Our family spent the week at Disneyland and we were maniacs. We got the most out of the fast pass system riding every ride the park had to offer – and many of those multiple times. Our favorite section was Paradise Pier in California Adventure. And my seven year old daughter, Macy, declared California Screamin her favorite ride. California Screamin is THE big roller coaster at Disney and you can see Macy in the pic in front of the loop where you hang upside down.
By Thursday we had been on California Screamin multiple times and there were only two rides in the whole park we had yet to conquer. One of these is called the Maliboomer (I call it the blaster). This thing shoots you 180 feet into the air at 40 mph and I promise you that it takes about two seconds to get there. Then it kind of bounces you up and down. But that was not the ride that brought back the flood of childhood memories. No – it was the next ride we rode… The Orange Stinger. This is a glorified swing. It gently lifts you in the air swinging around and around letting the wind hit your face at a nice methodical pace. As we buckled in the chairs, the memories started to come back. Maybe it was something I suppressed? Who knows? When we took off the feeling rushed through my stomach and the memories were full on. I was taken back to some backwoods town in Oklahoma at the tender age of seven. I now remember it well. We were on the Orange Stinger like ride and I was terrified. I screamed so bad I made them stop the entire ride. I wouldn’t get on any other rides for years. I think I actually clawed my Mom’s friend who sat with me to the point of bloodshed.
Well… in a matter of seconds, I was literally taken back to that moment and was once again full of fear. At the grown up age of 28 (for the sixth consecutive year) I was actually scared on this swingie thing. Without even subconsciously thinking, in the midst of that fear, I involuntarily began singing a worship song and my heart was immediately calmed.
The worship song I began to sing was one that I started singing as junior in high school to help me combat my own struggle with anger as a teenager. When I played sports, I used to get fired up to the point where it wasn’t healthy, nor was it benefiting my game. By the time I was a junior in high school, I also realized that it was hurting my witness. So I would sing this one worship song in my head over and over as a way to meditate on the word of God and keep my head clear. I couldn’t believe that the same worship song popped into my head in that moment. I guess that’s what people mean when they say we should hide Gods word in our heart. As we dwell on scripture it resides in us and then even when we don’t ask for it – it comes out of us. I know it’s a silly example, but I was thankful that God’s word came out for me like that. Not just so I could get through The Orange Stinger, although that was a nice by-product. But because God once again showed me that His word is living and active.
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