My Roller Coaster

I often compare my life to a roller coaster. The kind where you're nervous, but excited, to get on....but then halfway through you want to get off, and you want to get off RIGHT NOW! But then, after a few small hills and dips that make your stomach do crazy flips, you find you're actually enjoying it. Until it starts again. This time you're serious - GET ME OFF!

But unlike real roller coasters, mine never stops. It just constantly ebbs and flows, up and down, over and under.

I've realized that I have a tendency to flee from things. I am a hard worker. I enjoy hard work. I actually get bored when things are easy. But, when things get really hard....I want to get away. Take work for example, since this consumes the majority of my life. For the most part, I truly enjoy my job. I see the benefit to my community. I believe I'm fairly good at my job.....but, over time, my job becomes hard. Really hard. Hard because I can't please everyone. Hard because there's not enough time. Hard because I want to be a better coach, a better mentor, a better boss. Hard because I want to do more but what I haven't done piles up. Hard because I'm stretching in to new territory and when I look around for a guide, there is often no one there.

So what do I do? I try to get away. I search the want ads. I day dream. I night dream. I plan. And eventually, I get away. Not permanently, just for a while. I've found that this is the best solution. Get off the roller coaster for a bit. Let my world stop spinning. Clear my head and look up. And what do I see? A beautiful roller coaster, my life, beckoning me aboard. And why do I see this? Because His love abounds. Because I trust that He has an amazing, wonderful plan for me. Because serving Him isn't always easy and doesn't always mean I'm going to be doing it where I want or how I want. In fact, it seldom means this. BUT - His love is still faithful, still undeniable. HE is my source, my strength, my stronghold.

So, when I momentarily step down from that roller coaster, it is Him that is my foundation. He is my rock, my love undeniable.