Jackson barely passed the height requirement for the "Scrambler" ride at the city amusement park. I was hopeful that he'd still be too small, but we grow 'em up tall in the Slater family, so I shouldn't have been surprised when the girls squealed out that Jackson was tall enough.
In my mind I imagined the ride would take us up and down, around in circles a few times, and then we would be done. Au contraire. As I sat wedged between Sydney and Brooklyn, giddy with excitement, our enthusiastic "Woo hoo's" were slowly silenced as the "Scrambler" started to live up to its name. Whipping us around like poor little eggs in a frying pan, I realized this ride was a bit more intense than a simple city park ferris wheel. About the time the world around us turned into a blur of color, the smiles on Sydney's and my face disappeared and were replaced by looks of serious concern and deep concentration. I kept envisioning our bucket seat flying off its steal arm and twirling into oblivion. Brooklyn, however, didn't stop "woo hoo-ing" until the ride came to a complete halt. In between mental pleas of, "Jesus, help us!" and heart palpitations, I tried to get a visual on the boys, but they were just out of view. At the end, as we were unstrapping our tense bodies from the seats, my eye caught Joel's. Jackson was good. He loved every second of the ride. My nerves calmed.
Why was I worried? Joel's steady hand was on my little guy the whole ride. The steal arm holding the bucket seats of the "Scrambler" was sturdy and trustworthy. There was nothing to fear. I spent a couple of minutes with my body stiff as a board when I should have been screaming with delight. I think Brooklyn may have been the only one of the five of us who really let loose and had fun in the midst of the scramble.
What did I learn? Life sometimes feels like we're riding on the "Scrambler". There are so many uncertainties, thrills, terrifying twists and turns, but just like Joel's hand holding my little Jackson safe, God's hand is holding us...firm and secure. His eye is upon us. His attention never shifts.
I want to be more like Brooklyn as I ride the scrambler of life. I want to release my grip and trust the steady hand that holds me; that hand that will never leave me. Even when the world is spinning, and I'm not sure where the next dip in the ride is going to take me, I want to let go, feel the wind whip across my face, and trust the strong, capable arms of my Heavenly Father.
Life is a crazy ride, but we don't have to live it in fear. I think God just wants us to sit back, "woo hoo" a little bit more, and trust Him...in every spin along the way.