Since things have been a bit sober around here the past few days, I thought I would end the week with two videos guaranteed to produce a smile.
The first one was taken by my sweetest daughter-in-law, Meagan, who videotaped her wacky husband making Noah giggle. This is an extra special video to me because it’s the first time I ever heard Noah laugh! And I also love watching Nathan acting so goofy–he is going to have the best time being a dad.
No matter how tired I am, this is what I look forward to everyday. These are the moments I will cherish forever. I love this baby boy. He holds a piece of my heart!
hi
Hi Smith FAMILY….I THINK YOU NEED TO ENTER NATHAN AND NOAH’S VIDEO ON AMERICA’S FUNNIEST VIDEOS. CHILDREN DOING BELLY LAUGHS ARE ALMOST USUALLY WINNERS….LOL…
Fran,
I love those belly-laughing kids!
Love the video and the cliff notes sermon. Amen!!
Karen,
Glad you enjoyed it; it was a great sermon!
Awwww, Noah’s such a cutie!
I saw the video of Steve when you posted it on Facebook, too… And I still want to know how he tied that in to a sermon! Or do you have to be part of a secret club to gain such insider information? 😛
Kristina,
No secret club required! Since it was Steve’s sermon, I passed your question on to him.
Hi Kristina,
Becky asked if I would like to answer your question about my opening sermon illustration with the helium balloon. Here’s a Cliff Notes explanation.
That morning’s message was on Spirit-empowered living. I opened by saying that helium can do a couple things: it can make balloons float and it can make your voice sound funny. (Hence, the singing gag which the adults liked as much as the kids.)
I said that if you inflate a balloon with air from your lungs, it will not float. If you inflate it with helium, it will float– but not indefinitely. It will gradually leak and return to the ground.
Followers of Christ are called to follow Him and to be like Him in our love for God and for His people. Obviously, we do this imperfectly which leads us to two choices:
1) We can attempt do the “heavy lifting” of our Christian walk on our own steam, things like praying more, giving more, serving more, etc. OR 2) we can obey the command of Paul the Apostle who wrote, ” . . . Be filled with the Spirit.” (Philippians 5:18 ).
I told the church that in the Greek, to be filled means “be continually being filled.” I reminded them that a helium balloon will leak helium and must be refilled to stay afloat. I also mentioned that the word for Spirit in the Bible means “breath, wind, spirit.”
At the close of the message, I blew up a balloon with my breath and not with helium. I then tried to keep it afloat by swatting up in the air with my hand while I said, “If I pray more “ (swat), if I serve more (swat), if I give more (swat), etc., then I can be a Christ-follower.”
Then I inflated another balloon but this time with helium. After I released it, we all watched as it drifted about 40 feet to the ceiling of the sanctuary.
I made the point that we cannot serve Christ with our own meager, religious efforts. We must rely on the lifting power of God’s Breath, God’s Spirit–God’s helium, if you will.
I hope that makes sense!
Hi Steve –
Thanks very much for taking the time to put together your sermon’s Cliff Notes! I’ve heard a lot of sermons, and some have been sad, some angry or mean, some complicated, others unrealistic or guilt-ridden — all generally quickly forgotten. The few that have stuck with me are those that are entertaining, cleverly simple, or evocatively meaningful. I’d say your ‘balloon lesson’ struck all three of those notes. I bet there are people in your congregation who will remember that message every time they see a balloon for a very long time! Clever pastor!!
Kristina,
Steve and I both agree–you are quite the wordsmith.
Thanks for your encouragement!
And thanks, Becky, for passing along my question!
What a great analogy!!
my computer is too old to see the Noah video,, but I was able to see Steve, just not hear him.
Mrs. Pam,
That’s funny you would say that because I had turned the sound off for a minute to just watch Steve sing and that was as amusing as actually having the sound on! 😉
Of course I’m partial to the first half of your post today! 🙂 Isn’t the grandson we share AH – MAZING??!! Praying for the Hardison family, too.
Sheri,
Yep, that grandson of ours is downright squeezable! So happy to hear the laughter in their house.
The videos definitely did produce a smile! Noah is so adorable, and Steve in his video appears…um…wacky and fun loving? Thank you for sharing your fantastic, wonderful, funny family with all of us!
Jenna,
Adorable, wacky, fun loving, funny, fantastic, wonderful . . . what fun and lovely adjectives. Thank you! 🙂
Nothing like the laughter of a baby to lift your spirits. I can’t encourage you enough to start Skyping as often as possible with Noah. It is the only way that our grandsons know what we look like and how we sound since they are far away also.
Hope it is a more joyful week for you all.
Liz,
We’ve Skyped several times already since Noah was born but he was so small he just mainly slept or looked around the room. It’s so exciting to know that from now on, each time we Skype, he will be able to interact more and more and more. Fun times ahead!