We
learned a new game. Well, we played it
once before when we were there last time, but it is an odd game. It’s called Bugs in the Kitchen. A little battery-operated roach tries to make
its way through a maze that the players are constantly changing. We also played that old standby Junior
Monopoly. I did reaffirm one truth I
have known since I was a kid. The
first-born will always find a way to win.
Perhaps I should leave it at that.
I don’t want to reveal any of Zak’s trade secrets.
We
joined them for family worship that night, of course. Caleb had this to say when asked to speculate
on what Moses and Elijah might have said to Jesus on the Mount of
Transfiguration: “Don’t be discouraged about having to die, because we’ve already
been through it. We know.” Whoa.
Is that some heavy thinking for a six-year-old?
We
watched the movie Bedtime Stories with Adam Sandler. Well, they watched it and I slept, but in my
defense, I had seen it before. That led
to a request from Caleb after Family Worship: “Nani, will you tell us a bedtime
story?” And of course, being the awesome
Nani that she is, Chris replied, “I bet DadDad can tell a better one than I
can.” Thank you there, Chris. Appreciate your confidence.
Of
course my mind initially went totally blank.
Not that it had far to go. The
best I could come up with was a convoluted tale of a large bug who had taken up
residence in a family’s garage walls. He
would come out to play only when the car was gone. That is until one day he was surprised by the
little boy who lived in the house. After
initially almost scaring each other to death, the two became fast friends and
played together every chance they got.
Now my intention was to end the story there. You know, happy ending and all. But they obviously wanted more, so I continued
with part two.
One day
while they were playing the big garage door opened sooner than expected. Mom was home early. Now at this point Chris jumped in with, “What
would your Mom do if she came home and saw a bug that big?” Of course we incorporated their response into
the tale. The Mom screamed
uncontrollably while the bug and the boy laughed and laughed. Again, I hoped the story would end on that
fine note. But no. “What happened then?”
“Well,
then Dad came home and …” By this time
Zak and Caleb were both on the edge of the bed with excitement. They didn’t need much encouragement anymore to
add to the plot. What does Dad usually
do when he gets home? He kisses Mommy,
of course. Oh, but this time he kissed
the bug instead. And what would Mommy do
if she saw Daddy kiss a bug? She made
him go brush his teeth. And then we were
back to the presumed ending once again. The
bug and the boy laughed and laughed.
They became best friends for life.
But
no. Zakary was too wound up by now. He continued on. “Well, until a praying mantis tied the bug to
the tire of the car. And it went around
and around and around.”
And
Caleb: “And then the car fell into a volcano and sank into the hot lava.”
Zak: “Just
before the tire went under, a giant bird swooped down and grabbed the bug with
his talons. He tried to eat it, but the
bug bit the bird’s lip.”
Caleb: “Then
the bird decided to be naked, so he took all his feathers off and fell all the
way to the ground.”
Actually
the story kind of dissipated at this point, with Daddy seeing that it was
clearly getting out of hand. I just can’t
leave it like that, however. There has
to be an ending, so here’s my final contribution: “Thankfully, the bug landed
on top. As he looked around he realized
that the bird had fallen right in the driveway of the little boy. And the boy was crouched on his hands and
knees right there in front of him, examining this strange-looking creature that
had fallen from the sky. Happily, the
bug crawled off of his unusual transport vehicle. The boy finally saw him, and was amazed. The two couldn’t believe their good
fortune. The crawled away together,
laughing and laughing, truly best friends forever.
Proverbs
18:24 says, “A man of many companions may
come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
Father,
thank you for being the best best friend anyone could hope for. Amen.
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