A Roller Coaster from your childhood

Roller Coaster Challenge Day 6  - A roller coaster from your childhood
GhostRider, Knott's Berry Farm

My visit to Knott's Berry Farm in 2000 began what I refer to as the "Modern Era" of my roller coaster experiences. (I was 12.) Before then I had only ridden a handful of very small roller coasters such as the “thrillers” at Arnold’s Park and Santa’s Village.  I had always been a fan of roller coasters, but I was much too scared to ride big rides like the wooden giant GhostRider.

I ventured on GhostRider first thing in the morning, and it scared me to death. It is an interminable two-minute ride with lots of airtime, intense turns, dips, and bumpiness (in a kid’s parlance, very bumpiness).  I was scared to the point that no amount of coaxing could induce me to ride it again that day. Before that point in my life, I still hadn't even gone upside-down on a roller coaster, so GhostRider was a dramatic leap for me. Nonetheless, this was an important event that marked the beginning of my "career" and started the three-year transition period from "non-rider" to "everything-rider."

Psalm 71: 5-8, 15-18

There are crystalized moments in our lives: memories we will never forget such as riding that first big rollercoaster, graduating from high school and the birth of a child. And then there are some things that seem to have always been a part of our lives.

With some, trusting God has been part of growing up.  The Psalmist thought it was perfectly natural to be praising God since God had cared for him since before he was born and had sustained him through his childhood.  This compounds the importance of teaching our children about Jesus. The Lord welcomes those who come to Him with the faith of a child, the ones who trust Him naturally and completely.

Sometimes it is a memorable moment, and sometimes it is a gradual understanding of God’s great love that bonds someone to the One who is faithful in everything. How precious to have received the teachings of God from earliest childhood! But no matter which way it came about, our response is clear: I will tell everyone of your righteousness. All day long will I proclaim your saving power.  I will praise your mighty deeds, O Sovereign Lord. I will tell everyone that you alone are just (Psalm 71: 15, 16).