Some people were blessed with a characteristic that allows them to learn something simply because they listen. For example, as a child when my mom told to not touch the iron because it was hot, I was the child that had to touch the iron to see for myself if it was hot. There are some people out there that were the type of child that just listened and learned and never had to get burned in the process. Both Sydney and I, sadly, are not those kind of people.
The children's parks in Okinawa are so amazing! Some of the adventures in the park make me worry a little bit for the children's safety. For example, the slide that the majority of the kids love is a concrete slide. It is a very steep drop and the whole slide is made out of thick, hard concrete that has a little dip at the end. If you slide down the ride like you are supposed to, with your legs out in front of you, then when you get to the end, the dip in the concrete will give you a little bounce to your feet. Now if you were to go down head first...then once you reached the dip you would either bust your lip open or crack your chin open on the concrete. Not the safest idea. The picture below is of me, Nevaeh and Sydney all on top of the concrete slide before we head down. You can see how big of a drop it is.
(Click to Enlarge)
Me, the three girls and their mother Jennifer all went to the park today. Jennifer and I watched as the girls played on the slide over and over again. They were having a great time. One time as the girls were about to go down the slide, both girls flipped over so they were going head first. Jennifer had to yell to get their attention to stop and sit normally. All Jennifer has to do with Nevaeh is explain what could happen if she went down the wrong way and Nevaeh will never try that again. Sydney...and myself...it's a whole different story. We are the kind of people where we have to go down the slide head fist and get all beat up to understand that we shouldn't do that. Thankfully, that was not a lesson that Sydney had to learn today.
I love Sydney so much, the thought of her getting hurt makes me sick to my stomach. Tonight I prayed for Sydney and her sweet heart. I know there are so many heart aches I could have saved myself if I just would have listened to the people who love me. Sydney is a free spirit and I know that she is going to grow up and do amazing things and I also know that she is going to have to learn some hard lessons the hard way. Knowing that Sydney is a lot like me, I am going to pray even more for her...HARD. Today I prayed that God would help her make good choices and that He would protect her future.
Life is kind of like a concrete slide. If you go down correctly, the way God designed it, then, although it may be a little bumpy, it will be fun and exciting. If you don't go down the correct way and disobey God, then you will slide out of control and will end up a little beaten up at the end of the ride.
(Paris and Sydney)
"Thank you Jesus for the opportunity to be in Okinawa, Japan. Thank you for allowing me the time to be with these beautiful girls. I pray God, today, for my little Sydney Bella. I pray that you will protect her future and help her make good choices. I pray that you send good people in her life to help her make those good decisions and be there when she falls. I pray that you will keep her strong. I love you. In Jesus' name. Amen."
