As my wife and I finished our breakfast March 5 she observed that, in spite of a good night’s sleep, she still felt tired and groggy. Then we opened the Today devotional, and she burst into laughter as she read the opening Scripture from Romans 13:11: “The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber. . . .”
—Bruce Nikkel
Iwas walking in the park the other day when a friend came along. Excitedly he told me about a new hearing device he’d just bought—said it was the latest concept in hearing aids. He went on to explain it was very expensive, but he didn’t mind since he didn’t miss a thing anymore. Naturally I asked what kind it was, so he looked at his watch and said, “It’s about 11:15.”
—Ken Kaminga
When NASA was preparing for Project Apollo, it took the astronauts to a Navajo reservation in Arizona for training. One day a Navajo elder and his son came across the space crew walking among the rocks. The elder, who spoke only Navajo, asked a question, and his son translated, “What are these guys in the big suits doing?”
One of the astronauts responded, “We’re practicing for a trip to the moon.”
When his son relayed the answer, the elder expressed keen interest and asked the astronaut, “Could you deliver a message to the moon for me?”
A NASA official accompanying the astronauts thought that would be a wonderful promotional opportunity and immediately exclaimed, “Why certainly!” He instructed one of his aides to get a tape recorder and stood by approvingly as the Navajo elder made his brief comments.
After the elder finished, the NASA official asked the son to translate. The son replied, “Don’t worry, his comments are totally appropriate.”
The NASA official wasn’t satisfied with that answer, so after the elder and his son had gone, he requested a government translator. The translator listened to the recording and then, with a big smile on his face, said, “The message is this: ‘Watch out for these guys. They have come to steal your land.’”
—George Vander Weit
For years I worked with a man who could only be described as consistently mean-spirited. Despite his continual grumpiness, there were still those who would not get upset but smile at his constant complaining and criticizing. One day after this grouch walked by, a colleague softly commented, “He has a heart as big as all indoors, and he can brighten a room just by leaving it.”
—Ellis J. Biderson
We’ve all heard kids enthusiastically sing incorrect words, but sometimes they are actually quite correct. Our son Daniel was showing us that he knew the Cadet song “Living for Jesus.” He sang, “Living for Jesus, a life that is true, striving to please him, it’s all I can do.”
—Rosanne Eising
Another congregation uses our church sanctuary on Friday evenings. My daughters and I were at church and needed to sneak through the back foyer during the praise time of the other congregation. The music was quite loud, with guitars and keyboard.
When we got in the van 4-year-old Erica said, “That was LOUD!” Her older sister Erin answered, “They were just praising God.” Erica immediately responded, “God’s not Grandma or Grandpa!”
—Maria De Jong
While introducing the story of the Good Samaritan during Story Hour, I asked the
children if they knew the answer to the question the teacher of the law asked Jesus: “What must I do to be saved?” Our youngest participant piped up, “I know! Seat belts!”
—Joanne Meyles
