"A Tangled Mess of Fur"

The day after a person’s 21st birthday is normally a little rough. I have to admit, it was for me too, but because of sleep deprivation. I didn’t get a ton of sleep last night so, I woke up a tad bit reluctantly this morning. After getting ready, I headed down to Animal Kingdom to check in. They decided to allow me to switch parks, still be a poser, but at least it was a change of scenery ☺. After warming up (and again being reminded how unflexible I truly am), I headed to the base to check in. They didn’t have anything for me right at that moment so they told me to head over to the costuming department and help wherever I was needed. So, I spent about 30 minutes with some awesome old ladies, helping to primp and prune furs and body pads. It was pretty magnificent. When I realized that it was that time again, I headed back to the duty captain’s office. He gave me my character, and it happened to be one I hadn’t done before. Not only that, but one I was a little afraid of, simply because the costume is a heifer. However, despite my inhibitions, I lowered my eyebrows, wiped the sweat from my upper lip, and headed back to costuming. Thankfully, my roommate was at Animal Kingdom today too so he was able to give me a hand gathering my costume. We both hopped on the bus and soon found ourselves at the trailer. After prying my costume from it’s black bad with the Jaws of Life, I got it hung up and unpacked. Before I knew it, it was time to get into costume. Let me just tell you, that was quite the task in and of itself. I finally managed to pull the pieces together into a semi-recognizable mass of fur. I headed out for my first set, which wasn’t too too bad. It seemed really hot today, so that, plus being in a costume designed for those with Greek godlike thighs and calves made it a little difficult to maneuver between children and trees. Overall though, I would consider it a successful set. The kids seemed to love it, and I got to have a little fun with the character so, we’ll laugh at the negative and revel in the good.
After my fourth set, I headed back to base because I was assigned parade. I actually got to march in my first ever Disney parade! I held the “the-parade’s-over-now” rope that followed Mickey’s float! It was awesome! I’ve always used to wonder if those smiles from parade people were real. Well, I’m here to tell you mine was! I just couldn’t stop smiling. Not only was the music great, but I was marching right behind “the boss.” Even more so though were the people watching the parade. They are so so excited! They’re all just smiling and laughing and truly forgetting about the troubles and cares of life and just soaking it all in. I mean, for goodness sake, I saw grown men and women pushing children out of the way so they could scream, “MICKEY! HEY! MICKEY! HI! MICK! HEY MICKEY!” They were jumping up and down and screaming with the best of them. Disney really has a way of bringing out the kid in so many of us!
I’m right in the middle of 1 Timothy right now. I’m really working hard to try and focus on the context because Paul is addressing a lot of issue about the church at that time, that really don’t seem too relevant to my life right now. However, I’m sure they are so many truths that I can absorb and I’m gonna try and let this just develop patience and faithfulness in me. Something else that’s cool though, since I finished my Crazy Love book, I decided to try and find something else to read while I’m not working. I stumbled across a duel set—it’s C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters. I ordered that today and am really pumped about jumping into that one once it arrives. Oh yeah, and I got to talk to Josh today (happy Josh? ☺). Miss you all!