The Roller-Coaster

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." James 1:2-3

"Ah... my poor husband!" So many sentiments that I share tend to start that way!

Most recently, I've had this thought in terms of the roller-coaster ride he's been on for 2 years and 2 months now.

My life took a turn off the rosy path I had envisioned for myself a long time ago! And almost as soon as I stepped off that road, the twists, turns, and tumbles started to multiply! But, after a while, you become almost immune to it. Kind of like the guy who set the world record by riding a roller-coaster for 147 hours straight! All of the motion becomes a new normal. I will never forget - my second year of law school, I called my sister and told her that I had just heard that "normal people" didn't think "XYZ." She confirmed that was actually true and I was SHOCKED! I had always assumed everyone else's thought patterns and processes were just like mine. But, as it turned out, I was the anomaly. My "new normal" had become so much a part of my life that it wasn't even "new" anymore, it just was.

So imagine a man who maybe hadn't lived his entire life on easy street, but somewhere close... and take him from the "blue" slopes of life and stick him on a "double diamond" and sit back and watch the scene unfold. That's essentially what I did with Nick.

He's still learning what the "new normal" is for him. He still has days when his eyes get wide as saucers and he stares at me as if maybe I haven't fully grasped the gravity of what's going on. But like I said, for me... this is just normal.

In our wedding vows, we promised to "Consider it joy" when we face trials because we "know that the testing of [our] faith develops perseverance." THAT has been the hardest of all our vows to live up to, and believe me, we have been given ample opportunity!

Just like the roller-coaster with its dips, twists, loops, and turns... this life is going to take us for a ride. Thank goodness we have God and each other to get us through. So, as we head into the next ride (and it seems there's always one around the corner), I say - let's just throw our hands in the air, savor the thrill, and "Consider it PURE JOY!" BRING IT!