Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Dragons, Golf Carts and Jesus

A few Sunday's ago,  I was hoping to drive home a point during Children's Church using that good ol' game of hangman.  In attempting to review a story we discussed the week prior, I did a little Q&A.  Generally, those don't go so well. Some kids were gazing up at the ceiling, pinching or being pinched by their neighbor, others were blowing air into their emptied Capri Suns and sending the straw flying across the room.  Some were burping.  It's what they do. Good thing one kid chirped up to clue me in:  "Maybe no one is answering because the answers are obvious.  It's like, duh."

True story.

And I thank you for that valuable piece of information, Sonny.

I turned my attention to the chalk board where I drew out a succession of dotted lines and the infamous swinging gallow.

"We will not be hanging people this morning, kiddos!" said I.  Truth is, Miss Brenda had been swinging from the gallows a few Sunday's before.  Just didn't seem right in the moment.  Or ever.  So we decided on a komodo dragon because they are nasty little cusses anyway.

The kids figured out pretty quickly that I am a disabled drawer of animals.  As you can see, the tail on this komodo rivals that of a tyrannosaurus rex.  The kids thought it was hilarious.  And they took advantage of it, my drawing disability.


They were on a roll.  The board soon reflected the following:

RUTH  KEPT  HER  PRO_ISES.

Now, these kids... they're bright.  And they're crafty.  Instead of letting me off the hook and just providing me with the "m" needed to end the game and save the poor dragon from certain death, they were laughing hysterically and shouting out "z" "q" "x" and other improbable suggestions.

Pretty soon, the komodo dragon was sporting a rastafarian hat, sneakers and a glove.


They continued on with more of the same calibre guesses: "w" "7" "egg" which left me with no choice but to draw the komodo driving a golf cart. It's just where my mind is.


After exhausting the entire alphabet (with the exception of "m"),  I decided to add a few golf clubs in the back. After drawing them in, one said child remarked, "That looks like a pair of grannie legs sticking out of the back of that golf bag.  That's weird."

Touche, kid. Touche.


As a disclaimer, no children were hurt in the staging or as a result of this game.  I think. What I do know is that they were taught that Jesus loves them and wants them to keep their promises through a ridiculous game of hangadragon. 

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Comings and Goings

Life has a funny way of taking you many places if you let it.  Even in my own mind, I wander.  That's generally dangerous though.  Especially behind the wheel.

But that's jumping ahead of myself.  Recently, me and few companions were able to take a trip down Highway 1 along the coast of California.  Our travels took us from San Francisco, North to Napa Valley then down to San Diego.  Of course, that seems like a lot of driving (and it was) but instead of passing toll booths, turnpikes, and angry Michigan drivers (DON'T pretend you don't know what I'm talking about), these were the sights we took in on our way through Monterey and Carmel...








Welcome to San Francisco...

 I made the guys listen to "I left My Heart in San Francisco" by Tony Bennett a few times over the course of the day.  I insisted that I was culturing them. 





 Chinatown.  

"... to be where little cable cars 
climb halfway to the stars..."


And then on to Big Sur and Pfeiffer Beach.  My favorite.  There were probably 20 people on the beach that day.  It was 75 degrees but the water was bone chilling cold.  I winced and then scurried back to lay on the warm, dry, soft white and purple* sand. 

 Panoramic shot.





 *I tell the truth.



 This is Digger.  He was waiting [im]patiently for his Master to come back from surfing. 





This is my brother whipping himself with some long tube-like kelpy thing that washed up onto shore.  I had never seen anything like that before on beaches on the east coast. I've been too lazy to research what it is.  I'm sure google will know exactly what I'm looking for when I type that name into the search engine.


Below are a few random shots from our travels. I hope some time in your life's journey, you'll get the opportunity to visit California and these wonderful places. It's unlike any other place in the world (can't verify but it sure sounded right).

With gratitude,
BB  



Hearst Castle.  Or at least 1/10 of it. 

The heated indoor pool at Hearst Castle that I would have gladly sold my first born to be able to swim in.  (sorry, kid)







Laguna Beach.