December 17 – “You jumped off a what?”

Well, yesterday was my oft-anticipated (by me, anyway) return to church after a two-week hiatus.  It was actually more of a soft re-opening that an actual return, though.  I handled the introductions and did a Visual Verse.  And … that was about all I had for the day.  I turned it over to Jim and Kel, and they did a fabulous job, of course.  Guess I got a little glimpse into how things went the prior two weeks without me. 

Dinner on the grounds was served after worship.  No, it wasn’t to celebrate my return or anything.  We always do dinner on the grounds on the third Sunday of the month.  And this time we had quite the Christmas feast.  Honey-baked ham and turkey and meatloaf and tamales and all sorts of other goodies spread across the table.  And for dessert I managed to score a little piece of cheesecake and a little larger piece of apple crisp pie.  Quite a few of the 73 we had in church stuck around for the meal.

After that rather long (for me) morning outing, we headed home to crash.  Little did I know, however, that we had five grandkids waiting for us when we arrived.  Seems Mom and Dad were going to do some Christmas shopping.  Not a problem.  Once the timer went off indicating that time for video games was done, I switched channels to a football game and promptly went to sleep.  I vaguely recall being awakened at least twice by tiny little hands tap-tap-tapping on my shoulder.  Something about fruit snacks.  Or was it a request to go play in the traffic.  I’m really not sure.  I’m pretty sure my answer was the same.  “We need to ask Nani.”  Hope they did. 

When I finally gave in and arose from my perch on the couch, the football game had long ended.  Now we were engrossed in an entirely different “sport.”  I guess it was a sport.  Jachin didn’t seem to think so.  There wasn’t a ball involved.  Nope.  This one was filmed in Utah.  So, for what sport is Utah uniquely created to host?  No idea what the name of it was, but we watched some young men - who seemed perfectly sane at the outset – ride bicycles down a mountain.  Not down a trail like you would expect normal people to take.  No.  These guys built their own “trails” with pickaxes and shovels and then rode right off the mountain, sometimes free-falling hundreds of feet.  The biggest excitement of the day came when one guy dislocated his shoulder and had a buddy tug on it until it popped back into place with a sound that we could all hear.  His comment?  “That’s OK.  It happens all the time.”  Well, then why are you still riding bikes off of a mountain?  I never heard mention of prize money, but I don’t care how much they offered.  I’m pretty sure I would rather aspire to a career in pro football or maybe the pro wrestling circuit. 

Psalms 119:76 says, “May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.”

Father, protect those crazy guys when they jump off that mountain.  And grant my grandkids enough sense to never do the same.  Amen.