Work on the Palm Springs church's float for the city's annual Christmas parade began much too late. The parade was scheduled for Saturday night, Dec. 1, but after many unexpected delays, the flatbed trailer on which the church planned to build the float didn't arrive until the Monday before the event.

Behind schedule, members evaluated the situation and began work anyway, attempting to convert the trailer into a thing of beauty. By Wednesday, the framework and various pieces of the float were starting to fit together, and it began to look as if they might make it.

Then Thursday rolled around—crunch day—and nothing went right.

"Scheduling was off," said Lyle Burke, church media director, "but we knew we had the larger percentage of Friday in front of us, offering us many more hours to donate to the project. Bobbie and Jeremie Wilcox, our new Pathfinder directors, and others worked into the [Thursday] evening hours in an effort to catch up for lost time. We shared precious memories and welcomed the Pathfinders as they joined in. The kids told us about their family Christmases. We served hot chocolate and cookies, but we also worked hard, which I think provided great memories for the kids."

Friday morning the air was crisp, the weather was cool, and the feeling of Christmas was in the air. So was rain—heavy rain, solid and relentless.

"I found myself praying that the rain would cancel the parade the following day," Burke said. But by parade time, the work had been finished, lights had been turned on, and the float had assumed a totally new appearance. It looked like a Pathfinder campground full of children with puppets, and it sported a large "Palm Springs Seventh-day Adventist Church" banner.

"'Guess this is what you could call a miracle,'" Burke quoted another member as having remarked.

"But concern entered my mind as I saw a parade official headed our way with a rather serious look on his face," Burke continued. "'Who's in charge of this project?' he asked. I thought we were in trouble and walked over to him anticipating bad news. But then with a smile he pulled something from behind his back.

"'This is for your group,' he said. ‘It's your award for second place in your category [non-profit organizations] for original design and creativity.'"

One look at the children lined up on the float, holding their puppets, and Burke knew that all the anxiety and hard work had been worth it. "After all," he said, "what better way to share the Christmas spirit and the love of Jesus with members of your own church and your community than a Christmas parade?"