Sky Lifts, Polar Bears, Sea Lions, and Water Rides

The past two days I have had a GREAT time with my friend Chase. (He's here one more day, which is a blessing to me!) Chase arrived last night, and God is showing me some incredible revelations through Chase and the activities that we've done.

I should take a moment and state that Chase is ten years old. He is the child of one of my closest teacher friends in Joplin. I have known Chase since he was about four years old. He has gone to my old school all of his academic career, so I have seen him go from Kindergarten through second grade. He has always had a special place in my heart. Since I have moved here, I have been blessed to still stay in touch with Chase and his family. For three days this week I get to have Chase all on his own! He is an amazing boy, and God has created this boy with some amazing characteristics! All of which, God is using to teach me as this week progresses.

Last night we went to Worlds of Fun. Typically, I am the Roller Coaster gal, but since Chase isn't a roller coaster kid (I can relate, I was that way as a kid.) we did water rides! I'm not a HUGE fan of water rides unless I'm in a swimsuit, but I knew going into it that this trip wasn't about me. It was a trip for Chase. We did the Viking Voyager, and didn't get very wet. Then we did Fury of the Nile! Yeah, I got SOAKED. Of course, he barely got wet! He went up to the Monsoon bridge to get wet. He barely got wet. I found it all humorous. He WANTED to get wet, and I got soaked. I mean, dripping wet. My shorts were so wet I was uncomfortable. But, Chase enjoyed it. After that, we did a few other rides, but I found myself enjoying it as I watched it all through Chase's eyes. What was normal for me, was new to him. It was priceless.

Today we went to the Kansas City Zoo. I knew sweat would cover me, and I would be wiped out, and I was right. What I didn't expect was to have as much fun as I did! I thought the SKY LIFT over Africa was A BLAST. I have never actually been on a ski lift before, so it was really neat going 45 feet over the animals. It provided a ride to one side of the zoo, and we got off the lift and walked back, looking at all the animals. At one point, I commented to Chase that God can see us like we can see the animals. His comment was, "Yeah, but we're just small ants from where He sits." While that may be true, He still knows us intimately, which still grips my heart DAILY. *grin*

While I had seen some of the animals before, it was so much fun to watch Chase. He took my camera and took over 100 photos with the camera. He kept telling me random facts about the animals. I decided about halfway through it that he could easily be a zookeeper or tour guide at a zoo now and probably know more than most adults. God gave him a heart for animals like he gave me a heart for Autistic kids. It's fun to listen to Chase talk about animals, as he knows FACTS. He thrives off non-fictional books, and has learned a lot in his short life. It's amazing.

We ended the day at the Sea Lions show. While Chase didn't find the show as amazing as I did, it was fun to watch. The Sea Lions could do tricks! It was so much fun! That turned out to be my favorite thing, because the trainer could connect with the animal and make it do things. It wasn't Chase's favorite thing, as he just wanted to keep moving. That's how God created Chase, to keep going. While it was a challenge for him, he stayed put for me. *grin* I love that kid!

The final part of our day was the Polar Bear. The Polar Bear was doing flips in the water, which was amazing. Chase took SEVERAL pictures of it, and I hope they turn out well. That was amazing to me!

We still have all day tomorrow, and the plan is Oceans of Fun. In this case, I am pumped, as I REALLY enjoy water rides in this case! Of course, tomorrow we will layer up with sunscreen several times. Tonight we have a sunburn because I FORGOT the sunscreen. Lesson learned.

Thank You Lord for Chase. He's truly a gift from You! (By the way, Jay remains my favorite animal with four legs on the whole planet!)

*grin*
LIFE.
IS.
GREAT!!!