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My grandson, Happy, was moving away. He had always been the comic relief for our family, and I was gonna miss him. I was especially worried because he’d never given his heart to the Lord. As an act of kindness, he promised to go to church with me one more time before he moved.
I had been praying for him for years, but as the days passed by that proceeded that Sunday, I prayed more fervently than ever. I said, “Lord, you know you’re gonna have to show out a little to get Happy’s attention. I’m trusting that you’ll do it just for me.”
Sunday arrived, and Happy made it to services just as promised. That particular Sunday was excessively crowded and Sister Darlene had sat on my pew. I was not happy about that, because we ended up having to sit on the third pew from the front with Brother Paul and Sister Noveline. Brother Paul was notorious for snoring during the sermon and his wife would frequently shout just to wake her sleeping husband.
Pastor Duncan started the service by welcoming our visitors and by introducing his parents. They were on furlough and had come to visit with our little church and to tell about their work. I couldn’t help but giggle when I heard them singing. They were exactly one line behind everyone else while we sung, “In the Sweet By and By.” They were also on a different key than the rest of the congregation, and evidently they were trying to persuade the rest of us to join them judging by the volume of their voices.
After the first song, Pastor decided that our service needed some extra prayer that morning, so he asked Deacon Chester to lead us. Blessed as we were to be sitting so close to the front, we were able to hear this precious Deacon break wind as he slid from his bench to a kneeling position. You could hear muffled laughter on the first couple of pews, but Deacon Chester kept on talking to God like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
The next couple of songs seemed to go better. The pastor’s parents sung along with us, and everything seemed to be getting back to normal. Well, it seemed to be, until the song service was over.
Now, you just have to know Mrs. Dewberry, our pianist. She is the most modest, and ladylike person that you’ll ever meet. She is always dressed to the nines with every hair in place. It was not until she left the piano bench and walked to her pew that the whole congregation saw that part of the hem of her dress was stuffed into her pantyhose. Poor Mrs. Dewberry, I tried to get her attention, really I did. She kept right on walking.
When Pastor had composed himself, he asked his parents to come and share their slide presentation. They had been missionaries to the Philippines for several years. They shared pictures of the impoverished children, and told about the high cost of every day living.
Brother Paul had not lasted long after the lights had been dimmed, and I had heard Sister Noveline call his name several times. It was on a slide that showed three shirtless, Philippine men that Sister Noveline shouted “Glory”. The giggles were beginning to overtake our church and Happy had started shifting in his seat. I began to pray like I never had before, begging God to take control of this service and to do a mighty work in Happy.
Once the presentation was finished, Pastor came to the pulpit. He opened his Bible to Proverbs 17:22. He read that scripture and then he asked us all to turn in our Bibles to the book of John. Pastor preached a salvation message that I’ll never forget.
At the end of the message, Pastor asked Mrs. Dewberry to come back to the piano. Her skirt-tail was still stuck in the back of her pantyhose and she still walked with all the dignity of a peacock.
As soon as the first note was played, my Happy made a bee-line for the altar. He gave his heart to the Lord that morning. He said that he finally listened to the preaching. After seeing that God’s people could have such a good sense of humor and still share such a compassionate message, his heart was touched.
Happy is still in church to this day. He makes a wonderful Youth Pastor.
Author’s Note: Being in church all my life, I have witnessed most of the events previously mentioned at one time or another. The names have been changed to protect the dignity of those godly Saints.
Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine:
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