God's YES to His Children. A Note From Jan.

Chad did it again.

Showed up and surprised Maggie, Kate and me.

Kristina was in on the secret.

Best gift — All together for our one day at Disney World.

Good thing, too.

We needed all hands on deck to take the girls on rides,

queue up to meet princesses and lesser beings,

hoist on shoulders to view parades 

and tote the weary home at closing time. 

Weary me!

Fourteen hours of Disney.

How much fun and fantasy can one absorb?!

Benches soon became my favorite “ride.”

After an early supper, complete with visits from Piglet, Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger, the family of 4 set off for more adventures, while I plopped myself on a bench on the porch of the Crystal Palace, eager to wait and watch.  Oh, the sights!

Our tee-shirts and baseball hats talk, silently sharing our interests and beliefs. Parading before me from many countries and states came: 

the names of colleges, favorite sports teams, quotations, military and family reunion identities … many topping themselves off with Mickey Mouse ears attached to various hats, crowns, and even mortarboards.

Kids. Kids. Kids.

Swashbucklers wielding sponge rubber swords and shields.

Princesses in crooked crowns, missing teeth but not this moment.

Old and young wrapped in something magical, if only for a day.

Generations of kids, marked by day’s end with sticky hands and mouths, tired feet, some stuff and a ton of memories.

The treasure: spending time together and hearing a parent or family member say, “Yes,” when much of the time life requires a “No.”  A “Yes” that speaks well-being to hearts long after the souvenir stuff’s broken or loved to pieces.

Maggie and Kate each got to choose one “stuff.”  Maggie, eldest and careful child, chose hers at the 11th hour, a bow and quiver of arrows like Brave.  Kate picked hers before lunch with no rethinking as the day wore on and more options appeared.  Her selection: a pink crown and veil with silver Mickey Mouse ears.  So her! In almost 90 degree heat she pranced about in her best dress (her choice for the day), one precious person disguised as a princess with big ears.

There were parades!  I enjoyed the parades with floats and famous characters. But I also enjoyed the makeshift ones made up of ordinary folk. Walking past me from my perch on the porch, some came in twos, holding hands with their eyes on each other or looking wide-eyed at the sights ahead. Others clumped and bumped along with friends or family like gaggles of geese.  Walkways hummed with strollers, electric carts, wheelchairs, shufflers, skippers and walkers with canes.  Young and old helping each other make it to the next adventure or to day’s end.  As night fell, Disney employees still smiled as Cinderella’s Castle lit up the sky, paying homage to cartoon characters and heroes, followed by yet another parade, then fireworks. How much can the eyes and heart absorb!

Suddenly I’m sniffling, not just from missing Jud but from a sense of the gift of this day.  Gratitude to God for allowing me to see the world through the eyes of seven- and four-year-olds and their parents.  Thankful to see, to hear (sort of), to taste, to walk (or hobble) and experience the creativity and handiwork of thousands of craftsmen, gardeners, musicians, dancers, artists, cartoonists, animators, pyrotechnicians, chefs, servers and picker-uppers. It takes all kinds. 

I know Disney World’s not real.  It’s fantasy and a gigantic commercial, but every now and then life can use a touch of make-believe and a glass of sweet tea. (Thanks, Kristina!)

In the days since Disney, I’ve been imagining a heavenly parade queuing up.  A parade of God’s true heroes, saints and martyrs and folks we may have stumbled over on a sidewalk along the way.  I picture trumpets and choirs rehearsing, awaiting God’s shout.  Heaven: God’s YES to His children.

And those Pearly Gates that generations of our family sang about will fling wide to welcome the tired and toothless, sans wheelchairs, canes, Mickey Mouse ears and stuff.  No tee-shirts or baseball hats to talk for us, just a robe. One white robe, bought by Jesus.

Perhaps, in the end, life sorta imitates a day at Disney. It’s about old and young helping each other make it to day’s end without missing the moments that matter along the way, being grateful, not letting stuff weigh us down, knowing what’s worth queuing up for, not getting lost in the crowd and toting the weary so no one misses the parade, grand finale or HOME.