the great american scream machine

One year my family traveled to Georgia to visit my dad's side of the family. I don't remember all the details of that trip due to the fact I was really young, but there is one facet of the trip that is still fresh in my mind to this day-my first roller coaster.

It was a sunny afternoon. Six Flags over Georgia was packed with people. I can remember riding the kiddy rides with my little brother, "driving" cars with my older siblings, and then watching my dad, big brother, and sister all go ride the rides I was to short to go on. There was always a sinking feeling watching them head to the rides I couldn't go on. 

I don't remember whose idea, it was for me to check my height on one particular ride, probably my big brother's, but to our surprise and excitement I just so happened to be tall enough to ride The Great American Scream Machine.

Forrest Gump's mom said, "Life is a box of chocolates, ya never know what you're gonna get." I've always like that saying, but I think life is a lot more like a roller coaster.

While you are preparing to go over that first drop, butterflies of anticipation quickly morph in to dinosaurs of anxiety in the pit of your stomach. As you reach the top you become unequivocally aware of how high you are and far down the ground is. Instantly you wish you hadn't listened to your big brother convincing you to strap yourself into the seat that's fixing to race down the tracks. You wish you could drown out the chants coming from your older siblings in the seats behind you to put your hands in the air. You wish your arms were long enough to reach the bar in front of you so that you could grip something while your poor little life flashes before your eyes. You desperately try to close your eyes, but realize that they have quadrupled in size at the site of the water, no longer solid ground, that is hovering below the ride you are on, and are unable to close them. With each dive towards death, you try to muster up the words, "STOP!" or "GET ME OUT OF HERE!" but all you can manage is, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" When the ride finally comes to a stop, you sprout wings and fly to your mom so fast and wrap your tiny arms around her leg. Trying to recover from the last terrifying moments of your life you feel yourself begin to contemplate the meaning of life and can't understand why your brother and sister think that the ride was so much fun and keep imitating what you looked like on the ride. 

The Great American Scream Machine lived up to its name. I might have been small, but this ride managed to get a fierce scream out of me.

It wasn't until many years later that I rode another ride. Judge me.

Life is a funny thing. It's like a roller coaster-full of ups and downs, twists and turns. While you can have the time of your life on one, you can also experience fear that hits you hard and fast. Despite the ups and downs we experience in this life, there is one thing that remains constant-God is faithful. 

He's faithful in the ups.

He's faithful in the downs.

He's faithful in the plot twists of life.

He's faithful ALWAYS.

We all experience roller coasters of every make and kind, with outcomes we can't foresee. It is when we have a personal relationship with Christ that we experience the GREATEST ride of our lives. There will still be ups and downs, twists and turns along the way, but rather than experiencing the fear and uncertainty of what lies over the next peak or below the tracks, we are able to sit back and literally enjoy the ride and experience his faithfulness through it all.

"Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast."-Psalms 119:90