The Big Big Bridge

When Landon was two-years-old he became obsessed with Thomas the Train. This caused a chain reaction of Naaman and I to buy all the Thomas things available at Toys R Us. We also bought a lot of Thomas books to read. It really was his favorite thing. Thomas and reading. Of course Brigham went through a Thomas phase and now Sawyer loves the choo-choo too.

One of the books we bought was called Thomas and the Big Big Bridge. I just read it to Sawyer the other night.

In it, Thomas has to go up the mountain with the tourists in tow. He has to cross a Big Big Bridge to get to the other mountain where the view is lush and green and beautiful.

But once he gets up there he becomes very anxious. There is fog and he can’t see to the other side. So he closes his eyes when he crosses and his wheels go off the track. He has to call in Harold the Helicopter to help.

When he opens his eyes he sees that he has missed the great view and there was nothing to be afraid of at all. The tourists on the train are enjoying the ride and his anxious mind was not necessary.

Is it silly to compare my life to a Thomas the Train book? Maybe so. Or maybe, at this time of my life when we are smack dab into raising young kids and constantly reading children’s books, it is the perfect analogy.

Our family is coming upon a big change and the unknown is always scary. It feels like Naaman and I are climbing a mountain, trying to get ourselves out of a valley. We are going across a Big Big Bridge and there’s fog so we are blind to the other side.

Just like Thomas, it’s hard not to feel anxious and frightened. It’s hard not to shut our eyes tight as we cross. But I know we’ll miss the gorgeous view if we do. And we’ll miss the opportunity to show our children that life is an awesome adventure with winding roads that often lead to a better place.

I imagine the other side to be so beautiful. A dream come true for the tourists that are aboard (the kids).

So we choose to be brave. We open our eyes, pray for safe passage and await our destination.

If Thomas can do it surely we can too.