A few weeks back my little family and I went on an excursion to our local amusement park. It was a beautiful day, a light breeze, not too hot. The smell of cotton candy was heavy in the air and I kept eyeing the funnel cake stand. It was sort of a stand off – I won, but only because I was afraid that I might have some problems. If I decided to ride a few rides, well, its not the sort of thing this digestive system can handle.
But, I digress. It was truly a beautiful day. Right up until the end of our afternoon when we got in line to ride the ferris wheel. Isaac and I had decided to ride the big wheel, so we waited and waited and waited. Then we waited some more. Finally, we managed to get into one of the chairs, with the bar fastened across our laps, the ride began.
It wasn’t until we were in the air that I realized there seemed to be a bit of a dilemma. The young man running the ride was having difficulty getting people on and off the ride. At first I didn’t notice. But as we sat at the very top of this huge wheel, which seemed to be at least 5,000 miles in the air, I began to feel a bit of panic. And then I knew. I was trapped at the top of this monstrous ride with my 4 year old.
Beads of perspiration began to trickle down the back of my neck. I tried to keep normal conversation going with my sweet little boy. But, you can only point out the paddle boats on the lake so many times. He finally looked at me and said with a very calm voice, “Mommy, I’m ready to get off now,” at which he began to try to stand up in the seat and climb off. I grabbed him tightly around the waist and said, “No, no honey – we’ll just be up here a bit longer! Why don’t you just snuggle up to me?” His face said it all… There was no way he wanted to “snuggle” with a sweaty, panicked, crazy mommy…
We both wanted to get off the ride.
There are times when this is a familiar feeling to me. Take this week for instance. Its been a bit crazy around my house. The days have been long because my sweetheart has been working super long hours. As each day rolls into evening, the natives grow restless and they gang up on me. By seven o’clock I start wandering my house aimlessly, thinking, “I did not sign up for this. I am not a single mom, but I sure feel like one.”
Its not that different from how I feel sometimes as a believer. There are times where Jesus calls me to do things. Uncomfortable things. Sometimes he asks me to love someone who hasn’t been kind to me. Often he wants me to do the right thing when no one else does it. It could be as simple as writing a blog about my own personal walk with Christ and possibly embarrassing myself … And at the end of the day, when its all piled up together and I feel like I just got of that crazy whirly ma jig kind of ride at the amusement park and I may puke – I think, “I didn’t sign up for this. Did I?”
But I did. And there’s no getting off this ride. I chose to follow Christ and there is no turning back. Not now. Not ever.
I love what Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 11. They were worn out from their journey with Him. And this is the promise He made to them (and I believe He is saying it to me, too…)
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Even when the ride gets a little rough and I think I might wanna get off, He promises that as I take up His yoke and learn from Him, there will be rest. A little rest with Him, will get me through the weeks like this one!
There’s one thing I can promise you… I doubt you will find me wondering about getting off the ferris wheel anytime soon. That’s one ride I won’t be riding… well, unless Mackenzie wants to…
md
(originally written September 17, 2010)
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