This week in the “paradise” otherwise known as the pastor’s home, we had company from out of town, which proved to be very entertaining — on top of our own typical antics. I can even share SOME of what went on! 😉

Just Say It!

Our out-of-town guests were Chip & Gail Faulkner, who have been our friends since our days at Southwestern Seminary in the 1980’s. Chip is the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Bethalto, Illinois. At one point in the visit, Cheryl had to explain one of our family “stories” to Chip & Gail. We’ll let you in on it, too:

A few years ago, Cheryl was talking to our son David about the tone of one of his remarks to Libby. Cheryl told him: “You did not SAY ‘you stupid idiot’, but you may as well have; it was all over the tone of what you said. You could just as well have added, ‘You stupid idiot’ to the end of that sentence!” So David, in his own inimitable way, said “OK”, and went ahead and said: “You stupid idiot”. We all broke out laughing. Ever since that time, whenever someone in our house says something condescending to a family member, someone will usually add: “You stupid idiot!” to the end of whatever was said. SO … if you hear “You stupid idiot!” around our house, you know we really don’t mean it. Sort of. 🙂

Ooops!

One of the first things Cheryl had to show Chip & Gail was, of course, her new backyard raised gardens and “the path”, which has become her hobby. At one point, Cheryl was watering some of the beds, and had her back turned to Gail. Gail decided to fiddle with the garden and pull some weeds out while she was out there. She said to Cheryl: “So, are you growing anything else in this bed besides these weeds?” Cheryl turned around, and doubled over laughing. Gail had three of Cheryl’s vegetable plants uprooted in her hand!

Cajun Dream

Chip is a fan of “Swamp People” and “Duck Dynasty”, so he was excited about coming to Louisiana. We decided to drive them down to the Creole Nature Trail and see if there were any alligators out. Just when we pulled up, a group of hunters was loading a 10′ alligator they had just shot into their truck. Chip ran out of the car and asked if he could see it. The men said he could, and Chip jumped up into the truck. Inside, there was not one, but perhaps TWO DOZEN dead gators inside! We took his picture holding the big gator’s mouth open. He later said he was “living the dream” while he was here in Louisiana; that it was cool to see the gators and be up in the truck with them. Cheryl said she would make a scrapbook page for him with the picture on it. Chip said, “The smell of the blood and all was a big part of it — is there any way you could make the page ‘scratch & sniff’?”

Who’s That?!

My mother called one day last week to check on my most recent doctor’s appointment. Somewhere in the conversation she asked about how our kitten, Eponine was doing. I said, “Oh, she’s doing fine; she’s getting bigger.” Cheryl, listening to my half of the conversation from the kitchen, said: “I hope she’s not asking about ME!”

To Pray or Not to Pray?

Cheryl was bemoaning the fact that often times, the people God lays on her heart to pray for, seem to then experience some real struggles. She said it was like it was like a curse to be on her prayer list. I assured her that this was not the case; that if people she was praying for were struggling, that God knew they were about to experience some difficulties, and that is why He put them on her heart — she was not the cause of the problems. But Cheryl was unconvinced.

One day Cheryl & I were talking about a young couple from our church, Myra & Wes McCay, and she said something about this being the day she prayed for them. I said, “Oh, that’s great; why are you praying for them?”

Cheryl said, “I know, what did they ever do to me, right?” 😉

Didn’t Say That!

Cheryl, on the way home from church Sunday: “I know I’ve spent too much time outside working on my garden instead of cooking and cleaning inside.”

Me: “That’s ok. So, you’ve rededicated yourself to those things again today?”

Cheryl: “Uh, No …” 😉

Yep, it’s just gonna continue to be “Paradise” around here! 🙂