In my more than thirty years of pastoral partnership with Ron Cox at Kingwood Church, my mind has amassed dozens of humorous stories that we experienced together in ministry. I learned quickly to “expect the unexpected” when working with Pastor Ron. He is like a lightning rod, attracting bizarre and unpredictable strikes in his direction. It’s not that terrible things occur when he’s around, but that hanging around Ron Cox sometimes opens the door to rare adventures—usually originating from life’s most common circumstances.

One of those “never to be forgotten” moments occurred when Pastor Ron and I were doing routine hospital visits one hot, summer afternoon in downtown Birmingham. We had made a trip to the UAB Hospital’s state-of-the-art neo-natal unit to visit a sick child. While we were there we discovered that one of our church members was a specialty nurse on the unit. She was eager to show us around her workplace, and even allowed us minister to some of the families who were desperately hoping for their tiny loved ones to get well. The quick visit turned into a long and busy ministry opportunity which we welcomed with open arms.

Just before we left, the nurse took us to the part of the unit where the most delicate premature birth babies were struggling for survival. Both Ron and I were moved by the tiny children we saw gasping for breath and fighting for their lives in the incubators. One of them had been born so prematurely that his razor thin skin was nearly transparent. We could actually see his internal organs, and watched his tiny heart beat like it was under opaque glass. The neo-natal nursery was amazing.

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