Day #5 – Monday – January 1, 2018
The first day of this new year began early as we climbed
aboard the shuttle at 5 a.m. heading to the famous Rose Parade. It was a long drive to our seats on Colorado
Boulevard and the traffic jam we were part of didn’t help the situation. We made it as dawn was painting the eastern
sky in shades of pink and orange. I
think God did that just for us to set the stage for what would be coming down
the street later. For those of you who
have been here, Kathy and her sons and families greeted us and showed us our
saved seats. It is beginning to feel
like old home week when we come each year.
The parade began as usual with the stealth bomber and a
fighter on each side flying low above Colorado Boulevard. This brings cheers and anticipation for we
know the parade has begun to move on Orange Grove onto Colorado and we will see
the beginning units in about half an hour.
Our Lutheran Hour Float was near the end of the parade. It came by in all its glory amidst loud cheers
from our blue, sweat shirted group, all on their feet at this time pointing and
clapping. Many in our group had put on
the final touches with hundreds and hundreds of red and pink roses along both
sides. Underneath the roses we had
pinned a bed of asparagus fern to fill in any spots not covered with roses. Some
in our group were still dealing with stickers in their fingers today. I guess they could call them battle scars.
It was foggy and chilly this morning and heavy coats were
welcome until the sun worked its way over the buildings south and east of us. Then coats came off and eventually many
sweatshirts as well. Weather couldn’t be
more perfect so maybe it helps balance out the weather back in the Midwest. I want you to know we are not letting this great
California weather go to waste. I
promise you that on our free day on January 3rd, I will sit by the
pool in my shirtsleeves just because I can.
The floats are masterpieces of color, movement, creativity
and workmanship, uncounted hours and hours of it! As they go by it is impossible to take in and
appreciate what is before you. It helps
when a float you have worked on moves past and you can excitedly point out your
part in it. It is hard to explain, this
feeling that overwhelms as the sprays of flowers and colors attack your senses
and leave you speechless. The floats are
in their glory as they move past, burned into our memories and preserved in our
photos. We try not to think about what
happens days from now as their glory fades and we no longer say, “Happy New
Year” to everyone we meet.
Speaking of being speechless, we witnessed an event during a
lull in the parade today that had thousands of people in the stands and along
the street excitedly cheering and clapping.
For those who know about the God story of Kathy and her family and how
we always now have these special seats right along Colorado Boulevard, you
might be able to picture this. Jason,
Kathy’s son and his girlfriend love to dance and during a lull in the parade
last year, they went out into the street and danced. They had a ball and everyone cheered because
they were so good together. When I saw
Jason this morning I asked him is they were going to dance for us again. I was puzzled that he didn’t really
respond.
Today, during a lull in the parade, he did grab his
girlfriend and pulled her out onto the middle of Colorado Boulevard and they
began dancing once again. Cheering broke
out as everyone in the stands turned their attention to them. His girlfriend had done a twirl and ended up
a few feet away. When she spun back,
there was Jason dropped down onto one knee holding an opened ring box towards
her. She froze in place, not believing
what was happening in front of God and everyone. Thousands of people’s attention was focused
on her. When she was finally able to
speak, she moved towards Jason and said, “yes!”
He slid the ring onto her finger and they kissed and the crowd went
wild. You just don’t see something like
this every day. Love is alive and well
in Pasadena!
For those of you who know the story, Jason’s father, Chris,
loved this day. He would be there with
his top hat and cane, dressed in tux and tails, frilly-sleeved shirt and
all. I am sure this is why Jason chose
this day to get engaged. You just never know what is in store as God
unfolds the moments of your life.
As the parade ended we carried our chairs to a truck and
climbed back onto the shuttle. Four of
our group had tickets to the Rose Bowl game so Lonnie drove us right to the
stadium so they could go to the game and we could at least see the stadium. We found out later that the tickets Dick Gast
had gotten for them were on the fifty yard line in row one! They later returned to our hotel after seeing
a double overtime game with Georgia finally winning.
While they were watching football, the rest of our group
stopped at a Walmart to purchase even more items for our Skid Row adventure
tomorrow. By now we were all starving so
Ellie took us to Sizzler Steak House for a nice dinner.
Our final day’s get together was this evening at 7 when we
gathered for devotions. We sang, prayed
and discussed servant questions as Ellie led us in a devotion time. Secret servant gifts were handed out. One servant connection had to be revealed
because Nancy Johnson is leaving early in the morning to return home for
work. In a perfect world, if I was in
charge at least, work should revolve around your life, not life around your
work. Will someone go to work on that?
Time to sleep and catch up for tomorrow. We leave at 8 for Skid Row.
Your sleepy Petal Pusher – Lynn Menz – signing
off……….zzzzzzzzz
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