still waiting…a story to fill the gap

Ok, we’re at 39 weeks and 1 day and still waiting. Next Wednesday (Aug 24) is the due date and we know the doctor won’t let Abby go more than a week past the due date, so…

Here’s a story from a few months ago at church for what it’s worth:

So I walk into the sanctuary about 20 ’til 11am on a Sunday morning in May. Billy Ben (aka, “Big Papa”) is sitting in his pew with a grin on his face. I walk over and say, “Howdy, Mr. Billy Ben.” He asks me how I’m doing. Then he shows me why he’s grinning: “Seems ol’ Colby (his 6 year old grandson who, with his mom, lives with Billy Ben and Emogene), figured out a way to bring his gun to Sunday School this morning.” Apparently Colby sneaked the rifle into the back seat with him when he got into the truck, then carried it to the Sunday School classroom. Good thing Billy Ben was on top of that one. He showed me the gun sitting there underneath the pew with him, then said, “I think this might need to wait in the truck during the church service.” I agreed with an I-didn’t-dream-of-this-scenario-in-seminary chuckle and worked to contain my laughter as Big Papa left to put away the gun while others began entering the sanctuary to prepare for the worship service.

This story went over great at those preacher conversations about our churches that go on at Annual Conference (for the United Methodists) in June… “So, anybody else have kids smuggling weapons into Sunday School lately?” Yes, I’ve got a lot of metropolitan tastes culturally, but this experience makes it fun to live in a small town in Texas. Is it a good idea in general for 6 year olds to bear arms on Sunday morning at 10am? I’m going to go with a “no.” But that was one of the classic moments in ministry. I reckon it’ll stick with me for a while.