Celebrate the Outhouse?

“Did you see that?” asked Kevin. We were travelling home from a trip to St. Louis.
“No, what was it?”
“A billboard for an Outhouse Festival!” He hooted. “I can’t believe it!”
“Are you serious?” Now I was laughing, too. “What is there to celebrate about outhouses?”
I’m all in favor of celebrating the Honey Bee, Covered Bridges, Popcorn, and Raggedy Ann & Andy. The times I have been forced to use an outhouse, however, I was not thinking of parades, lemon shake-ups, and ice cream cones.
I suppose they are a great invention if you’re stuck in the middle of nowheresville and can’t find a bush. But to have an entire weekend dedicated to them? How desperate must you be for something to party over?
If you really want to celebrate and be in high spirits, I have a few ideas you might try:

Celebrate living in a nation where you have a free education, can criticize a political candidate without being arrested, are allowed to vote, and can worship whatever god or God you choose.

Celebrate being rich, even if you have only one set of clothes and food for just today. Most dogs and cats in this nation live better than millions of people in the world.

Celebrate if you had parents who loved you and taught you right from wrong.

Celebrate your friends. My Dad used to tell me, “If you get to the end of your life and can say you have one faithful friend, you are a rich person indeed.” His memorial service overflowed with people who attested their friendship. May I live as worthy as he, making a positive difference in the lives I touch.

Celebrate a God who loves you so much that He gave you trees, flowers, stars, oceans, birds and animals simply for your enjoyment.

Celebrate a Savior who willingly gave His life that you could be friends with God and live with Him in eternal bliss, One who has already forgiven all your past and future sins.

Celebrate a loving Heavenly Father who will never turn His back on you, no matter how many times you blow it. That’s called unconditional love.

I’ll bet you can come up with a few more reasons to celebrate, things we all take for granted and fail to notice until we are forced to do without them. Come to think of it, next time I go camping, I may have to reconsider celebrating the outhouse!