Coasters
When Emma was four and about to begin Pre-K we decided to take a family day trip to Beach Bend Amusement Park to celebrate the end of summer and the beginning of a new adventure called school! Every summer since then we've spent a day at an amusement park riding rides and laughing with one another (often taking close friends with us). This year we upped the ante taking three days for thrills and adventure at Kings Island.
Emma is tall enough to ride every ride in the park so needless to say we were pumped! We were ready for the adventure from the moment we walked in the Park. We immediately jumped on the smaller rides eventually moving to the bigger, more serious rides with twist and turns. We were laughing, screaming and pushing ourselves to ride in the front car of the rides. But then it happened, we jumped on a ride and the reality of fear fell upon Emma. Firehawk is literally unlike any other ride I have ever been on. You stand up (ok so I've done that before) they lock your feet in (I had never done that), and pull a strap over your shoulders (normal) but then the ride flips you on your back and you do the ride backwards and upside down. During this ride Emma was literally filled with a fear of helplessness begging for someone to help her.
I could tell that the ride frightened her deep within her being. As we made our way around the back side of the park, Emma found the courage to get on another ride. Not just any ride but a ride with 3 corkscrews and 3 full flips. As we climbed aboard Emma did her normal thing, grabbed my hand and told me how she hated going up the hill. Needless to say this ride that flips you upside down 6 times (the Vortex) became Emma's favorite ride during our three day adventure.
Each time she reached for my hand I smiled knowing that she was putting her trust in something greater than herself. In life it is so difficult to keep walking when you are filled with fear. When those moments come in our lives most of us want to stop and pull the covers up over our heads. Our hearts are beating a bit to fast for our taste. Our heads are swimming with doubt that leads us to believe that we are a failure at what we were trying to accomplish. While we walk forward we often lose trust in the people and things that surround us.
I was reminded that I have to be willing stretch out my hand as a gesture that I cannot do things on my own. As I stretch out my hand I must be willing to trust that there are others that love me and want the very best for me and are willing to calm me if I allow them to enter in.
As we walk this journey, what has taken your breath away? What is making you feel hopeless and insecure? Where are you letting your fears over take the joy and adventure that is coming your way? Where do you need to stick out your hand and place your trust into someone bigger than ourselves?
Emma is tall enough to ride every ride in the park so needless to say we were pumped! We were ready for the adventure from the moment we walked in the Park. We immediately jumped on the smaller rides eventually moving to the bigger, more serious rides with twist and turns. We were laughing, screaming and pushing ourselves to ride in the front car of the rides. But then it happened, we jumped on a ride and the reality of fear fell upon Emma. Firehawk is literally unlike any other ride I have ever been on. You stand up (ok so I've done that before) they lock your feet in (I had never done that), and pull a strap over your shoulders (normal) but then the ride flips you on your back and you do the ride backwards and upside down. During this ride Emma was literally filled with a fear of helplessness begging for someone to help her.
I could tell that the ride frightened her deep within her being. As we made our way around the back side of the park, Emma found the courage to get on another ride. Not just any ride but a ride with 3 corkscrews and 3 full flips. As we climbed aboard Emma did her normal thing, grabbed my hand and told me how she hated going up the hill. Needless to say this ride that flips you upside down 6 times (the Vortex) became Emma's favorite ride during our three day adventure.Each time she reached for my hand I smiled knowing that she was putting her trust in something greater than herself. In life it is so difficult to keep walking when you are filled with fear. When those moments come in our lives most of us want to stop and pull the covers up over our heads. Our hearts are beating a bit to fast for our taste. Our heads are swimming with doubt that leads us to believe that we are a failure at what we were trying to accomplish. While we walk forward we often lose trust in the people and things that surround us.
I was reminded that I have to be willing stretch out my hand as a gesture that I cannot do things on my own. As I stretch out my hand I must be willing to trust that there are others that love me and want the very best for me and are willing to calm me if I allow them to enter in.
As we walk this journey, what has taken your breath away? What is making you feel hopeless and insecure? Where are you letting your fears over take the joy and adventure that is coming your way? Where do you need to stick out your hand and place your trust into someone bigger than ourselves?
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