"Traditions"

Traditions are “the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). This simple word, “traditions,” was the quite the appropriate title for today. I had my first early morning at Disney—I needed to be at the bus stop at 6:30 A.M., which meant I had to be up by 5:30 A.M.! It really wasn’t bad though. So I boarded the bus, met a girl named Meghan who is going to be from Washington, and arrived at “Traditions.” My first paid day’s work. “Traditions” is basically what is sounds like; it’s a seminar for new employees designed to give them a brief history of their beloved company and then to instruct them in the qualities that the company holds to be important. That ended up being about four hours long but during the coarse of those four hours, I met some great people at my table: Jill, Scott, and Chelsea (I think we’re gonna hit up Fantasmic tomorrow night), got my personalized (we’re talking custom made here) nametag (I. am. legit. ☺), and finally got my pass that will get me into the parks for free. All in all, it was a great morning!
This afternoon, I got to just spend some time in the room by myself. I did some reading and ate lunch; however, tonight is where the party started. I waited around all afternoon to see if Mike wanted to go to a park tonight, but when he got in, he said that he had made dinner plans with his parents, so I decided to go by myself. Magic Kingdom. Seriously, it was one of the few moments in life, where you have to physically restrain yourself from jumping up and down and screaming at the top of your lungs. Tonight completely reaffirmed my love for Disney and why I accepted this job. I made my way up Main Street USA with Cinderella’s castle waiting for me at the end of the boulevard. Seriously, epic chills. Any of you who have been to Disney World at nighttime will be able to attest to that feeling, there really isn’t another like it. So, I got to spend tonight enjoying the oldest of the Disney World theme parks. The night was made complete when I saw Tinkerbell come flying out of Cinderella’s castle to begin the fireworks show, Wishes.
I learned some great stuff today too! In Crazy Love, Francis Chan talks about how Christians can be guaranteed to stand out from the crowd, which is something I really am trying to hone and develop these days. He said, “True faith is loving a person after he has hurt you. True love makes you stand out” (Crazy Love, p. 130). He based this thought off of Luke 6:32-36. I’ve known this, but hearing it again was great. In order to stand out down here, I’m going to have to look at the positive, work hard at being joyful. There are seriously some great people down here. What’s going to make me stand out as having something more? Something that truly is different about me? Loving others when they are cruel to me. Seeking the good in people and circumstances. Chooses patience over anger and frustration. That’s what it’s going to take. I’ve got a lot of work to do. ☺ I also got to enjoy another Aaron Stern podcast. Continuing in his series about James, he addressed chapter 2 and the topic of not showing favoritism. More specifically, he addressed the heart behind favoritism—one of judgment and self-righteousness. Again something that I’m going to have to work on while I’m down here.
Today was great! I truly am loving my experience down here, and who would of thunk it, growing closer to God though I am seemingly alone, as far as other Christians go. He has again answered another prayer and become my strength so much more so over the past few days. To him be the utmost praise and glory.