Want a good laugh? My family and I got one when we came across The Book of Awesome: Snow Days, Bakery Air, Finding Money in Your Pocket, and Other Simple, Brilliant Things, by Neil Pasricha. Here were some of our favorite entries in a book devoted to the most awesome things in life:
when you push the button for the elevator and it’s already there
waking up before your alarm clock and realizing you’ve got lots of sleep time left
popping bubble wrap
the final seconds of untangling a really big knot
scraping all the lint off an overflowing lint trap
the thank-you wave from the driver you let merge in front of you
when you’re about to fall asleep and someone throws a blanket on you
when your dad pushes you off and you ride your bike for the first time
picking up a Q and a U at the same time in Scrabble
the moment at a restaurant you see your food coming
that one square in the waffle that’s most loaded with butter and syrup
hanging your hand out the car window
moving up a shoe size when you’re a kid
the three-paycheck month
building an amazing couch-cushion fort
squeezing through a door as it’s shutting without touching it
slipping in the bathtub but catching yourself at the last second (and I thought I was the only one who did that!)
So what about church life? Any awesome things there? With help from my awesome family, here’s a start:
when the tall person sitting in front of you decides to move down the row
when you and your friend both come in too early on the next line of the song
when you walk into Sabbath school and people look happy to see you
when the baby being dedicated grabs at the microphone
the congregation’s second response to the double “Good Morning!”
when someone brings Oreo mint dessert to potluck and your table gets called first
going back and forth between “Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah” and “Praise ye the Lord”
nailing your memory verse
Aunt Sue and Uncle Dan
church roller-skating night
seeing someone walk into church who hasn’t come for a long time
getting a new insight on a scripture you’ve heard all your life
still remembering the page numbers of songs in Advent Youth Sing
when the dozing elder up front suddenly wakes with a start
handing out flowers for Mother’s Day Sabbath
the key change in “How Great Thou Art”
when someone you’ve been studying with asks about baptism
Now it’s your turn. What are some awesome things about church? E-mail me, and I’ll share them in a future column.
__________
Andy Nash is a professor and lay pastor who leads family-friendly tours to Israel. Contact him at [email protected]. This article was published September 20, 2012.
