This winter I have been thinking of roller coasters.  No, I am not putting together vacation plans to Cedar Point.  Instead, I have been watching our weather climb up and down while sending me on a roller coaster ride of happy Spring anticipation or frigid Winter gloom.  The plants, trees and birds don't know what to make of it either.  Robins have returned, buds are appearing on tree limbs and spring bulbs are pushing up through the dirt.  I find myself whispering to them "It's not time yet.  Wait.  More needs to happen."

Sometimes my progress during Lent is a roller coaster ride also.  I climb the heights, hear the roller coaster "car" clicking away on the track as I make progress in my Lenten practices and strive to reach the "top" where I will feel buoyant and closer to heaven.  Then the clicking stops, I screech past the top and find myself in a scary freefall down into my old habits.  Lent is a time of repentance.  It's a time of fasting and prayer.  We all know this yet we can get stuck on the roller coaster of going up and down with our plans.  

I can't force the growth.  I need to give myself the time.  I need to remain steady on course without the extreme highs and lows.  I need to re-use my whisper to the flowers, "Wait, more needs to happen."  

So, I will get off the roller coaster and climb into an old-time pedal car on a track where I can keep moving forward to the finish.