Carousel Anyone?

Life is about focus. Where is our focus? Family? Attaining wealth? Job? Happiness? God?
Sometimes our focus shifts. Some days it's up. Sometimes its down. No matter where it is, it affects our day to day life GREATLY!

A little girl wanted to ride the carousel at the mall. Her daddy was so excited to watch her enjoy the ride he loved as a child. He paid her way. They climbed aboard and began to search for the perfect animal for her to ride. There were beautiful horses, fierce lions, and beastly elephants. There was one problem, though. A group of older kids stormed the carousel right after the little girl and her father. They pushed and shoved to lay claim to the beautifully carved animals. By the time the older children chose their animals, all that was left was a puny, little ostrich. The little girl didn't seem to mind although her daddy was ready to throw a few disrespectful boys off the ride and place his young princess on the animal of her choice.

The ride was about to start when a young man said to the daddy, "I"m sorry, sir, you can not ride with your daughter. You will have to watch from the side."
The dad was extremely disappointed, but kissed his daughter fairwell and found the perfect place to watch.
The music began to play, the carousel started to turn, the ostrich began to rise high in the air, and the father noticed something horribly wrong. His daughter gripped the ostrich for dear life and her expression went from joy to terror. She began to cry. Had she not known that the ostrich would go up and down? Did she know the carousel would go round and round?
As the little girl rounded the first lap, her father cheered, looked her in the eyes and told her how much fun she was having.
The little girl tried to smile as she kept her eyes locked on her father.
The carousel, however, took her around the circle and she lost sight of him.
Fear gripped her, she was afraid and began to cry. As the tears fell, the carousel turned. In a moment, there he was again...her daddy cheering, smiling, encouraging her. The tears stopped and her smile widened as she watched him. He knew the ride was safe. He knew she could handle it. But before she knew it, he was out of sight again.
The carousel continued turning. The little girl was up and down, crying and smiling, as she tried to keep her daddy in view. When the carousel finally came to a stop, the girl leaped from her ostrich, ran to her father, and jumped in his arms.
"You did it, sweety! I am so proud of you," he told her as they embraced.
"Thank you daddy. I couldn't have made it without you." she replied.

Life is the same way. We are on a carousel going round and round. Sometimes we get put on a nasty old ostrich that we don't like. Life throw us things we don't expect. Our days are up and down, up and down.

The one constant is our Father watching from the side. He knows we can handle it. He's been on the ride before. He's cheering, smiling, encouraging us the entire way. Our goal must be to keep our eyes on him. Not the cruel people who stole our horse. Or the carousel that doesn't make sense. He's our constant. He is our focus.

One day when this ride of life is over, we will run into his arms and hear him say, "You did it!" At that moment, we can humbly and lovingly thank him for being the focus we needed to make through the carousel of life!