It was time for the Independence Day parade here in town. Michelle was enjoying it with lemonade from her air-conditioned break room at work that overlooked the parade route. Sometimes Michelle wondered if she really wanted children with Dave. He did so many immature pranks all for the children in the youth department. (That’s why the teens loved him so much because he was so much like them.)
Michelle thought about what happened a month ago when Dave had shaved his head bald all because the youth department got one hundred in attendance. That had also been the Sunday the Apollo’s teens (Mera and Ish) had told their parents, Ace (Ackerman) and Prissy, something Dave had said in class. They felt it was biblically incorrect, and called the Dave’s house to let Dave know that day of his error.
The church float this year would be promoting (as it always did) summer Vacation Bible School (VBS), which would occur in a few short weeks. It would be interesting to see what the youth department did with this year’s theme of “Dance unto the Lord.”
Psalm 149:3 was the main Bible focus for the week of VBS: “Let them praise him by dancing and playing their tambourines and harps.” The theme was perfect for all the lively children that would show up that week that needed the wiggly energy worked out of them (as well as wanted to make lots of noise). Michelle could not imagine what her freckled, red-haired husband was going to do for this float since he absolutely had no rhythm and could not dance. Dave had told Michelle nothing about the float as he wanted her completely surprised.
Soon the church VBS
float came into view, and Michelle was totally horrified with what she saw. As
beautiful worship music emanated from the artistically-designed float, Dave was
following it doing what he thought was a religious dance clad only in a pair of
new pure white swimming trunks (shirtless and shoeless).
Michelle was certain
her forgetful husband had not remembered to use sun block. He was going to burn
horribly like his grilled hot dogs, and she would have to deal with the after effects
of that as she cleaned up all his messes. The float was holding astonished,
impressionable teenagers from his youth department. Michelle was horrified
wondering how many parents would complain about this to the senior pastor. He
was making a mockery of himself and his church as a leader.
At that moment her
husband looked up and grinned like an unruly child and gave her a big thumbs
up. Michelle waved back at him weakly without a smile. When they got home,
Michelle was sure Dave would have no clue why she was so upset. He would tell
her it was all done in fun, and that no one else had gotten as upset as she
had.[i]
BIBLICAL
INSPIRATION:
Saul’s sons were
Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malki Shua. Saul’s older daughter was named Merab. Saul’s
younger daughter was named Michal. (1 Samuel 14:49)
14 The Lord’s
Spirit left Saul. Then the Lord
sent an evil spirit to Saul that caused him much trouble. 15 Saul’s
servants said to him, “An evil spirit from God is bothering you. 16 Give
us the command and we will look for someone who can play the harp. If the evil
spirit from God comes on you, this person will play music for you. Then you
will feel better.”
17 So Saul said to his servants, “Find someone who plays music
well and bring him to me.”
18 One of the servants said, “There is a man named Jesse living
in Bethlehem. I saw Jesse’s son. He knows how to play the harp. He is also a
brave man and fights well. He is smart and handsome, and the Lord is with him.”
19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse. They told Jesse, “You have
a son named David. He takes care of your sheep. Send him to me.”
20 So Jesse got some things as a gift for Saul. Jesse got a
donkey, some bread and a leather bag full of wine, and a young goat. He gave
them to David and sent him to Saul. 21 So David went to Saul
and stood in front of him. Saul loved David very much. David became the helper
who carried Saul’s weapons. 22 Saul sent a message to Jesse.
“Let David stay and serve me. I like him very much.”
23 Any time the evil spirit from God came on Saul, David would
take his harp and play it. The evil spirit would leave Saul and he would begin
to feel better. (1 Samuel 16:14-23)
16 Saul’s daughter Michal was looking out the window. While the
Lord’s Holy Box was being carried
into the city, David was jumping and dancing before the Lord. Michal saw this, and she was upset at David. (2 Samuel 6:16)
Paul stayed with the believers for many days. Then
he left and sailed for Syria. Priscilla and Aquila were also with him. At
Cenchrea Paul cut off his hair because he had made a promise to God. (Acts 18:18)24 A Jew named Apollos came to Ephesus. Born in the city of Alexandria, he was an educated man who knew the Scriptures well. 25 He had been taught about the Lord and was always excited to talk to people about Jesus. What he taught was right, but the only baptism he knew about was the baptism that John taught. 26 Apollos began to speak very boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him speak, they took him to their home and helped him understand the way of God better. (Acts 18:24-26)
BIBLICAL
PARTICIPANTS:
Michal, King David, Priscilla and Aquila
[i] Adapted from the 2011 America Star book, All for One: the Towns of Ohio Complete Trilogy by Robert A. Kinker, part two (“They’re Just Like Us”), chapter twenty-five. All scripture is from the Easy-to-Read Version (ERV) of the Bible.
No comments:
Post a Comment