I am the Mama

So I’ve made a good dent in my weekend list now, and I’m planning to enjoy a little time with my family today in between working on the rest of it.  We’ve been to church this morning, stopped for lunch at McDonald’s on the way home (I know, I know…so healthy.  But I was craving french fries.) and will be going to the Christmas parade this afternoon as well as the Christmas tree lighting if we can stand the cold and all feel up to it.

If you live in Sanford or read the paper, you know this has become a minor controversy.  The very notion of having a *family oriented activity in honor of one of the most important Christian holidays* on a Sunday afternoon is somehow ludicrous.  Ludicrous, I tell you!  Because Sunday is supposed to be to honor God, to go to church, to rest and enjoy your family before the start of another busy week.  I think that’s one of the 10 commandments, right?  Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.  Well, this parade goes against ALL of that.

Huh?

Surely I’m not the only one who’s more than a little confused.  Because, to me, the chance that I’ll spend my Sunday with my family today has gone up exponentially because of the parade.  Normally, we get home from church and scatter to different corners of the house.  Me to the computer or to household chores, my husband to the TV or working outside in the yard, the kids to whatever they want to do…and we spend very little time *together* which is what I think God would actually prefer we do.  Quite frankly, going to the parade is a heck of a lot more relaxing than what I would be doing otherwise!  And I’m doing it with my family.  My husband and my boys will be there with me and I’ll be focusing on one of the most sacred holidays on the Christian calendar.  Perhaps not the most sacred aspects of it, but we’ll also be doing a lot of that this year.

I was home from church well before noon (even stopping to eat lunch on the way) because I went to the early service, so I’m not sure what churches in town are going to 2:30 or later, though that seemed to be one of the issues that was raised.  I’d say the vast majority of our local residents are home from church by 1PM if they go.  So that argument is shut down.  This is going to be a family event, so that argument is shot down.  I guess I’m not seeing the controversy and I can tell by Billy’s editorial this morning that I’m not the only one.  If it were on Saturday, there would be people kvetching about the roads being closed on a Saturday…remember the bike race?  I say kudos to the Chamber of Commerce for providing the residents of Sanford with a family-friendly activity on a Sunday afternoon.  The simple truth is you can’t please all of the people all of the time.  A fact that has been painfully obvious if you’ve read some of the letters to the editor this week.  Boo to those who feel the need to question my faith because I’m choosing to attend the parade.  I say thank heavens I’m living my life to please God, not you.

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