Celebrate On Canada, Celebrate On

Last week I was in Vancouver for my Lasik surgey. We stayed at a hotel in downtown Vancouver. The first screams and mayhem erupted at 9:00 pm. "What the heck is going on?!"

 I put a few things together... We were in Canada, Canada loves hockey, it is the end of the NHL season... Screams = A Canucks Victory! 

I was partly right. The Canucks were playing in the last game of the semifinals. However, they had not yet won. The screams were for their goal in the last 13.2 seconds of the game. They did eventually win in double overtime.

The view of the party from our hotel room.

When the clock wound down and the timer sounded, the Canucks proved themselves after double overtime as victors. Crowds rushed to the streets,  people were screaming and shouting from their balconies, drivers honked their horns over and over and over and over again. It was fun to watch for the first, oh, 20 minutes. When it was 2am and the horns were still going, the festivities weren't quite as amusing. I didn't sleep well that night. Our hotel room was on the 24th floor; I can't image what the poor 2nd floor guests were experiencing.

I appreciate the way our Canadian neighbors celebrated their team's victory. I can't even imagine what the party will be like if the Canucks win the Stanley Cup. I know fans are already planning their victory party.

I have to admit, I can celebrate athletic victories with the best of them.  Just watch me at a Boise State football game.  What I can't help to think about is what the party is like in heaven when a single person makes the decision to step away from a destructive lifestyle focused on self to falling in love with a redeeming God.  I want to break out in celebration every time a young person leaves their week at Young Life camp a changed person, full of life and hope.

And just so you know, the surgery went great!!!