It doesn't look too bad, does it? And Blaine looks super excited in the picture to be getting ready to go up! It's much more intimidating in person, I promise, to us non-thrill seekers! And they even time the riders to see who comes down the fastest! Of course, fast is the goal!
But if you look closely, you'll notice there are several spiraled tubes way up high to go through and then a verticle drop just after them. The verticle drop is what did it for me (and eventually my sweet boy).
I didn't want to put the weight of my anxiety on my child and simply asked him if he was sure. I explained he would have to go up alone like the other slide and he was totally fine with that. Lovingly, I tried to point out the verticle drop but he was determined it would be fun and off he went! I made him promise me he wouldn't be scared! :)
I've never heard my child scream in quite that way. Sheer terror is what I think he felt. I think his heart was pounding too fast for him to realize what he had just done. He knew he didn't really like it but he simply stated he wouldn't be going on it again until he was much older.
We then returned to the wave pool and beach area to relax. Before leaving there was one more slide that he wanted to try. It was a tube slide that went through an aquarium with dolphins inside. It wasn't a particularly fast or tall slide. It was just one he'd been waiting to go on because the line had been long all day. There wasn't much of a line at this point and the slide was all his for the fun!
Blaine must have gone up to the top about 6 or 7 times. But each time fear would seize him and he would come running back down the path with tears in his eyes saying he couldn't do it. It turned out he was so distraught because of his promise to me that he wouldn't be afraid! He didn't want to let me down but he just couldn't make himself go down the slide no matter how hard he tried. I told him that I released him from his promise and that I only meant he needed to be brave for The Racer because it was so fast! I hugged him. We watched a couple of other people come down the dolphin slide, noting how slow they came out of the tube. I encouraged him. He tried again but couldn't go down. I told him he didn't have to do it that I loved him no matter what and was super proud of him. He got dressed and we packed up to leave; as we started to leave he turned around, took his shirt and shoes off, and tried one final time up the path to the top of the slide. He returned from the path a few minutes later, tears streaming down his sunburnt cheeks. He just couldn't do it. It broke my heart to see him in so much distress. At the same time, it warmed my heart to know how hard he tried!
Wouldn't it be awesome if we treated our faith and relationship with Christ in this way. Determination. What would it look like if we got really good at loving God so much that nothing could stop us, no matter what! What if in the challeging times we tried with all of our might not to let God down. Imagine in the scary times of the teenage years if there was nothing that could pull you away or stop you from climbing the path to God ... no peer pressure, no fear of failure, no view of yourself that you're not good enough, no nothing! I don't know that this exists or is even possible, but wouldn't it be cool to try!?
And isn't it a comfort to know that even when we fail and let God down, God loves us more than we could ever even imagine?! Isn't it helpful to know that God is there waiting for us at the bottom of our slides, never turning His back on us but always with His eye on us and ALWAYS there to comfort us!? What a relief we should feel to know that there is nothing we can do (or fail at doing) that would ever stop God from being our biggest cheerleader! There is nothing we can say (or not say) that would ever stop God from loving us and wanting a relatioship with us. There is nothing that we could feel (or not feel) about ourselves that would ever make God feel anything but love for us. There is nothing that could ever keep God from waiting at the bottom of the slide for us.
Now ... get busy sliding!
Jillianne
Monday, April 15, 2013
Water Slides!
Last May at Party with a Purpose (our silent auction / Costa Rica youth mission trip fundraiser), our family won a trip to Orlando over this Spring Break! Blaine and I went on the trip and we had an amazing week and really enjoyed the warmer weather! We ended up spending one day at Sea World's water park called Aquatica! If you know me, you know that # 1 I'm pregnant so there wasn't much I could do in the way of slides other than wait at the bottom with the camera and # 2 I'm not at all a dare devil and fast/high water slides really aren't my thing anyways (remember last summer's helicopter incident on the middle school mission trip - if not, just ask?!). But we found a 50% off deal and Blaine REALLY wanted to go, so we did! They had a great wave pool and kids water playground that he enjoyed. But, my child is a dare-devil (thank goodness he didn't inherit my fears) and he loved going down some of the smaller slides throughout the day.
After lunch we were walking through the other side of the park and we came upon "it." The Racer:
It doesn't look too bad, does it? And Blaine looks super excited in the picture to be getting ready to go up! It's much more intimidating in person, I promise, to us non-thrill seekers! And they even time the riders to see who comes down the fastest! Of course, fast is the goal!
But if you look closely, you'll notice there are several spiraled tubes way up high to go through and then a verticle drop just after them. The verticle drop is what did it for me (and eventually my sweet boy).
I didn't want to put the weight of my anxiety on my child and simply asked him if he was sure. I explained he would have to go up alone like the other slide and he was totally fine with that. Lovingly, I tried to point out the verticle drop but he was determined it would be fun and off he went! I made him promise me he wouldn't be scared! :)
I've never heard my child scream in quite that way. Sheer terror is what I think he felt. I think his heart was pounding too fast for him to realize what he had just done. He knew he didn't really like it but he simply stated he wouldn't be going on it again until he was much older.
We then returned to the wave pool and beach area to relax. Before leaving there was one more slide that he wanted to try. It was a tube slide that went through an aquarium with dolphins inside. It wasn't a particularly fast or tall slide. It was just one he'd been waiting to go on because the line had been long all day. There wasn't much of a line at this point and the slide was all his for the fun!
Blaine must have gone up to the top about 6 or 7 times. But each time fear would seize him and he would come running back down the path with tears in his eyes saying he couldn't do it. It turned out he was so distraught because of his promise to me that he wouldn't be afraid! He didn't want to let me down but he just couldn't make himself go down the slide no matter how hard he tried. I told him that I released him from his promise and that I only meant he needed to be brave for The Racer because it was so fast! I hugged him. We watched a couple of other people come down the dolphin slide, noting how slow they came out of the tube. I encouraged him. He tried again but couldn't go down. I told him he didn't have to do it that I loved him no matter what and was super proud of him. He got dressed and we packed up to leave; as we started to leave he turned around, took his shirt and shoes off, and tried one final time up the path to the top of the slide. He returned from the path a few minutes later, tears streaming down his sunburnt cheeks. He just couldn't do it. It broke my heart to see him in so much distress. At the same time, it warmed my heart to know how hard he tried!
Wouldn't it be awesome if we treated our faith and relationship with Christ in this way. Determination. What would it look like if we got really good at loving God so much that nothing could stop us, no matter what! What if in the challeging times we tried with all of our might not to let God down. Imagine in the scary times of the teenage years if there was nothing that could pull you away or stop you from climbing the path to God ... no peer pressure, no fear of failure, no view of yourself that you're not good enough, no nothing! I don't know that this exists or is even possible, but wouldn't it be cool to try!?
And isn't it a comfort to know that even when we fail and let God down, God loves us more than we could ever even imagine?! Isn't it helpful to know that God is there waiting for us at the bottom of our slides, never turning His back on us but always with His eye on us and ALWAYS there to comfort us!? What a relief we should feel to know that there is nothing we can do (or fail at doing) that would ever stop God from being our biggest cheerleader! There is nothing we can say (or not say) that would ever stop God from loving us and wanting a relatioship with us. There is nothing that we could feel (or not feel) about ourselves that would ever make God feel anything but love for us. There is nothing that could ever keep God from waiting at the bottom of the slide for us.
Now ... get busy sliding!
Jillianne
It doesn't look too bad, does it? And Blaine looks super excited in the picture to be getting ready to go up! It's much more intimidating in person, I promise, to us non-thrill seekers! And they even time the riders to see who comes down the fastest! Of course, fast is the goal!
But if you look closely, you'll notice there are several spiraled tubes way up high to go through and then a verticle drop just after them. The verticle drop is what did it for me (and eventually my sweet boy).
I didn't want to put the weight of my anxiety on my child and simply asked him if he was sure. I explained he would have to go up alone like the other slide and he was totally fine with that. Lovingly, I tried to point out the verticle drop but he was determined it would be fun and off he went! I made him promise me he wouldn't be scared! :)
I've never heard my child scream in quite that way. Sheer terror is what I think he felt. I think his heart was pounding too fast for him to realize what he had just done. He knew he didn't really like it but he simply stated he wouldn't be going on it again until he was much older.
We then returned to the wave pool and beach area to relax. Before leaving there was one more slide that he wanted to try. It was a tube slide that went through an aquarium with dolphins inside. It wasn't a particularly fast or tall slide. It was just one he'd been waiting to go on because the line had been long all day. There wasn't much of a line at this point and the slide was all his for the fun!
Blaine must have gone up to the top about 6 or 7 times. But each time fear would seize him and he would come running back down the path with tears in his eyes saying he couldn't do it. It turned out he was so distraught because of his promise to me that he wouldn't be afraid! He didn't want to let me down but he just couldn't make himself go down the slide no matter how hard he tried. I told him that I released him from his promise and that I only meant he needed to be brave for The Racer because it was so fast! I hugged him. We watched a couple of other people come down the dolphin slide, noting how slow they came out of the tube. I encouraged him. He tried again but couldn't go down. I told him he didn't have to do it that I loved him no matter what and was super proud of him. He got dressed and we packed up to leave; as we started to leave he turned around, took his shirt and shoes off, and tried one final time up the path to the top of the slide. He returned from the path a few minutes later, tears streaming down his sunburnt cheeks. He just couldn't do it. It broke my heart to see him in so much distress. At the same time, it warmed my heart to know how hard he tried!
Wouldn't it be awesome if we treated our faith and relationship with Christ in this way. Determination. What would it look like if we got really good at loving God so much that nothing could stop us, no matter what! What if in the challeging times we tried with all of our might not to let God down. Imagine in the scary times of the teenage years if there was nothing that could pull you away or stop you from climbing the path to God ... no peer pressure, no fear of failure, no view of yourself that you're not good enough, no nothing! I don't know that this exists or is even possible, but wouldn't it be cool to try!?
And isn't it a comfort to know that even when we fail and let God down, God loves us more than we could ever even imagine?! Isn't it helpful to know that God is there waiting for us at the bottom of our slides, never turning His back on us but always with His eye on us and ALWAYS there to comfort us!? What a relief we should feel to know that there is nothing we can do (or fail at doing) that would ever stop God from being our biggest cheerleader! There is nothing we can say (or not say) that would ever stop God from loving us and wanting a relatioship with us. There is nothing that we could feel (or not feel) about ourselves that would ever make God feel anything but love for us. There is nothing that could ever keep God from waiting at the bottom of the slide for us.
Now ... get busy sliding!
Jillianne
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