THRILL RIDES AND YOUTHFUL DREAMS

"Dad!  Can I ride again?  Ple-eeese?  I just love The Rocket!"  

The Ocean View Amusement Park was just a few short miles from our house in Norfolk, VA.  Ask any Navy brat from the '50s and they'll be familiar with the town, the park and especially the rickety white wooden rollercoaster.  


My thrill on that ride led to youthful dreams of the ultimate thrill ride.  A few years later I gushed to Doug, my new fiance, "I'd love to parachute from an airplane one day!" 


Eventually the structural integrity of The Rocket was questioned.  Attempts to destroy it by explosives failed.  The park itself became plagued with vice activity. My fun place became scary.


Finally the roller coaster became part of history and was destroyed in the opening scene of a 1979 movie called "The Death of Ocean View Park" starring Mike Conners, of Mannix fame.  It was also featured in another movie called The Rollercoaster with Timothy Bottoms.


My youthful dreams gave way to other dreams as I married Doug and became a mother of three beautiful children.  I traded thrill for peace and joy as a homemaker.  We celebrated that joy my 30th birthday when Doug handed me my gift.


"What's this?"  I smiled.


He was almost trembling with excitement.  I could see this gift was special. "Open it and see."


When I did, I began to read a certificate:

This entitles Kathy Tippett Henderson to

training with an official instructor and

one parachute jump from an airplane. 

I could read no further.  My heart raced.  I looked up and Doug's eyes danced with delight at finding my perfect gift, making my dream come true.  


He beamed.

I gulped.


Finally able to speak, my voice rose higher and louder than usual as I sincerely asked him, "Are you out of your EVER LOVIN' mind, Doug? Is this for real?"

Puzzled, he stammered, "We-well, yeah.  It took some work but you said you always wanted to jump from an airplane so. . ."

"I said that when I was 18 years old, Honey!  I have kids now!  And BONES!  I'd never risk my life now!"  My fun place had become scary.

His smile wilted, chest and shoulders drooped as I rose from my chair-of-terror to offer meager thanks.   Pointless.  Finally I asked, "Can you get a refund, Hon?"

He did.

We've laughed about that over the years.  I've thought about why my dreams changed as I grew up.  Partly because the frontal lobe of my brain was not fully developed at 18.  That's what scientists today tell me.  Something about youthful inability to connect actions with consequences.

Like my beloved rollercoaster I've grown rickety but clocked miles of memories, thrills and even withstood some powerful life-explosives tossed my way.  Yet I too am still standing after the blasts.

I was one of those hold-your-hands-up-all-the-way riders!  I still lift my hands but in surrender to One Who loves me even more than Doug.  He too knows my dreams because my Beloved gave them to me.  I hold a certificate from Him too:

This entitles Kathy Tippett Henderson to 

eternal life with her Creator

and the ultimate thrill of heaven with Him.

Not quite sure when I'll redeem it, but it'll still be good.  My old bones will collapse one day too but I'll lift my arms in praise and be lifted to that celestial peak.  I'll thank my Gift-Giver for the perfect place He prepared for me, making all my dreams come true.

Do you have your ticket? Whether He comes first or we go, it's not too late today.

THE ROCKET:  
speed - check
flight - almost check
thrill - check






HEAVEN:
speed - check
"To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord."
flight - check
"The dead in Christ shall rise first then we which are alive and remain shall be caught UP together to meet Him in the AIR."
thrill - check
"So shall we ever be with the Lord."
~
ALL THAT THRILLS MY SOUL IS JESUS!
HE IS MORE THAN LIFE TO ME
AND THE FAIREST OF TEN THOUSAND
IN MY BLESSED LORD I SEE.

FATHER'S DAY--AN OPEN LETTER TO DAD IN HEAVEN

(Don't miss the video after you read the blog.)

Dear Daddy,

Since I can no longer send you a Father's Day card, I hope heaven lets you read my letter to you.  

No daughter ever had a daddy who was more godly than you. It was so important because it made the road to our relationship with our heavenly Father an easy path.  Bert, Ricky and I had a clear image of Him, reflected in you.  Your character, love, faithfulness, wisdom, guidance, encouragement and selflessness pointed us to Him.  You forged our trail well.

I remember many times as we asked for your advice, you ended with, "Just do what the Lord would have you do."  You spoke that.  You lived that.

                                                          

Recently I found a yellowed newspaper clipping of an essay I wrote about you 19 years ago.  It won a writing contest.  However, the true winner was my subject! (I copied it below the clipping for my eavesdropping readers here.  You have perfect eyesight now, Daddy.  Some of us don't.)

"If you start a job, finish it. . .if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing right."  New advice?  No, but as a five year old, I thought Daddy made it up.  Now at 44, with three kids of my own, I realize it's programmed into all parents.  What makes my dad, my hero, different?  He lived his advice.

He started a job with Uncle Sam, enlisting in the Navy.  When his two years were up, he returned home but knew the job wasn't done so he re-enlisted becoming a 32-year veteran.  He started a marriage and has been faithful for 55 years.

"Mama, why don't you ever worry about him straying like other sailors do overseas?"

"Because he's true to himself, Kathy, not just to me.  Any man who won't even bring home a government issued ink pen won't cheat in big things."

The only wartime shot he ever fired as a Naval officer was a fluke.  As Officer-of-the-Day he checked his gun's chamber and accidentally fired it. . .onto the ship docked next to his! Captains and admirals scurried around until Dad sheepishly confessed!

No, it's not his medals, though he has some, that make him my hero.  It's his daily, constantly doing the job and doing it right, honestly, completely.  Other sprinters may outrun him in the 50-yard dash but Daddy is a plodder, pacing himself for the marathon.  As he looks back over 55 years of marriage, he's a long-haul winner.  He's a tall man but as far back as memory carries me I see him bent low, humbly, quietly praying for us--true to God too.

How has his advice affected me?  It's kept me true to a marriage for 23 years while friends of ours bailed out.  It kept me mothering, wiping tears and bottoms, tripping over cars, hamsters and rabbits.  Sure a nunnery looked appealing at times but Dad's voice echoed, "If you start a job. . ."   In fact, my two brothers and I have grown into a fourth generation of 17 plodders--no divorce, drugs, rebels or quitters in our ancestry.  Why?  Because my eye was a more ready pupil than my ear.  Good advice is often confusing but example is always clear.  Dad didn't just point the way, he walked with us, giving us life then showing us how to live it!

He's my hero!"

~ ~ ~

It's a small vignette into who you are as Daddy.  It bears repeating to others today who may not have had such a father.  You still point a world to Christ.  Your legacy lives on, not only in print, but in us, your children and grandchildren.

                                    

                                            Daddy with our baby, Katy.

I miss you today.

All My Love,

Kathy                                  ~ ~ ~ 

Now to you, my dear reader, I leave another Father's Day message.  If you were not blessed with a dad like mine, you still have One.  He has something to tell you from the throne of heaven today too.  Listen to your Abba Papa.

Kat's Pause's readership hit the 20,000 mark this week.  Thank you for stepping into my world and letting me share my heart every Friday!

MURPHY'S LAW EXPANDED

We all know Murphy.  Shoot!  We LIVE Murphy's Law pretty consistently.  But he has some relatives with their own laws, some of which may be familiar in your life too.

1. Law of Mechanical Repair - After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch & you'll have to pee.
2. Law of Gravity - Any tool, nut, bolt, screw, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

3. Law of Probability - The probability of being watched is directly proportional to the stupidity of your act.

4. Law of Random Numbers - If you dial a wrong number, you never get a busy signal & someone always answers.
5. Law of the Alibi - If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the very next morning you will have a flat tire.
6. Variation Law - If you change lines (or traffic lanes), the one you were in will always move faster than the one you are in now (works every time).

7. Law of the Bath - When the body is fully immersed in water, the telephone rings.

8. Law of Close Encounters - The probability of meeting someone you know increases dramatically when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.

9. Law of the Result - When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will.

10. Law of Biomechanics - The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

11.. Law of the Theater & Hockey Arena - At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle, always arrive last. They are the ones who will leave their seats several times to go for food, beer, or the toilet & who leave early before the end of the performance or the game is over. The folks in the aisle seats come early, never move once, have long gangly legs or big bellies & stay to the bitter end of the performance. The aisle people also are very surly folk.

12. The Coffee Law - As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.

13. Murphy's Law of Lockers - If there are only 2 people in a locker room, they will have adjacent lockers.

14. Law of Physical Surfaces - The chances of an open-faced jelly sandwich landing face down on a floor, are directly correlated to the newness & cost of the carpet or rug.

15. Law of Logical Argument - Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.

16. Brown's Law of Physical Appearance - If the clothes fit, they're ugly.

17. Oliver's Law of Public Speaking - A closed mouth gathers no feet.

18.  Wilson's Law of Commercial Marketing Strategy - As soon as you find a product that you really like, they will stop making it.

19. Doctors' Law - If you don't feel well, make an appointment to go to the doctor, by the time you get there you'll feel better.  But if you don't make an appointment,  you'll stay sick.

OLD TIMERS

Last week's subject for the mature continues this week, tongue firmly planted in cheek.  This would be my upcoming life phase.