Its been a busy time at our house, especially with my treatments and cancer surgery. The good news is all the remaining cancer has been removed. Soon I will begin radiation and resume some light chemo treatments to try and stay cancer free. In light of all we've been through our family took a welcome trip to Okoboji for a long weekend of family and fun.
On the drive up Sherri and I shared a funny conversation as we worked a crossword puzzle:
Sherri: 44 across, four letters, ends in 'K', clue is: octopus feature.
Keith: Oh, that's easy, (and trying to come up with a goofy answer adds) 'beak'. Very few people know octopus have beaks. Did you know that hun?
Sherri: (Shakes her head and sighs quietly at my stupid answer) No, and I'm not accepting that answer. 52 down, four letters, clue is: jambalaya ingredient.
Keith: You'll never get this one so I'll just tell you, the answer is 'rice'.
(Which is funny because of our Chris Rice discussion on a Kansas City trip-see an earlier blog for that goofy conversation - and even funnier because Sherri makes great and spicey jambalaya).
Sherri: (Smiling as she remembers the last time 'rice' was an answer she couldn't recall) Yeah, 'Raman' wasn't going to fit.
So we come to the end of our abilities, completing almost the entire difficult puzzle (Sherri is pretty amazing at these things) but never filling in 44 across. Sherri then turns to the answer page and you know what? The answer to 'octopus feature' is indeed 'beak'. We both shared a good laugh over that one. I said 'I told you so' and then unsuccessfully tried to convince everyone that I wasn't kidding, that I really knew that octopus had beaks but no one bought it. So we got to share a few good laughs on the long drive.
Laughter is pretty important at our house. Mate' said he knew he was part of our family when we laughed at things he said and did, just like we do about everyone in the family. Like how we still laugh over the monster tubing spill Dan took on vacation last year, how mom made some very sticky macaroni once for church that people said some funny things about, how Kathy made hamburgers once that we didn't need to flip because they were so perfectly round they just rolled across the grill- and those are just for starters.
I'm kinda surprised really that the Bible doesn't have a few verses of Jesus laughing because I'm confident He smiled and joked and laughed a lot. I think maybe Jesus walking on the water and scaring the disciples in the boat was the subject of a few laughs over lunch the next day. Can you really believe no one teased Peter about sinking after walking on water? Those funny comments should have been recorded.
When you picture Jesus in your mind is He laughing? smiling? or does He have a stern look? or maybe that Mona Lisa mystery look? I remember a picture that used to hang in the church basement of Jesus with children. That was a smiling Jesus. Maybe we think He was different with children but really, aren't we all His children- not just those who are young in years? I think Jesus smiles when He thinks of you.
Creatures with beaks like octopus don't smile. But we can and we should. We were designed to smile and encourage. After all, we have plenty to smile about- a Savior who loves us, died for us, and offers eternal life, all the while calling us friend. So the next time you see a beaked octopus, let him be a reminder for you of all you have to smile about!
Blest Regards,
Keith
No comments:
Post a Comment