November Bein' Thankful Series: Thankful for Laughter
City Slicker
Cousin Horace was born ‘n raised in the big city of
Chicago. We were two years apart in our
age. Growin’ up, he ‘n his Mamma would
come ‘n visit us for a couple of weeks in the summer. Cousin Horace was kind of snooty ‘cause he
was from a big city. We loved to give
him a hard time when he came to visit us in Frog Holler ‘n called him, City
Slicker.
He wore big city clothes ‘n laughed at our
over-alls. One time we talked Cousin
Horace into learnin’ how to ride a bike.
He sat on the seat with me ‘n my sister on each side holdin’ on to the
handlebars. As Cousin Horace got a
little more comfortable, we let him go.
He was headed right for the big mud- puddle this side of the fence. Nothin’ was said yet ‘bout how to put on the
brakes. My sister ‘n I started yellin’,
“Look out Cousin Horace!” He came to a full stop right in the middle of the
mud-puddle. His clothes were a mess! He
was slicker than a greased pig! Every time he’d try to stand up, he’d slip
right down again. Mamma gave us a good
talkin’ to ‘bout bein’ more careful with our guest.
One summer we took Cousin Horace to the fishin’
pond. He’d never fished before. Some friends of ours went with us. I showed him how to put the worm on the hook
‘n cast the line into the water. Cousin
Horace held on to the rod. After awhile,
he felt a tug on the line. I ran over to
grab his rod ‘n reel to pull the fish in.
Before I could get hold of it, Cousin Horace was yanked into the
water. He was wet ‘n the fish got away. Cousin Horace was mad!
Mamma had a persimmon tree. I remember the summer when I was sittin’ on
the front porch with Cousin Horace. He
noticed the tree had a few persimmons on it ‘n asked what it was. I told him.
Then he asked, “Are they good to eat?” I said, “Yep”. He went over to the tree ‘n pulled off one of
the persimmons ‘n took a big bite. In
all my born days, I’ve never seen a face like his! He ran ‘round the house ‘n
grabbed the water hose. I started
runnin’ toward the holler ‘cause I knew I was gonna’ get into trouble! Mamma
caught me before I got too far. As she
was tryin’ to scold me, I could see the laughter wantin’ to bust out. Cousin Horace washed ‘n washed his mouth
out. Then he took a cloth ‘n kept
wippin’ his tongue off. He said, “Ya’ll
have poisoned me!” After he calmed down, Mamma said, “Horace, you’re not
poisoned. The persimmons might look ripe
on the outside, but they’re still green on the inside. They don’t ripen ‘til frost gets on ‘em. A green persimmon will turn your mouth inside
out every time.”
Cousin Horace forgave us later on for the hard times
we gave him. So thankful for the gift of laughter!
Ephesians
4:32 And
be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in
Christ forgave you.
Lord, thank you for the gift of laughter 'n forgiveness. In the name of Jesus, amen.
Things To Think 'bout:
1. What are some things you remember doin' growin' up that were things you can look back on 'n laugh?
2. Do you laugh enough?
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