Watch out for that turn!

It is amazing how quickly the years pass the older you get. I know that sounds pretty cliche, but the truth is usually obvious. Your high school years creep by. Your college years seem an eternity until you get that degree, and "get a real life". Once your out there, the job comes, and the family happens. Now if you were to use the Roller coaster analogy of life, this is the first big drop. The first twenty something years was just the waiting in line, the strapping in, and the long slow ascent to the place where the world will soon come rushing up at you. How you like roller coasters makes a big impact on how you handle the rest of the ride.

This time last year I would have loved to have a little extra time. Time to spend with my wife. Time to spend with my kids. Time to spend enjoying the ride. A recent job lay off though, has sent me spinning on a whole other track. This is not a ride I want my family to be on. Like most fathers, I have a need to provide for, and protect my family. The loss of a job is a direct challenge to that duty. I feel anger, panic, frustration, and confusion. But when you get down to what's really important, it's not about me, or what I feel. It's about what I'm going to do about it.

You can't get off the coaster. You can't panic because the ride took an unexpected turn. You handle the ups and downs as best as you can, because there are others looking to you for reassurance.

While the challenges of life are usually not planned, they have to be expected. I've got a family I love dearly. My children will watch how I deal with adversity. And whether I like it or not, I will set a pattern that they will follow as adults. I pray they see my character. I pray they overlook my faults. And most of all I pray they see my faith in God to see us through difficult times.