We spent three glorious days
in the beautiful
Ozark mountains of Branson, Missouri.
Ozark mountains of Branson, Missouri.
Part of that time was spent riding roller coasters.
When I first step onto a roller coaster
the anticipation is high for the thrill of the ride.
um...sorta...
Can I just say, I DO NOT LIKE roller coasters?
I do not like them.
To say I don't like them,
should not be confused
with saying
I'm scared to ride them.
I'm scared to ride them.
I'm not scared.
I just don't necessarily see
any sane reason
to have my hair flying through space
and my head banging
and my neck jerking
and feeling my body be lifted off the seat
as I plummet head long
into the next upside down turn.
However, when my kids want me to ride,
I ride!
And I tell myself to shut my eyes,
don't anticipate the turns or falls
and just enjoy the ride,
feel the exhilaration,
sense the wind on my face,
feel the air pulling my brown curly hair,
listen to the sounds,
mostly screams,
and then the laughter
and sighing and more giddy laughter
as the coaster slides to a quick and abrupt halt.
In about two minutes and 45 seconds,
it's all over
and I step across the barrier to the exit.
I can look back at that point
and see the five times
I was hanging upside down,
the times I was going up
and coming down,
and I may even gasp and say,
"I did that!"
I can walk through the gift shop
and get a t-shirt describing
the thrill of my ride
on a steel track,
rising to heights of 155 feet,
reaching top speeds of 66 mph,
and dropping down yet again 155 feet,
all while coiling through Cobra Rolls
and Full Loops.
No I'm not scared.
I just don't like the uncertainty,
the "out of controllness" of it all.
At times I've heard people say
life is like a roller coaster.
I've said it too.
Because in the ride of life
we aren't in control.
Do you agree?
When I step off the coaster
and look back at all I just did
as I rode that piece of machinery,
putting my life
in the trust of the designing engineer
and surveyors
who marked the positions
of the support beams
and the controller
sitting at the desk,
and computers
and chains
that keep it going,
I think,
"what was I doing?'
When you stop and think about it,
life really is like that.
We can't see the whole track,
the path of life
that we will journey.
We don't know the heights
we will climb,
and the depths
to which we will drop,
the upside down helplessness
and the G force of pain or peril.
We don't know
the times
we will reach a tip top peak
and sense the wonder of the view
from way up there.
So I guess,
in reality,
we all just get on,
with anticipation,
and know that we just have to trust the Maker,
the Master Designer.
If we could see the whole track
of life
at one time
before we ever got started
or got on
maybe we couldn't endure~
maybe we couldn't
bear
the ride.
the Master Designer.
If we could see the whole track
of life
at one time
before we ever got started
or got on
maybe we couldn't endure~
maybe we couldn't
bear
the ride.
We have to trust our Maker,
for the whole journey,
not just parts of it,
no matter how bad you or I may want off,
there's no gettin' off.
When my life is done,
if I am allowed to look back
and see the twists and turns,
the exhilaration and despair,
the whole track of life
that I travelled,
I know I will say it was all worth it.
I might even sigh and say,
"I did that!"
if I am allowed to look back
and see the twists and turns,
the exhilaration and despair,
the whole track of life
that I travelled,
I know I will say it was all worth it.
I might even sigh and say,
"I did that!"
"What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived"
-- the things God has prepared for those who love him--
Holy Bible New Testament
1 Corinthians 2:9
