The Gospel According to Disney

Ok. So it's been a while. I apologize, just in case there are any offended out there in the very limited sphere of people who actually know of this blog and its spastic postings (say that three times fast....)

Some of you know the Vadens got back from Disney a couple of weeks ago. OK. You'd have to live under a rock if you didn't know we'd been to Disney World. We've told everybody and their neighbor's sister's third cousin's newspaper boy.

Needless to say, we were very excited. (Doesn't that get on your nerves? Somebody says "needless to say" and then they go ahead and say it anyway? If it were needless to say it, then, by definition, you don't need to say it! So don't say it!)

Anyway....

There was really too much to report in a single blog posting and if I posted it all at the rate I've been posting, then I might have it all posted by late December 2037. Which, by the way, might be the next time we're able to go back. Disney World claims to be the most magical place on earth. And that's true, as long as we understand that magic ain't cheap!

There were many magical moments during our trip: being bear-hugged by Pluto when we first entered the Magic Kingdom; the look on Jenna's face when she first saw Cinderella's castle; our waitress at Animal Kingdom who got her manager to give us a coupon for two free shirts to replace what we though were two stolen shirts from the previous day in Epcot; the endless "Happy Birthday Princess Jenna!" greetings from nearly every park worker and bus driver. There really are too many to name.

One moment sticks out in my mind, though. Not just a magical moment, but a divine moment.

Sunday morning Jenna had her Bibbity Bobbity Boutique appointment in Cinderella's castle and got dolled up in her Belle costume. We were watching the parade and Jenna was sitting on my shoulders. Cinderella's float was passing by; the
Fairy Godmother was on the front and Cinderella and Prince Charming were on the back. Amidst the throng of people around us, both the Fairy Godmother and Cinderella looked right at Jenna, pointed to her, smiled and said "Happy Birthday Princess Jenna!" They held her eyes for several seconds, waved and both blew and kiss.

It may not sound like much, but it was truly magical. I felt like that moment was just for us, as if there were no one else in the park and they were doing the parade just for us. I brought Jenna down and held her against me. She half whispered in my ear, "They said Happy Birthday to me Daddy!" She was beaming.

If that were all, then it would probably be enough. But it's not all. At that moment, and for many moments afterward, I felt God speaking to me.

And this is what I felt him saying to me.

"Jim, this moment was for you too. As these characters have spoken to our
daughter Jenna, so I speak to you. Do you hear me wen I speak words of
kindness and blessing and compassion to you? Do you hear me when I speak my
to as my beloved son, my child for whom I will continue to cherish beyond
your wildest imaginations? Treasure this moment, my child. Know that I am
not angry with you or disappointed in you or frustrated by you or any other
negative feeling or thought you may have. I love you and will always love
you."

Wow. Though the intensity of the feeling has passed, the reality remains. Thank you God for... well, just for being who you are. A God who is love and compassion and mercy and grace, embodied in Jesus, expressed in the Spirit-empowered work of your servant disciples, the Church.

May you who read this feel and, above all, KNOW the love of God in Jesus with the same personalized intensity I felt that day in Disney World. Blessings....