Grand Review

I grew up in a family that celebrated life in many ways. We, of course, had the mandatory celebrations for birthdays, weddings, graduations and other significant milestones. We also made other occasions a tradition that is celebrated even to this day.

The Colorado State Fair is held in Pueblo, my hometown. The city would have parades to celebrate the event and hopefully draw people into Fair. Every year, for as long as I can remember, our family has been a part of the Kids Day Parade. Every child in our family that would be in Pueblo on the day of the parade, would be dressed up and urged to either ride the home made float or be the muscle to pull or push it down the street. It was just as much fun for the adults as it was for the kids.

The big adult kids worked hard whipping up costumes and decorating wagons, bikes and scooters in accordance with the theme of the parade. Little hands would be urged to help in any way possible and often added more mess to be cleaned up by the parents. We are proud to boast of winning a lot of trophies over the years. Its a family challenge and a family fun time.

Watching a parade is fun too. Spectators automatically become unofficial judges. We look over the entries giving our opinions as to the execution of the theme and following of the rules. I guess we do this in more than just parades. We do it in life as well.

Parents are judged by their children in how they play their role and follow the rules. Grandparents are subjected to those same judgments by adult children and even the grandchildren. We are paraded before a host of other family and friends who think they know what we should do. In my opinion we can still enjoy participating in the roles and rules of guiding the children along life's highway. It takes knowing a few simple roles and rules that really are flexible and freeing. We will look at some of these things in upcoming blogs.

Father God, You are our Creator. You made us to work in different roles according to who You made us to be. You are also the Lawgiver. You decide the good and bad of our thoughts words and actions. We have so often taken Your place and for this we are sorry. Forgive us. Thank You for the joy and excitement of parades! Thank You for giving us many ways to celebrate You. We need You as our just judge. Our parade of life is Your praise!