Roller Coaster Ride

I'm not exactly a fan of amusement parks. I've lived here for almost 20 years and I've been to King's Dominion maybe two hands full...maybe. Growing up in Pittsburgh the big thing was to go to Kennywood every year for the "school picnic." (Yes we actually were allowed to take a day off school to go to an amusement park)I never went, even though (if memory serves me) you had to go to school that day if you didn't go to the park. Partially I think because we didn't have the money for us to go and partially because it just didn't interest me. I don't think I ever actually rode a roller coaster until I was 13 or 14 at Cedar Point on one of our few family vacations. Let me make this very clear, though I am not a fan of amusement parks, I LOVE Disney World. In my mind they are not even the same thing.


Of course one of the reasons people love amusement parks is that it seems everyone loves roller coasters. I don't. It used to be that they just scared me. Some still do. You won't ever catch me dangling from a harness being dropped a million feet. The heights, the speed, the being upside down none of it appeals to me. I really, really don't like the prolonged tilted to one side whipping around a curve feeling like you could pop out of the seat any second like being slung out of a slingshot. Part of that came too because I've always been overweight and I never felt like the harness could lock adequately over me. Now that I've lost some weight, that might not be an issue, but still that feeling of you're going to plunge to your death is not what I live for. I go on them, but they usually aren't fun to me.





Well this past week has been a roller coaster. One minute filled with hope climbing to the top of a hill, the next reeling toward the bottom and certain death. Last Friday, was a top of the hill moment. I had what I thought was a great interview. The one interviewer and I hit it off, the other sounded skeptical at first, but I thought I'd won him over by the time I was done. This job would have been great and I was counting all the ways I could bless others (and myself to be honest) with the mondo salary it would have paid. And I never would have to leave my kitchen to do the work. Saturday even though it was hot as Hades, I kept climbing because I got to help work on a fence for Sharon's garden with my precious Glasgow family. I fell in a post hole and got stung by a bee, but it was worth it to help them one iota of how they've helped me. Sunday was a little dip, going to the funeral of a friend's mother, but honestly felt uplifted by the love of the family and the friends with whom I went. Monday for the most part was smooth and even until Monday afternoon. I came home opened my e-mail and plunged over the edge. They didn't want me. No feedback, just "we won't be needing your services at this time." Luckily I didn't have time to hit the bottom, because I had to go work at the music store. There's something to be said for not being able to dwell on things. Tuesday I tried my best to chug up the other side of that hill, hitting the internet job boards and having a walk and talk with my friend who perpetually thinks outside the box. But all it took was a look at my checkbook or a thought about how pitiful this job market is to send me over another peak.



So, it's been like that all week, climb a little, fall a little, climb a little, fall a little. Today was a more of a climb than a fall thankfully. I got a part time job at Lane Bryant. It's a climb I know and I'm trying to see it as such, not as a fall (since it only pays $7.00 an hour). But there has been lots of climbing today. The best one is that Dr G looked inside me today and "I don't see any cancer!" Suddenly, I hear KC and the Sunshine band in my head,"That's the way, uh huh, uh huh, I like it!!" Also the debt settlement company is settling one of my larger debts as I type. But I know the plunge is coming again, but that's okay.



You see, I remember being told that being a roller coaster Christian was a bad thing. But I think they got the metaphor wrong. Here's what I think. Life IS a roller coaster. Unless you're Simon Cowell or Barack Obama or someone else who seems to have a charmed life, life is nothing but ups and downs. Sometimes it's smooth and easy like a kiddie roller coaster and sometimes it's a deep plunge or a sudden turn to the left or right or a complete turn upside down. I've become wise enough (ok, I just set myself up for a fall for saying I have any wisdom) to know that it's not the ride that matters, it's what holds you in place. The reason roller coasters freak me out is because I don't trust the harness. In the real rollercoaster of LIFE, I've learned to trust my harness, Jesus Christ. He's what holds me in place and keeps me safe even though life is going in every kind of direction. It's only when I forget WHO holds me that I get freaked out. And thankfully, at least lately, it's been only for short periods of time (I was going to say momentarily, but that wasn't close to accurate) that I forget.


Here's some things to help us all remember:


Psalm 9:9-10: The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.


Psalm 28: 6-8: Praise be to the LORD, for he has heard my cry for mercy. The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. The LORD is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.


Psalm 56:3-4 When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid. What can mortal man do to me?


And it goes on and on in Psalms and Proverbs.

So as I prepare for the next plunge or twist or turn, I remember that it's my harness that keeps me safe. Thank you Jesus for being that harness.