Armour Hot Dogs

You all remember the Armour Hot Dog song, right?

HOT DOGS, Ar-mour HOT DOGS
What kind of kids love Ar-mour HOT DOGS?
Big kids, lit-tle kids, kids who climb on rocks
fat kids, skin-ny kids, ev-en kids with chicken pox
love HOT DOGS, Ar-mour HOT DOGS
The dogs kids love to bite!
[Revised Version] Circa 1968

Well, I went to Worlds of Fun with my 12-year-old daughter on Saturday. They had a band/orchestra contest that day and I felt like I was living the Armour Hot Dog song. You know what they say about band kids, right? (It's OK, I was one too.) Well I saw every kind of kid imaginable – times a couple thousand! There were spazzes and dorks a plenty. Goofs and geeks galore. And a healthy range of “normal” kids too. (Same goes for the adults, they were just older versions). There were people of all shapes and sizes. Those trying to act cool and those who just didn’t care. From thrill seekers (I call them idiots) riding the Ripcord, a bungee type swing where you are released from somewhere above the clouds, and the Boomerang, a roller coaster that does a couple of loops and barrel rolls…and then does them backwards, to those, like me, who prefer a more “grounded” approach to fun. Those whose main thrill in life was to win one of those twenty-foot tall stuffed gorillas – and to carry them around for the next 8 hours - and those who pinched pennies (or should I say $10 bills) at the restaurants. Some must have been vampires, who didn’t want even a hint of sun, and others let their bellies hang out (so that the smaller children could catch some shade underneath).

To say the least, I was fascinated by watching the variety of people wandering through the asphalt jungles, trying to capture a brief period of joy in a hectic world. But the thing that struck me the most about all those people, was that JESUS DIED FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM. Whether it was someone desperately trying to act and look cool to get some attention, or someone smoking a cigarette and cussing and having no consideration for those around. The selfish and the selfless, the rich and the poor. Those without a care in the world or with the weight of the world on their shoulders. Jesus came to Earth to suffer and die for them all. He gave up His comfortable place in Heaven, as ruler of the universe, with angelic servants, to be born in a cattle trough, to live an obscure childhood, and eventually be beaten and spat upon and ridiculed for his compassion and love for each and every one of us. And now he wants all of us, popular and pitiful alike, to live with him forever.

Wow, what a God! What a Savior! What a Friend!