the roller coaster.

I've never been one for carnival rides.

Especially the roller coasters.

Oh, I remember the excitement of watching the caravan of Davis Amusement trucks arriving in our small town growing up ... but the {Scrambler} was about as daring as I got ... although, one year I did venture out and ride the {Octopus} two times in a row.

Watching others experience the thrill {or scare} was definitely more up my alley.  Just observing my friends and somehow thinking that I was safer and more secure on solid, level ground was my way of enjoying the carnival.

But as I grow older, I'm not sure I was any safer or secure on {solid} ground.  If anything, the people I was watching were learning a whole lot more about the ups and downs of life firsthand than I ever was just standing there trying to be {safe}.

Life and the roller coaster seem to go hand in hand.

One minute things are looking up and going full steam ahead, and then before you can turn around, your stomach feels like it's hit the bottom of a deep, deep lake and you can't seem to catch your balance.

We're meant to live fully. 

And fully living means you're brave enough to step out of the observation deck, buy yourself a ticket {or 4} for those rides that life brings and hang on.

You may not know what to expect and your heart might feel like it's going to pump right out of your body ...

but before you know it, the ride has started and all you can do is hold on.

Hold on, and trust that the track you're on is going to lead you right where you belong.

And when your feet hit the ground and you look back at the ride - know that the ups and downs and everything in between was just one little piece of this adventure you call {life}.

One little piece that may {or may not} have not been the best experience you've ever had, but a ride that gave you another opportunity to trust in a God that knows right where your tracks will lead ... and a God that promises to ride each and every roller coaster with you.

......................

I took my boys to this carnival on Whidbey Island .

They rode one ride.

A roller coaster.

And as I watched them smile around every turn, I hoped and prayed that the fearless trust they seemed to have that afternoon would stay in their soul forever.

Because there will be ... and are right now ... lots of ups and downs that they have absolutely no control over, and teaching them to {trust} in the secure and planned path God has created uniquely for them is the only thing I can do.

To fearlessly trust the {roller coaster}.

........................

I've definitely got my work cut out for me.