one said a word to him. They just had three guys take their places around him; one behind him and one on each side. The ones on each side took hold of Greg's arms and counted to three. On three, one pushed up, the other pushed down and the one on the back pulled Greg with all his might. Greg's body was twisted out of the position like a wrung out dish rag. None the less, he was free! Slightly bruised and greatly embarrassed, Greg went on his way trying to avoid any more attention the rest of the day. Much to his dismay he found that the next morning, his picture was on the first page of the Kansas City Star. He thought he could never live this moment down. And he was right.

So, if you ever have a problem that seems unsolvable just think,

"If you can't figure it out the first time, send em round again."

God bless you Greg!