The Roller Coaster of Life

World’s Of Fun…..if you are from Kansas City you immediately think of high roller coasters, wet rides and lots of fun. Tonight we are going for the first time of the year. The hours before getting on the rides are loaded with anticipation for me. Now that I am middle-aged and have kids, I look forward to different things.

I don’t feel like I have to get on every roller coaster 10x to make it worth my money. I don’t feel like I have to compromise my stomach just to say I rode every ride. Instead, I enjoy camp snoopy. Not to ride myself, but to watch the faces of our girls as they ride the school bus or the mini roller coaster.

I love seeing them get scared as they anticipate the drop or hearing them laugh and scream as they pass by. I love watching them have a good time. Honestly, I can’t wait until the girls are old enough to ride the roller coasters with us. I can’t wait until they get on for the first time and hold on for dear life with a look of terror on their faces and then when they have turned completely white by the end of the ride to ask them if they want to go again.

Before I know it, they will be coaxing me to go on the big rides and I will be making excuses. I can already imagine:

Troy - “You all go on ahead; someone needs to stay here with all your stuff.”
Girls – “What stuff? We don’t have anything to watch.”
Troy – “Well let me get some funnel cakes for everyone…I don’t want you all to have to wait in line.”
Girls – “There’s no one in line.”
Troy – “I think I need to use the restroom.”
Girls – “You just went like 5 minutes ago.”
Troy – “Well, I think I’ve had enough rides for now….”
Girls – “The only ride you have been on is the Ferris Wheel.”
Troy – “Fine, but if we all get hurt, they’ll be no one to drive home.”
Girls – “Dad, you are such a wimp.”
Troy – “Now I remember just a few years ago when you were afraid to ride the big roller coasters and I was trying to coax you into riding….now it is the other way around.”

Now don’t get me wrong, I will ride a few roller coasters tonight and hopefully raise my hands and yell and have a blast, but I have already come to realize that my amusement park career is going downhill. I know this is true because I already anticipate the feeling I will have late tonight when we finally make it back to our van. You know that feeling of total relief when you get to sit down after walking all night. In time, I will pick an amusement park by the food selection and waiting areas and not the roller coasters.

These simple thoughts may teach us something about our faith. At the beginning of our faith journey there will come times when we see the extremely large steps of faith looming before us and we will be totally scared. In fact, it will seem like such a big step that we can’t imagine taking it. After some growth we will step out with white knuckles and pounding hearts. The first major step of faith will be a blur because our eyes were closed, and we were praying the entire time for survival. With a little experience, we will realize that these steps of faith are a part of our journey and are incredibly enjoyable and invigorating. As time marches on, and we get older in our walk, the huge steps of faith no longer have the same affect on us individually. In God’s sovereign plan, He intended for each of us to have children in the faith to mentor through the same steps of faith we took as new believers. As we age spiritually it is of vital importance that we have “children in the faith” to watch take these same steps, otherwise we will have no reason even to go to the “amusement park of faith.”