Other Thoughts On Life and Living...all while riding a roller coaster

 We spent three glorious days

 in the beautiful
 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 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.

 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!" 

 

 "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