Unexpected Reasons to Smile

We really could not believe it. Our trebuchet was shooting 5-8 meters further than it had with the old arm.
It was raining and we had to test our new trebuchet. We have way too many hours of work left to do to collect the data before the State Science Olympiad. We had to find a way to practice in inclement weather.

So I called my church.

"I have an unusual request. I need the church gym to test a trebuchet."
"Is that some new sort of evangelistic tool?"
"Well it certainly could be. I mean I could fling bibles into dangerous neighborhoods from at least 20 meters away."
"Hmmmm. Well let me see if trebuchet evangelism is listed as one of our allowable uses for our gym. "
"Ok, that would be great. You may remember me, by the way. Last week we used the gym to test our helicopters."
"Oh? And what spiritual category was that listed under?"
"I believe it was scientific research into seeing just how high heaven really is."
"Let me discuss this with our facilities director and get back to you."

The facilities director agreed that since the gym was miraculously empty that afternoon we could use it to test our trebuchet. And our new top secret arm design performed beautifully. We actually hit 20 meters, a new record. We worked a total of 6 hours over two sessions yesterday. The kids were collapsed on the floor taking what Josh described as a "power nap."
"Wimp!" I shrieked, "If a mere 6 hours of tedious and monotonous data collection does you in, how do you ever expect to get anywhere in life?"
I fed them stale peanut butter crackers I found in the car and threatened they would never see their mothers again if they didn't get back to work. Asherel, my dear daughter thought that that sounded like a promise, not a threat.

I understand what effective teaching is all about, no question about that.

(Now just for you literal folk out there dialing social services, this part was made up. We did indeed work 6 hours in a morning and afternoon shift, but I assure you, the peanut butter crackers were not stale.) And yes, the 6 hours was on top of a full day's curriculum for both kids, but they may as well learn young that life is busy.

However, even my weary team was dancing a jig with me when the projectile slammed into Josh's skull at the 20 meter mark.
"Hooray!!!!!" I yelled, and began texting all my friends.
Josh staggered, "Hooray I got hit in the head?" He looked miffed.
"Oh, no... I am really sorry about that. How many fingers am I holding up?"
"What are fingers?"
"How far did our projectile fly?"
"20 feet."
"You're fine. Mop up that blood and get back to work."

Meanwhile, the literary agent wrote to me. She wants to see more of my book. And she is encouraged by how my "platform" is developing. I have now demonstrated through my various connections, organizations, memberships, and lies, I can  reach 3 million potential readers. (I really didn't lie...btw...that was for humorous effect in case you are having a bad day.) She tells me the numbers I really need to increase however are my monthly blog hits. She claims the fact that my parents read my blog faithfully every day is insufficient for most savvy publishers. So if any of you have friends, please tell them to go look at my blog. And tell them to tell all their friends. Who knows but that you may be jump starting the career of a future Dostoevsky, or Dickens....though I suspect if Dostoevsky or Dickens had had to build a blog readership of  a half million or so before publishing, they would not be lining the bookshelves today with their work.

So what was God saying to me with all these sudden, surprising, happy turn of events? Sometimes life doesn't stink. Sometimes good things happen out of the blue. Sometimes it is hard not to smile. And during those times, don't forget to say "Thank you".

1 Thessalonians 5:17-19

¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.