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Eight-year-old Melody was lamenting the fact that once Christmas was over, the local church wouldnā€™t be bringing food to her house until Easter. She asked, ā€œWhat is Easter?ā€

My daughter explained that itā€™s the time of year we remember how Jesus died for our sins and rose again from the grave. Melody replied, ā€œOh yeah. Now I remember. He did that last year too!ā€

ā€”Laura Bartleson

Years ago, on a hot, sticky Sunday afternoon, my wife and I made a visit to her parents, who resided in a nearby nursing home. I had changed into shorts (oh my!), but they were black (oh good!). We made an entrance into the homeā€™s common room, which, as usual, was quite full. A certain Mrs. K accosted me and shouted, ā€œAre you the dominee (minister)for today?ā€ Somewhat nonplussed, I suddenly realized she was looking for the visiting preacher for that Sunday. I shook my head with a smile. But she was not done with me. Looking at my attire, she wagged her finger and cried, ā€œHave you no respect for Godā€™s Word?ā€

ā€”Stan De Jong

My father-in-law is a truck driver. One Monday morning he picked up my 4-year-old nephew, Brian, in his big Peterbilt for a day of trucking together.

ā€œWhere are we going, Grandpa?ā€ Brian asked, as he settled into his seat.

ā€œTo Lloydminster,ā€ came the reply.

ā€œOh, Grandpa,ā€ Brian said with huge disappointment. ā€œCanā€™t we go somewhere else? We spent the whole day at the Lordā€™s minister yesterday!ā€

ā€”Alice Klopstra

While marking grade 9 Bible tests, I found this answer to the question ā€œGive three different characteristics of Jezebelā€:

ā€œTrendsetter: made all of Israel worship Baal. Liar: lied about Naboth and said he was against the king and God just so she could kill him. Tasty: when she died the dogs couldnā€™t stop licking up her blood.ā€

ā€”Dianne Van Rooyen

Anurse on the pediatric ward, before listening to the little onesā€™ chests, would plug the stethoscope into their ears and let them listen to their own hearts. Their eyes would always light up with awe, but she never got a response equal to 4-year-old Davidā€™s comment.

Gently she tucked the stethoscope into his ears and placed the disk over his heart. ā€œListen,ā€ she said. ā€œWhat do you suppose that is?ā€

David drew his eyebrows together in a puzzled line and looked up as if lost in the mystery of the strange tap, tap, tapping deep in his chest. Then his face broke out in a wondrous grin, and he asked, ā€œIs that Jesus knocking?ā€

ā€”John Vandermeer

We often have our grand-niece for weekends while her mother works. She calls us ā€œGrandpa and Grandma.ā€ One evening when she was 4 or 5 we were leaving a restaurant and ā€œGrandpaā€ stopped to talk to a business acquaintance. Makala and I continued walking to the car. After waiting several minutes I said, ā€œI wonder whatā€™s keeping Grandpa. He knows weā€™re locked out.ā€

Makala immediately replied, ā€œIā€™ll go check. Grandma, you stay right here. Donā€™t be afraid. Jesus will take care of you. But watch out for cars!ā€

ā€”Rotha Essenburg

My 2-year-old granddaughter likes me to read to her. One day I was reading Noahā€™s ABCā€™s. Here is how the story goes:

I say, ā€œAā€; she says, ā€œis for

²¹±ō±ō¾±²µ²¹³Ł“Ē°ł.ā€

I say, ā€œBā€; she says, ā€œis for boa constrictor.ā€

I say, ā€œC,ā€ and so on through the book. There are some rather unusual animals, and she knows them all. But when we got to ā€œR,ā€ there was no response.

Again I said, ā€œRā€ā€”silence. Then I whispered in her ear, ā€œis for ravens.ā€

She looked at me and said, ā€œGrandma, those arenā€™t raisins. Theyā€™re BIRDS!ā€

ā€”Cathy Ross

During our morning service our associate pastor announced that because of the Super Bowl, the young adult ministry would meet that day from 4:30 to 6:00, instead of their usual time of 6:30 to 8:30, to study the theme of ā€œSetting Our Prioritiesā€”Putting God First.ā€

ā€”Bill Vis

My niece attempted to feed her granddaughter before taking her to afternoon daycare. Everything she mentioned as a possible menu was rejected by the 4-year-old.

Finally, after hearing ā€œnoā€ to everything in the kitchen, my niece said, ā€œListen. Iā€™m 41 years old, and Iā€™m your grandmother. Iā€™m the one who will tell you what to do.ā€

Upon entering the daycare facility after a nice lunch, the little girl ran in shouting and pointing, ā€œSheā€™s my grandmother, and sheā€™s 41 years old, and she will tell us what to do!ā€

ā€”Connon Barclay

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