Joel's class went on a field trip today. He brought home a pumpkin from the field trip. When we got home with the pumpkin, he wanted to carve it. I've carved pumpkins several times with Hannah Grace and Joel, but today I taught Joel how to carve a pumpkin for a "first."
I mostly taught safety principles. I wanted Joel to decide what design he wanted to carve in the pumpkin. He drew it out with a pencil and then carved away. Whatever design he wanted was OK with me. It was his pumpkin. It was pretty obvious that he enjoyed carving his own pumpkin. He said it was fun. This kind of thing is right down his alley. After he carved the pumpkin, he said he wanted to spray paint it. I said OK. We did not have many colors to choose from in the closet. Joel chose black.
Hannah Grace wanted me to listen to the duck song with her for my "first." I've never heard the duck song before. I asked her if it was Disco Duck. She said no. I asked her if it was about Duck Dynasty. She said no. So, we loaded it up on Youtube. This is a song that is much better if you watch it while listening to it. I had fun listening to the duck song with Hannah Grace. I am pretty sure I will not download this one on my phone to listen to frequently. Once was probably enough for the duck song.
Tonight, we went to a friend's birthday party. Since it was Halloween, everyone was invited to dress up. Mostly the children dressed up. At the party they had those false Halloween teeth for the kids to play with. I put in some false Halloween teeth for my "first."
I should have done this at the party. I'm glad I did not because I have a really strong gag reflex and this was harder than I remembered. I have not done this since I was a kid, so it counts as a "first." I know, I should be able to put those little teeth in without gagging. Just be glad you are not the person at the dentist who takes X-rays and impressions of my teeth. It is not pretty. I did manage to put these in for a few minutes with the kids and we made faces at each other. This was a lot more fun when I was 10.
Laura stayed and helped clean up after the party and missed the teeth picture. She'll be so sad.
As we played around with the Halloween teeth, it was pretty obvious that we could not talk nearly as well. Our words were kind of mumbled and garbled. That happens when you have extra things in your mouth that don't really belong there. It reminded me that sometimes our communication of the Gospel can be garbled because we have some things in our lives that should not be there. When we are too concerned with what people think of us, we will not communicate the Gospel well. When we have ugly or unkind speech that will hinder our communication of the Gospel. If there is pride, bitterness, a critical spirit, or a lack of love, these can cause our message about Jesus to be garbled. We need to be sure there is not something in the way that hinders us from communicating clearly the message of Jesus.
I'm reminded of 1 Corinthians 2:2 where Paul wrote, "For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." That's the kind of heart we need. Nothing is nearly as important as communicating the life changing, soul saving message of Jesus. Let's speak clearly.
Thankful for the simplicity of the abundant life
Barry
3 things I thank God for today
1. I have my real teeth
2. Pumpkins
3. The simple message of Jesus
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