Amusement Park: The Hat, part 1
Amalia and Jesus walked slowly. They had been on many of the rides, and now they were happy just to spend a few moments just being together. No lessons. No adventures. No temptations. No surprises. Amalia sighed with pleasure.
As they meandered past rides she had been on, and rides she hadn’t, Amalia spotted a small shop she hadn’t seen before. “Souvenirs” was written on a large sign above the front door. Smiling, she tugged on Jesus’ hand. “Let’s go in there! I want to see what they have.”
The shop was amazing. Amalia gazed with wonder at the myriad of objects displayed on racks and counters, in boxes and tubs, and even hanging from the ceiling. She fingered a t-shirt with a picture of a large roller coaster with the matching words, “I Survived the Roller Coaster!” She rifled through the shirts and was amused that each ride seemed to have its own shirt, even the gentle merry-go-round. Moving on she found water bottles, key chains, magnets, tote bags, cups, post cards, wallets, lanyards, jewelry, flash lights, umbrellas, kites, and sandals. And she hadn’t even made it halfway through the shop yet. She was especially intrigued with the snow globes. There were so many of them, each containing a miniature replica of a ride. There was a tiny Ferris wheel in one that spun as she shook it. A train went around in a circle in another one. A third contained a tiny boat floating on turquoise water. She picked up one after another to watch the rides move, wishing she had enough money to buy each of them. Those would be so much fun to play with when she got home, and would help her to remember what she had learned while here. But knowing she didn’t, she gave them a sad little wave, and moved on.
While she moved further and further into the shop, she noticed that Jesus hadn’t said anything. He wasn’t even looking at the all the interesting things she was finding. He was looking at her. Puzzled, she wondered what He was thinking. But before she could ask Him, she was distracted by a large, colorful display. Hats! She loved hats! Trying on one after another, she knew this was the one thing in this whole shop she wouldn’t be able to resist. The only question was which one? The large, floppy ones with colorful bands? The beanies? The ones with flaps on the back to keep necks from getting sunburned? The soft felt ones with the playful feathers? And then she knew. A baseball styled cap’s bill would shade her eyes while the snug fit would keep the wind from blowing it off her head. Now… which color? Dismissing the bright colors, she considered the earth tones. They all looked so good, but eventually it came down to the faded teal blue or the dusty rose. Holding one in each hand, she turned to Jesus. “What do you think?”
“You don’t need a hat.”
“That’s not what I meant, but okay. Why don’t I need a hat?”
“You already have a few hats.”
“Those are just plain hats. Look! This one has the name of the amusement park on it. It will help me remember being here with you.”
“You don’t need a hat to remember. Get it if you really want it, but you don’t need it.”
Amalia frowned. She wanted a souvenir hat. Turning from Jesus, she decided on the blue one, and took it to the counter to pay for it.
Outside, new hat on her head, she continued walking with Jesus. But the delight she had 
had walking with Him before entering the shop was missing. It was still a nice walk, but something was different. It was like something had come between them. Was it the hat? He had said to get it if she really wanted it so it wasn’t disobedience. Then what was it? She couldn’t put her finger on it, and eventually gave up, focusing on her hat instead. It was a great hat – so incredibly comfortable, and worked even better at shielding her eyes from the sun than she had hoped for. She couldn’t resist reaching up every few minutes to feel its comforting cotton texture, or to tap its sturdy bill. It was not just any hat. It was a hat that symbolized being with Jesus. This connection was so strong that touching the hat was almost like touching Himi, and her love for the hat deepened each time she did. How could anything this good be bad? Why would Jesus not want her to have this? Maybe she should ask Him again.
She turned to Him just in time to hear Him say, “…to go on before we leave.” She had been so consumed with her own thoughts that she hadn’t noticed Jesus had been talking to her.
“Sorry, what did you say?” she asked Him.
“Ah… so I have your attention again.” He smiled. “I was saying, there is a ride we need to go back to before we leave. Do you want to do it now?”
“Which one is it?”
“The haunted house.”
“The haunted house? Why do we have to do that one again?” Amalia thought of the different rooms, and how hard some of them were. She didn’t want to go back to those. Not even the mountain one. Although the top was incredible, she was not yet ready to repeat the brutal journey to get there.
“There’s a room in there that we skipped.”
Amalia brightened with the realization she wouldn’t have to go through any of those difficult rooms again. “A room we skipped? How did we do that? Which one?”
“I didn’t think you were ready for it, so I didn’t take you through it. But I think now would be a good time.”
“What’s the room like?”
“Well, that would be spoiling the surprise, wouldn’t it? You’ll just have to wait and see.”
Amalia thought for a few minutes. None of the rides had been as they had looked. Each contained something totally unexpected. Was she up for another of His “surprises”? Well, if He said this was a good time, then it must be a good time. She would just have to trust Him.
“Sure, let’s do it.”
To be continued.
disappeared around a corner. One huge painting, framed and centered, was on each wall. There were different size groups of people standing in front of each painting, seemingly to be content with that one painting and not interested in any of the others. Other people moved from painting to painting, spending various amounts of time studying the painting before moving on. Occasionally someone would end their tour and settle in front of one of the paintings.
Amazing God Stories 