I guess you think this song is about you?

[LoisB]

Will, I can sooooo relate to where you are at right now. I really get it. There's this fine line where I feel powerless and empowered. So much of the time, I'm walking a fence between the two.

For me, I need to turn it over to God. My kids aren't getting the childhood I envisioned for them. I'm not getting the marriage I envisioned. Does it mean things will turn out badly? No. But, definitely not what I planned and hoped for myself and my family.

I was thinking this morning how this journey has been such a rollercoaster...much like others mention. A rollercoaster in the dark of night and we have no idea where it's headed.

It's like the MLC-er sets the coaster in motion. We are hanging on for dear life. We start heading up the first hill, it's scary and we feel powerless because we are buckled in and we can't stop the motion. We hear the click-click-click-click. We know what's coming and we are screaming, begging, yelling, crying...anything to get the coaster to stop. Truth is, the MLC-er can't stop it anymore than we can.

Then, we plummet.

And, we realize we won't die after all. It's a coaster and somehow we are still alive.

What we don't see, in the beginning especially, is how we have a panic button. We can push the button at any time and get off. We can even get our kids off.

Does it stop the MLC-er on his/her journey? No, the coaster keeps going up and down and up and down. But, we can become a place of serenity and calm as we watch from the benches below.

Our kids are getting the shid end of the stick. That much is fact. Sometimes, they are forced to ride along. Sometimes, we are forced to ride along. BUT, WE ALWAYS have the choice to go back to the benches. And, we can teach our kids that same skill.

I think this is an invaluable tool in life. The lesson where you learn how to handle difficult people and difficult situations. In a perfect world, we wouldn't have to deal with any of it.

I imagine your daughter is already handling things in a way we could learn from. She is more likely, IMO, to handle this instinctively as God would want. With pain, confusion, some frustration, but also with love, acceptance and forgiveness.