Today, as I was heading down the stairs to leave for church, I saw it out of the corner of my eye. Turning, I bent down, grabbed it, stuck it in my pocket and had a quick chortle (not to be confused with a giggle) and headed to church.
I wasn't sure what I would do with a plastic chicken leg, or should I say, plastic "drumstick" (seeing that it is "cooked" and all) but I figured if it got one giggle from my seven-year old (giggle is okay here) at an inappropriate time, it would be worth lugging it around in my Dockers (not to be confused with knickers.)
During the sermon, my daughter was drawing and leaned a little close to me, resting her thigh against my left pocket where she felt the lump of the toy. She knew from sitting close to me every Sunday that this was unusual, so she started to reach in...and to stop what could have been an outburst, I stopped her hand and shook my head.
Now she was curious, so being a good seven-year old, she persisted. Looking straight at her, I pulled it to the edge of my pocket and gave her a peek. She cupped her hands over her mouth and her eyes did a devious dance as they looked into mine. My first success.
After the service, I was conversing with the family in front of us. Their pre-teen daughter was telling me about the buck she had shot last week, and at a pause, I knew I had my opportunity. Out came my hand and in it was the drumstick. "Want a drumstick?" I said. She just looked at me and laughed, shaking her head no, rolling her eyes, and nudging her mom to show her what I was up to.
As we were filing to go down to the fellowship hall, I stopped to talk with a guy who I hardly ever see laugh, or even smile. After listening for a while, I offered to help him do some tiling in the new addition he is building, all the while knowing the formed plastic that was colored to a perfect brown glaze resting in my pocket would NEVER get a rise out of him.
But then God smiled upon me...his daughter came up, pulled on his arm and muttered the words that only a 40-year old wanna-be comedian who had a fake chicken leg in his pocket could love..."I'm hungry!" Out came the drumstick. Success number three.
Traversing the crowd in the fellowship hall, I ran into the worship director who invited me to attend the creative planning meetings on Thursday mornings, which I was hoping to do again, and had emailed her about it only a few days prior. She told me there would be breakfast provided—and to that comment the finely-crafted kids toy made somewhere in China (where the chicken that modeled for it is obviously very small) made it's last appearance and got it's last laugh, with the footnote from her, that a guy who carries a fake chicken leg in his pocket definitely needed to attend these type of meetings.
16 comments:
Ha!! Love it. That's a fun story ... what a wry sense of humor you have. ;o)
Ha ha! That was too funny. Love this compendium of story, all around a tiny inanimate object. Reveals much about what must be a jokester heart beating inside you.
PS: I just noticed that you have a blog label set aside for "Small Chickens." And also "Plastic Drumsticks." Might I pose the question: Are you planning to write many posts on either of these two subjects in the future?!? :)
Gee, didn't notice those labels earlier. If there are any future stories involving small chickens & plastic drumsticks (or any other such oddities), I hope we get to hear them!
Kirsten, glad you stopped in.
It's the small things in life, isn't it? I think my kids have reminded me over and over that it doesn't take much to have fun, or be fun. Hope you got one laugh out of it! (And maybe it inspired you to carry around a plastic drumstick or two? It did?! Alright!)
Did I mention the chicken-leg is gluten free?
Christianne, thanks for visiting! I think there can be a funny side to almost everything, and it's been a joy that my mind is coming back to it's normal bent.
In regards to the labels: I must have about 20-30 more plastic drumstick and small poultry stories waiting to happen, don't ya think?
We shall see! :)
True, true -- we just never know what other stories may emerge on that front.
Hey, your thoughts about the import of finding fun and laughter in small moments really struck me this morning. Kirk (my hub) and I just had a conversation about this very thing last night. We are both people prone to intense personal reflection and contemplation, and Kirk shared last night that he thought it important that we be careful of not veering too deeply into our own personal quests for understanding because of how preoccupied with our own selves we can become. How well can we love one another or others if we are always so highly concerned with reflecting on our own personal journeys and what God is doing in our souls every single moment of every day? He made a plug for lightheartedness, too, because sometimes the soul just needs release.
I confess I was resistant to this exhortation. But in the light of the morning, I'm seeing its wisdom. And even craving it.
Okay, I just saw the labels too. The story is funny; the prospect of having a category for small chickens? Hilarious.
Christianne, to me, humor is kind of like finding beauty in the small things, and I am glad for the days I am looking for it. When we lived in TX I would walk home from the office, and even in the midst of the desert I would find over a dozen different wildflowers...all because I was looking for them.
I, too, can get pretty wrapped up with my own introspection that the idea of putting others ahead of me starts sounding foreign. But I think without this intense soul-searching my walk with Christ becomes all service based, and the "work" of serving becomes more important than the people I serve with or the people that I am serving with. (If I speak with the tongues of men and angels but do not have love...) The work becomes god. So, what I am saying is that I have seen the pendulum swing the other way, too. (And have been hit by the pendulum as well.)
All this from a plastic chicken leg...
LM, glad you stopped in and got a laugh. (When you write about small chickens or plastic drumsticks, be sure and link it back here, okay?)
From chortle to China, a fun post through and through. Bon appetit!
Craver, glad you popped in, bro. The plastic chicken will have to suffice for now...since I didn't bag a deer (yet).
Perceptive insight, 23. I find that, for me, it's all about living from a place of authenticity and true heart. And the truth is (at least for me), it's hard work to access the heart! We have so many coping and defense responses that keep us from our hearts, from conditioning and from the world, and also the heart can be a scary thing to look at because it can house such dark, lonely thoughts. The good news is that there is no condemnation in Christ, and He already sees what is there. Remembering this helps me not be so scared to "go there" with Him because He invites me to, even desires me to, so that we can have a real relationship.
I really really like what you said about living from a place of authenticity and true heart. I think that being part of this community of bloggers has helped me to do that, and hat carries over into the 3-D world.
When you say, "access the heart" do you mean, "why are we thinking the way we are thinking (and acting accordingly?)
a very uplifting post. in a strange and funny way, putting the plastic chicken bone into your pocket speaks of faith. thanks for sharing.
Ha! What kid wouldn't get a kick out of a plastic drumstick? This post gave me a good laugh. By the way, thanks for stopping by my blog!
An artistic sense of humor too? :) Most amusing.
Nancy, strange and funny are my middle names... thanks for visiting!
Cahleen,thanks for stopping by and for the encouragement...and glad you laughed!
Laura, sending a truckload of plastic drumsticks your way...to give as a free gift with your book purchase! (Got to sweeten the deal a little, to move those puppies in large volume!) :) Thanks for stopping in and poking me to get a post up!
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