A providential evening

Tomorrow is one of Bug’s little friends birthdays and we have been invited to her party. This afternoon we headed to the mall to get her gift. While there, we decided to grab an early dinner. On the way home we seemed in a bit of a funk, despite all the fun we had at the mall, so we decided to allow our children some time at their favorite park. Baby girl was asleep in the backseat and Bug looked well on his way there, but we didn’t want them taking a nap, or we knew they wouldn’t get to bed on time. (The fall changes have wreaked havoc on our schedules, and we’re trying hard to get back on track so that everyone is well-rested and happy.) The trip to the park was just the thing. Both kids had so much fun. With both parents there, baby girl was able to do some things she has wanted to do on the last several visits, but which required two adults. She grinned, laughed, and squealed as she swung in the swing, crawled through the tunnel, and went down the slide.

While we played we noticed that the park was unusually busy for a fall evening, but assumed everyone was just trying to enjoy the nice weather before the rain predicted for this evening moved in. We heard the marching band practicing and assumed there must be a football game at the nearby high school. Around 6:00, we gave our kids the 5 minute warning until departure. They enjoyed themselves fully until we headed to the car.

As we were getting ready to load up, I noticed a couple older ladies sitting in lawn chairs facing the street. "That’s funny," I thought. "They almost look like they’re ready for a parade." Looking the other way, I saw two families also facing the street. I pointed this oddity out to hubby. At that point, we noticed more people heading toward the street. Far down the street, we saw a fire-truck coming slowly with its lights all going. "Well, Bug would love to see the firetruck, so let’s watch it go by," we agreed. Hubby even joked, "Wouldn’t it be crazy if we happened upon a parade." Yet, following the firetruck were several people in uniform carrying the American flag. Next came the high school marching band, and even the junior high marching band. Before we knew it float after float went by and candy was flying through the air landing all around us. Bug looked to us for the okay, then filled his little fists with this newfound wonder. At our encouragement, he passed the candy to us and continued to collect it. Another float handed out homemade pom-poms for the big homecoming game that we hadn’t realized was tonight! A nearby mom commented to me as hubby’s and my pockets bulged with all the candy they could hold, "Next time you come to a parade, mom, I bet you’ll remember to have your child bring a bag." "I didn’t even know there was a parade!" I replied. "We were just playing at the park."

To think – we just happened to be at the beginning of the parade route exactly at the moment when the parade began. My son has so much candy, it almost looks like its been Halloween already. We all laughed out loud at God’s goodness. Even the things that happened which contributed to our funk, also ensured that we were in just the right place at just the right time for the homecoming parade.

On the way home, we were thanking God aloud for his goodness. Hubby’s and my prayers were things like, "Thank you God for the fun, unexpected parade, the bands, the firetrucks, and all the candy!" Then from the backseat Bug chimed in, "And thank you God for Jesus dying on the cross for us." Wow! I guess between Sunday School, BSF, and Awanas, he’s really starting to get it – sometimes better than us. We added our agreement, then when we said, "Amen," Bug was back to his normal toddler/pre-schooler self. "Can I please have some of that candy I picked up off the ground now, Mommy?" Ah, yes. God is so good.