Today was the annual Labor Day Parade here in Catlettsburg, KY. For the second year running, our praise band was to play worship music from a flatbed trailer. I had been referring to today in this way: “The opportunity to proclaim the name of Jesus at 110 decibels and 5 MPH.” Well, it didn’t quite turn out that way.
The morning was gorgeous. Sunny. Clouds, but nothing ominous. Warm, but not hot. We set up the equipment. Everything was sounding good. Everything switched on and made glorious noise
Then the rains came.
There were quite a few folks from our church helping out today. In addition to our float, our elementary boys (RA’s, for you good SBC folk) handed out Pop Tarts, and others gathered to hand out bottles of water. Well, all of those kind folks were quickly recruited as roadies. We tarped the entire bed of that trailer in about two minutes. Any MLB crew would be hard pressed to cover their respective fields with our brand of precision.
And the rains kept coming.
After parade start time had already passed, we made the only decision we could: off-load all the gear, put 1,000 or so bottles of water on the truck, and head off into the deluge. No music this year.
And the rains kept coming.
Our folks walked and rode the parade route, handing out waters, greeting people, laughing… generally having a ball. It was a great day. I personally walked the entire route and half the way back (lost track of the truck at the turnaround). We gave away every bottle of water we could pack into our vehicles and finished the parade, wet and exhausted.
And the rains stopped. 🙂
God has a unique view of the details of our lives. I thought of this as I was getting ready this morning: “On the road of life, trials can either be your steering wheel, pointing you in the right direction, or your brakes, stopping you dead in your tracks.” If we really trust that He knows best, then it is easy to thank Him when things don’t go according to our plans and our short-sightedness.
Bottom line: we gave water to our community. With the water, we gave them this scripture, printed on every bottle:
“Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” Colossians 1:28
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need a nap.
Not a Camouflaged Soul 