Curb appeal

"Keep in mind," the trainer shouts, "do NOT fix your eyes on one thing!"  Sammy is in motorcycle school, learning to ride for the first time.  Glancing out over the riding course, he barely listens to the trainer's instructions.  "Yeah, yeah, got it..." he thinks to himself, "let's just ride already..."  The trainer continues, "Remember, your bike will turn wherever you look, so keep your focus on where you're headed.  Now...start your engines!"  Simultaneously, the bikes' engines fire up and the riders head out.  The course is an oval loop with a curb in the center, separating the inner and outer lanes.  Sammy takes the first curve with ease, leaning into the turn...then, not realizing it, his eyes lock onto the curb.  But he doesn't just focus on the curb, he is fixated, entranced.  He can't tear his eyes away from the curb's appeal.  THUMP!  Going fifteen miles per hour, Sammy's bike pops the curb, continues on a few feet and stalls.

Target fixation is the tendency of riders to focus on an object while riding.  To avoid this propensity, we are taught to look through a turn, because a bike will go wherever the rider looks.  Thankfully for Sammy, no serious damage was done to him, the bike, or the curb.

"Curb appeal" can be any fascination that takes our eyes off God.  In our desire to get aHbe Racer launched now, our "curb" is not trusting His timing.  Our "target fixation" is an image of the business already running smoothly.  In these planning stages, we stress over getting shirts printed, food trucks purchased, hitting the open road.  But we don't want to be derailed and "pop a curb".  God holds the roadmap, and we look to Him to begin the next leg of the ride.  always Him before everything, while the wheels are spinning...