Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Join the Parade

Last Christmas, I received A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, a book by Donald Miller, as a gift for Christmas. Having just recently experienced intense heartbreak, I wasn't in the best place to read a book about writing the story of your life. This December, after a year of profound healing, I decided to read it again. What a wonderful reminder to write a meaningful story with our lives. One of my favorite sections of the book talks about a New Year's Day parade with one rule: no one watches, everyone participates. Donald Miller recently summed it up this way on his blog:

"More than a decade ago, when the kids were young, the family sat around bored on New Years Day. Dad decided boredom wasn’t fitting for a day that God made, so he asked the kids for suggestions, and they decided to have a family parade down their small street. And as they notified neighbors, the family decided NOBODY could watch their parade, that people could only participate. And now the parade is huge. It’s an annual, street tradition, complete with a Grand Marshal and Queen. And nobody is allowed to watch. Nobody can sit on the curb. Everybody marches in the parade."

I find that to be a brilliant goal for 2011: don't watch the parade. I don't want to let my life march by before me. I want to participate. Below is a video recap of this year's parade.

- Joel



If you liked the song in the video, you can download it here.

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