We were waiting in line just to get back to where we could get in line for the actual thing. It was building within. There was a feeling in my chest that I couldn’t describe but I knew how much of a rush it would be. I’m not talking about when they moved the gates so we could get in line, I’m talking about the rush of what was actually going to happen when we got there. However, that fifteen minutes waiting for them to open the gates so we could get back there and wait in another line felt like an eternity. When they finally opened the gates we walked as fast as we could without running or looking like “those people” but everyone around us knew exactly what was going on. Of course, no one judged us because they were doing the same thing, so why it wasn’t a mad dash I’m not sure, but we were all trying to save a little face and maintain composure in front of the total strangers that surround us.
Finally we made it. Well, we found where the line actually started. It will be another 20 minutes before we were seated and strapped in. It will just be seconds before we experience twenty seconds of the biggest rush of the year. That’s right we were sitting on the tallest/fastest roller coaster in all of America: “The Top Thrill Dragster”. As the cart moves forward slowly into the launching area we wait in yet more eager anticipation as we watch the cart ahead of us go over the big hill and plummet straight down and come to a screeching halt leaving the riders hair in a mess with a look of “what just happened” on their faces. When will it go? When will the lights signal that we are about to take off and experience the exact same rush? All of a sudden….. it happens. 3-2-1-green. And just like that we are off.
Was it worth the wait? Absolutely. It was worth every second of waiting for what truly was an incredible rush. Typically the wait for this ride is more than double what we waited. People always ask, “Is it really worth that long of a wait for such a short ride?” Looking back on it, I would say that the wait actually made the ride more than what it was. What I mean was that I don’t know that the rush would have been the same if we had just walked straight on upon arrival and been loaded and launched just as quick as we got there. The anticipation magnified the whole experience to a level I can’t even describe.
We have all experienced this level of anticipation for one thing or another. No one has ever lived without anticipation. Whether it is the anticipation of waiting for a response from that girl that you asked out, or maybe it is waiting to hear the gender of a child, getting the test scores from the last final of the year or the lab results from a different kind of test. Sometimes it is simply anticipation of waiting for a miracle because we are in a dead –end situation.
Anticipation is just a part of our everyday life. And we aren’t alone in that. In fact, we are told that all creation is waiting in eager anticipation for the day that all things are made new. It is interesting that the imagery used when talking about this is like a woman in labor. It is the anticipation that things aren’t quite the way they are supposed to be right now, something is missing, something is about to happen. And then it arrives.
Of course the thing we are really waiting in eager expectation of is something much more grandiose than a 20 second ride or the news of a miracle. It is that day when all things are made new and there is no more hurting or sickness or pain or death. There is no more need for anticipation as all things are made new and we just get to sit back and enjoy the view and worship the King. What a day that will be. But until then we have our eyes locked on the lights waiting for them to count down 3-2-1 and the trumpet to sound. What a day that will be.
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