---
title: "County Fairs & Ferris Wheels"
date: 2025-09-26
author: "Laurie Stroud"
featured_image: "https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Walt-and-Hannah-in-front-of-ferris-wheel.jpeg"
categories:
  - name: "Outdoors"
    url: "/category/news/entertainment/outdoors.md"
tags:
  - name: "Featured"
    url: "/tag/featured.md"
---

# County Fairs & Ferris Wheels

**The Great Outdoors**

It’s late October in Andalusia. The sun sets over the Midway’s bright lights. The hot afternoon begins to cool, and the County Fair comes alive. Hand in hand, my wife Hannah and I cross the parking lot. Our daughter Banks and two of her girlfriends prance ahead. “Let’s ride the Ferris Wheel,” Hannah suggests. I study her face. She’s serious. “It’s the sunset,” she smiles. “What’s more romantic?” I groan because heights are not my thing. As we moved towards the Ferris Wheel line, I remembered the last time we ventured to ride the Ferris Wheel at the fair.

[![Walt and Hannah in front of ferris wheel](https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Walt-and-Hannah-in-front-of-ferris-wheel-300x225.jpeg "Walt and Hannah in front of ferris wheel")](https://birminghamchristian.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Walt-and-Hannah-in-front-of-ferris-wheel.jpeg)Walt is seen here enjoying the County Fair with his wife Hannah.Our daughter Bay was about five. “Let’s ride the Ferris Wheel, Daddy!” I sheepishly ignored her. She begged even more. I tried to think of excuses. I even suggested “mama will go with you” — for I knew she wasn’t afraid—but before I could escape, Bay announced to her, “Daddy said we’re riding the Ferris Wheel next!” And that was that. My palms grew sweaty. My heartbeat quickened. To me, eternal torment might just be a Ferris Wheel. Bay tugged my hand and Hannah asked, “How can you resist that smile, Daddy?” Hannah was right. Fear or not, I wanted to ride with her. The cart creaked as we boarded, the cold steel floor moaning under our weight. I whispered a prayer. Even a few feet off the ground, nausea crept in. After what seemed like hours, the ride began. I tried focusing on Bay’s glowing face or Hannah’s steady hand. But each creak of the Wheel of Death reminded me of bolts snapping. “Daddy, look!” Bay leaned nearly over the rail, pointing at the skyline. My chest tightened. But then I glimpsed downtown Andalusia glowing in the fading light. For a second, fear gave way to beauty. Still, I slid to the floor, crossing my legs around the pole. Others noticed. A dad above us hollered good-natured jokes at my expense. Soon the whole crowd laughed. So did I—though I was still terrified. On our third trip around, my nerves were shot. Near the bottom, I shouted to the operator. “I’ll give you twenty bucks if you stop this ride and let me off!” Suddenly, like Chuck Norris in a kung fu flick, the operator sprang to action. The wheel screeched to a halt. I stumbled out—poorer, humiliated, but grateful to stand on solid ground. Hannah, Bay, and their friends rode on, laughing into the night.

*“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you”* (Psalm 56:3). For me, fear certainly rides high on the Ferris Wheel. But sometimes, it rides higher in life. Sometimes it shakes us, embarrasses us, or even costs us twenty bucks to get off the ride. But God doesn’t measure us by how steady we are at every height—He cares that we keep showing up for the ones we love, and that we turn to Him when our knees get weak. Trust in Him steadies every cart, no matter how high it swings.

*-Walt Merrell is a Christian Outdoorsman who writes of his adventures with his family, with the hope that others might be inspired and encouraged to embrace God’s tapestry, otherwise known as the great outdoors, as a means of finding Common Ground. You can follow him at Shepherding Outdoors on FB, YT and IG and at [shepherdingoutdoors.com](http://shepherdingoutdoors.com).*