Roller Coaster Life

Yesterday we went to Six Flags. We bought season passes this year and has already proven to be a great investment. We took a couple of friends. Isaac brought his best bud who happens to be just 2 inches taller which puts him in another "ride bracket" His buddy can ride the 52" rides but Isaac can only ride the 48" ones. However, the TITAN at Six Flags requires you to be only 48" to ride. His buddy is definitely the "thrill seeker" and couldn't wait to ride the BIG one. Isaac was all talk :) So we took the long walk to the Titan. Left the other yellow belly folk behind.... Isaac was very apprehensive but kept walking with us. Side bar: I AM a thrill seeker, however the older I've gotten the worst my fear of heights have gotten. i am learning it's not even worth the muscle tension for the 'thrill'. So the Titan is a big height's ride.....Isaac held my hand all the way up the walk. Keeping one eye on the coaster and one eye on the exit he clung to my hand hoping the courage he wanted would miraculously seep from me into him. We stood in line and he held onto me as if he was making the choice to play Russian roulette or not. I assured him over and over that he did NOT have to ride, but he would have fun if he did and he would be very proud of himself too. (secretly I was hoping he'd chicken out) And then is was our turn. With false boldness he stepped onto the car. He was very worried that there was nothing over his shoulders. And so was I. He said, "mom, I get to call Daddy and tell him I did this!" He wanted my hand on him tightly, and I wanted it there too. Side bar: The Titan goes 90 miles per hour and reaches over 25 stories. Two things that would make any mom a little quezzy sending their 7 yr. old baby on.

Up the incline. I saw the fear in Isaac and I was coaching him along the way. Trying to point out the positive, "hey look at that you can see the new Cowboy stadium, look how cool, those people look like ants" He was buying it. And then BOOM, down we go. And when you think you should stop dropping, you drop some more. We were whooping and yelling and having a blast. He did it! He enjoyed it! He was so proud of himself, and I was proud of Him!

As we were walking back I realized that not once did I have that fear I normally do when I do something stupid. I wasn't even worried about the heights, the "black out" point, the speed, the what ifs...my only concern was my son. My focus was on his well-being, his joy, his desire to overcome.

Life is definitely full of drop offs, spins, loops and crazy-intense moments. And most of the time we are so focused on our non-contentment, our fears, our worries that we simply forget the one sitting next to us. We are trained to be selfish- although our call is to be selfLESS! When I focused 100% on someone else I actually enjoyed the ride. I think that is how life as a Christian is suppose to be. Get our mind off our self and help our neighbor be a little more comfortable. Think how church would be if we lived like this.

I'm honored that I got to be there for Isaac's first roller coaster ride! I praise God that I got to see his face light up. I hope and pray that I can come along side many in my life to encourage, lift up and help them have a better ride. Come with us!