Two weeks ago our son, Adam, got married to Layna Houser. It was a great ceremony and not much went wrong. But, it is the unplanned that makes the memories.

Our four year old grandson, Reuben, got a little confused with his words. He couldn’t say, “tuxedo,” and kept saying “Texas” instead. “I’m wearing my Texas”, he was heard saying.

Reuben was the ring bearer. However, my wife hid the pillow with the fake rings so it wouldn’t get lost, and no one thought to ask her where the pillow was. So, Reuben had to walk in without the pillow. So he held the hands of Nathan, the best man, and Isaac Houser, the bride’s brother. Half-way through the ceremony he began to do the “potty dance” and asked them both to help him, to which they both said, “Not now.”

After squirming for awhile, his eyes got real big and he ran down to his parents sitting in the third row. “I pee-peed in my Texas”, he reported. Now that’s a memory for the books.

Tags: humor, wedding

A man called his neighbor to help him move a couch that had become stuck in the doorway. They pushed and pulled until they were exhausted, but the couch wouldn’t budge. “Forget it,” the man finally said. “We’ll never get this in.”

The neighbor looked at him quizzically and said, “In?”

Could it be that we can’t work with someone because they don’t know what we’re thinking? My wife and I have this problem often. I’m talking about one thing and she’s talking about another. We finally come to the place where it dawns on one of us that we’re misunderstanding something. I’m pushing one way and she’s pulling another.

That problem that you have with the other person just might be a miscommunication on your part. Sometimes we just need to start over and spell out our vision. Which way are we trying to go, anyway?

Tags: division, humor, unity, vision

When our children were little, I led worship every week and Anita played piano every week. Our kids always sat in the second row, piano side, where Anita kept an eye on them during my preaching. On one particular Sunday, as I was wrapping up my sermon, little Nathan tugged on his Mom’s dress and said, “I gotta go to the bathroom.” She replied that service was just about over and he could wait just a few minutes.

He soon repeated a little more firmly that he really had to go. She was just as firm that he could wait just another moment. At that, he leaned forward and proceeded to vomit all over the pew in front of him (a nice padded seat).

There was a good lesson in that, as well. Its OK to make rules that teach people responsibility, but one-size-fits-all rules are sometimes out of touch with reality. This was one exception to the rule that we should have heeded.

Are there rules you are imposing on others that just might be too much for them at this point in their lives?

Tags: children, humor, rules

With both hands on the steering wheel, I saw the water begin to fall on the windshield. Being a summer day, I checked to make sure the windows were secure. The spray then increased as my car drove into the storm. The atmosphere grew dark and the roar of the tempest became deafening.

My car continued to move through the darkness as if under its own power. The tempest was so severe that I began to lose reception on my car radio. The blast of the squall made me uncomfortable as I sensed the car being rocked slightly from side to side.

Then, as abruptly as it began, the downpour ceased and a ferocious wind began to blow against my car. The cyclonic roar was louder than the deluge had been, but the darkness slowly passed and I emerged from that fearsome experience. Many storms in life are like that storm, but we must let Jesus take the wheel and guide us through.

I trusted God through it all and was soon driving out of the Car Wash.

Tags: deliverance, humor, storms

An interesting thing happened years ago when we were worshiping in our smaller building. Adam was young at the time and noticed that I had a small alarm clock sitting on the pulpit we were using. He asked why that clock was there. I told him it was there so I could see what time it was and end on time.

Later, I was preaching away and wrapping my message up. I was at a quite serious point and just bringing people to the altar call point when the alarm went off on that clock. My concentration was broken as I quickly tried to process what was happening.

I pushed the snooze button and shot young Adam an “evil eye”, but it was too late, the church was in an uproar and the sermon was over.

The moral of the story is if you’re going to give people information, give them all the information. If you don’t fill in the blanks, they’ll fill them in themselves.

Tags: humor, interruptions, time

When a cowboy applied for an insurance policy, the agent asked, “Have you ever had any accidents?” After a moment’s reflection, the applicant responded, “Nope, but a bronc did kick in two of my ribs last summer, and a couple of years ago a rattlesnake bit me on the ankle.”

“Wouldn’t you call those accidents?” replied the puzzled agent. “Naw,” the cowboy said, “they did it on purpose!”

The Bible does teach that there are no accidents in the life of a believer. “All things work together for good…to those who are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).

Had any accidents lately that turned out to be a blessing?

Tags: accident, humor, trials, trouble