I hugged her tightly to my chest burying me head into her fine hair and breathing in the sweet smell of little girl. I could feel the heat, the beginnings of a building fever radiating through her cotton shirt and conducting the warmth to my lap. I sighed with angst over being unable to wish it away and held her a little tighter, as if my tight embrace might just successfully squeeze the sickness right out.
I brushed her wayward hair from her face. As I tucked the loose strands behind her ear I thought of my husband’s words.
“Sometimes you just have to enjoy the ride.”
I thought about the night before. I had been excitedly planning something fun for us to do as a family on our day off together. The zoo perhaps. Or maybe Buffalo Park (a local park that was rather “zoo-like”). I just knew it would be a super fun outing that the kids would enjoy, and mom and dad too. The weather was starting to really be lovely and left me feeling so upbeat and energized. I had watched the beautiful sunshine all weekend as I worked and looked forward to enjoying it with my husband and children.
But then I had seen the weather. Rain. Cold fronts. No sunshine at all. It definitely wasn’t zoo weather. Or park weather. Or any outdoor activity I had imagined.
But I refused to accept defeat, so I began to place another plan into action. What about the museum? I thought. Brilliant! I picked a couple out and began to research all they had to offer. I grew excited again as I found exhibits I knew the girls would enjoy. I started showing my husband the photos on the different websites and he agreed it would be a good time.
I next began looking at specifics such as times, admission rates, and package deals. I started to calculate the total admission price for our sizable family in addition to the gas money required for travel. During my calculating we became aware of an unexpected expense that would need to be paid the next day before our fun, family trip commenced.
The debits were starting to get precariously close to the credits and it just seemed like the added expense of a trip out of town wasn’t in the stars for our little family.
I accepted my eventual defeat in the best way possible. By becoming frustrated, sullen, and perhaps by even spewing some self-pitying comment to my poor husband. He just took it in silently while I lamented over “how poor” I envisioned us to be.
Thankfully my self-induced pity party only lasted a few minutes before I realized the ridiculousness of my attitude. I apologized to my spouse who simply smiled at me knowingly, as if he expected I would see the error of my ways in due time. Or maybe he had thought the same thoughts as me and was happy for a voice of reason stating the obvious blessings our simple life contained.
As we spent the next day close to home little signs began to emerge that pointed to illness in our three year old daughter. Normally exuberant in even a simple trip to the bank and out for a reasonably priced lunch, this day she seemed to lack her zeal for anything. As her big eyes began to take on a red-rimmed appearance despite a full night’s sleep I knew we might have trouble brewing. When she ended up being too tired to eat her Happy Meal or play the touch screen games at the restaurant I knew without a doubt she was sick.
Her father felt the fever brewing in her with the back of his hand and stated to me, “Today would have been a horrible day to go to the zoo!” He began to express the truth we both knew guided our life. We truly believed that everything happened for a reason. That even the seemingly “bad stuff” held a purpose. That God worked it all together for our good.
You can know this in your heart and believe it to be true, but it’s how you decide to perceive it on a daily basis that drives if you’re content in your life or not.
Which brought me back to holding a feverish, young lady in a hard-backed, fast-food restaurant chair. My husband had chimed “sometimes you just gotta enjoy the ride” in his description of accepting God’s will. I wondered if this simple phrase fit in the tumultuous attraction called life.
I was reminded of amusement parks I had been to before. I thought of a particularly large park where I went as a child. It seemed like the best, most exciting attractions always had the longest line. In these lines you would come across signs that proclaimed “two hours,” and “one hour,” to try and advise you of the time you had left to wait. It sounds crazy. But the really crazy part is that we remained in line, knowing that it would be hours of waiting. We waited because we knew the ride would be worth it.
About half-way through the wait we would be privy to seeing others on the ride in the distance. We could hear their screams of excitement. The anticipation would build dramatically.
As we neared the head of the line the fear would begin to build. “Oh man! I’m not sure if I can do this!” But we would. We had waited. We couldn’t not get on!
The climb to the top would be exhilarating, and for a moment as we were suspended above the entire park you would feel electrified, as if you could fly. Then it would drop!
So many feelings then. Fear, excitement, joy. Weeeeeee!
Then it would be over, and there would be two types of people that exited the gate. There would always be the kid that said, “That was not worth 3 1/2 hours in line!!”
But I was always the kid that exited the gate saying, “That was awesome!! Let’s go again!!”
I guess that’s life, right? There’s ups, downs. There’s certainly lots of waiting. There’s unexpected thrills and even moments where it feels like the bottom falls out and you’re hurdling out of control.
The great thing about this ride called life though is that even if you get out of control, God never does. He always has it under His power. He knows the purpose. He knows the beginning, and He knows the end. He knows how long the wait will be. Sometimes you get a sign that tells you how much longer. Sometimes you don’t. But the ride is always worth the wait.
How you react to it though is up to you. Will you say, “That was awesome! Let’s do it again!”?
Sometimes the ride isn’t awesome though. Sometimes it’s just plain awful. But that has it’s purpose too. And when you can realize that then you can truly enjoy the ride. You enjoy it because you know that even if a part of it, a certain attraction is no good, that overall it’s going to be great. You know that overall He has your best interests at heart. You know He has purposes, and you know that they’re working together for your good.
It comes down to trust. You trust Him. You trust He is good and that He loves you. When you can see His true character you have no option but to enjoy the ride, to hang on and dig it. To grin big and shout out, “this is awesome.” Even when it’s not always fun.