Category Archives: Humor

T’WAS THE MONTH AFTER CHRISTMAS

Christian Discipleship, Humor, Small Town America

Christmas always arrives with a bang (gifts, sweets, cheer, and holiday prayers) and then quickly leaves us suffering from symptoms of straight-up withdrawal!  And with children, it’s even more pronounced.  “Every day should be like Christmas,” a little tyke imagines, leading to his demands of even more presents and more sugar– or else!  Chaos inevitably erupts in the house and kid naughty summarily takes out kid nice in the first round.  By New Year’s Day, parents are fed-up, broke, and ready for a break from the spoiled sugar addicts.

“Out with the old and in with the new” is the New Year’s motto.  However, for youngsters, the “new” doesn’t mean “new toys” and “new treats.”  Instead, January comes down like Thor’s hammer on the ungrateful young urchins.  School reconvenes and reality sets in.

It was in January, the month after Christmas,  that I had the first of many “great awakenings” about how things really are.   Continue reading T’WAS THE MONTH AFTER CHRISTMAS →

MY FIFTH CHRISTMAS

Christian Discipleship, History, Humor, Small Town America, , , , , ,

treeAny Christmas is magical for a child, but there may be none so magical as a child’s fifth Christmas.  At five-years old it suddenly dawns upon a little kid that Christmas is something really special.  What other time of the year is it OK  to actually bring a tree into the house and decorate it with colorful lights?  And at what other time does a grown-up look at a kid and say, “Make a list of all the toys you want?”  It’s like the total OPPOSITE of the rest of the year– when asking to buy a toy normally results in a firm “NO, we can’t afford that!” and where candy is frowned upon as bad for your teeth.  At Christmastime, kids attend parades where happy adults actually THROW CANDY AT THEM, and where it’s OK to scream and yell at the top of your lungs.  Nobody says “shhhhhh!”

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BAH, HUMBUG

Christian Discipleship, History, Humor, , , , , , , ,

scroogeThe annual Thanksgiving Day celebration has passed, and my attention naturally turns to the next event on my calendar– The Gospel According to Scrooge.  This year celebrates Kingwood Church’s twenty-ninth edition of the annual Christmas production.  I have been honored to play the part of old Ebenezer Scrooge in all but two of those years, and still look forward to it like a schoolboy just waiting’ for Father Christmas.  So it’s time for me to rehearse my lines and polish my British accent, which I won’t lose until well into January.  Once it takes over my brain, it’s difficult to simply switch it off after the final performance.

Whether you’ve ever seen the performance or not, you’re probably familiar with the 1843 novella by Charles Dickens on which our adaptation is based.  When one hears the name Ebenezer Scrooge, the first thing that comes to mind is usually– “Bah, Humbug.”  If you’ll indulge me, let me give you some history behind the 173 year-old Dickens story, the Scrooge character, and his obnoxious trademark phrase.

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THROWBACK 1966 (Part 2)

Christian Discipleship, History, Humor, Small Town America, , , , , , , ,

Last week’s blog post began our throwback adventure to year 1966.  We looked at life through the eyes of a 10-year old boy– going to the movies, dreaming about toys, watching TV commercials, and going to school.  We also looked at how real life crashes in on a 10-year old when coming face-to-face with the real world. (Don’t miss Part 1 if you haven’t read it yet.)  Let’s keep looking at what life was like 50 years ago.  How about this for starters:

Anyone remember this?  I remember kids doing it in the school hallways.  A Teacher’s nightmare!!

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STORM PIT APOCALYPSE

Christian Discipleship, Humor, Small Town America, , , , , , ,

tornado-2

“I would hurry to my place of shelter, far from the tempest and storm.”  Psalm 55:8”

Does anyone remember the heyday of the storm pit?  Yes, in “tornado alley” (a swath stretching from Oklahoma to Georgia) the storm pit was a common sight, especially between the mid-1930’s and the mid-1960’s.  Around here they were normally dug into the side of a small hill, usually consisting of about six steps descending down into a 8′ x 8′ cinderblock-walled room.  Around the edge of the room were wooden benches, or sometimes a collection of ladder back chairs with cane-woven seats.    All storm pits had plenty of candles, matches, and perhaps a kerosene lamp.  Moms and Dads everywhere kept their eyes to the sky during stormy seasons of the year–  storm pits  needed to be used, and used often.

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