Sunday Funnies: April 30

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A re-run of my dad’s humor cards. They make me chuckle all over again – so I hope you enjoy them whether it’s the first time or second (first posted on 5/29/22).

The backstory: My dad was a Presbyterian pastor for 40 years. He kept a well curated stack of humor cards – little stories he heard, found or saw and then typed onto 5×7 cards. Then he wrote in the margins when he used that particular item. His humor was often an easy way to settle in to something deeper – by laughing and thinking about the buried truth in these little nuggets, it paved the way to an open heart.

PRAYER HUMOR

During the minister’s prayer one Sunday, there was a loud whistle from one of the back pews. Gary’s mother was horrified. She pinched him into silence, and then after church asked, “Gary, whatever made you do such a thing?” Gary answered soberly, “I asked God to teach me to whistle and He just then did!”

One night Mike’s parents overheard this prayer: “Now I lay me down to rest, and hope to pass tomorrow’s test. If I die before I wake, that’s one less test I have to take.”

A five-year-old said grace at family dinner one night. “Dear God, thank you for these pancakes…” When he concluded, his parents asked him why he thanked God for pancakes when they were having chicken. He smiled and said, “I thought I’d see if He was paying attention tonight.”

A Late Addition

I pulled this card out of order of my repeat cycle because in a moment of great frustration as Miss O was trying to learn to whistle this week, I told her the first story on this list. She giggled appreciatively and not five minutes later, had her first successful whistle.

She jumped with joy and then told me she had prayed to God to teach her to whistle after hearing the story. I know my dad would have gotten a good laugh out of that. Say what you want about the theology of it, I believe it settled her down enough so she wasn’t trying as hard. A miracle in any case! (See photos of the week for the evidence of her progression.)

34 thoughts on “Sunday Funnies: April 30”

  2. Any miracles are welcome, large or small. As a kid it made my day to find a quarter on the street. I didn’t think of it as a miracle, but whistling would have been — definitely.

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  7. I love how you and the kids are able to add new layers to this rerun edition of Sunday Funnies. I love it.

    I still don’t know how to whistle despite T now knowing how to. Maybe I’ll pray for a pinch too!

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  9. I’ll never hear another whistle without remembering these gems. I also love Mike’s ingenious prayer—if I die before I wake, that’s one less test I have to take. My kind of kid!

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  12. “I asked God to teach me to whistle and He just then did!” I think God has a sense of humor and probably loves whistling! People usually whistle when they are happy, and God wants us to be happy, so teaching a kid to express themselves when they are happy is the best! The church and the pastor will recover from the interruption of the whistle, but for the kid, this is God giving them permission to be happy and express their happiness! A great lesson!

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      1. Lol! I prefer to see God as love-filled and fun-loving! Probably not the “normal” view!

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