Sometimes I want to be a kid again. I want to go back to the time when:

• Decisions were made by going “eeny-meeny-miney-mo.”

• Mistakes were corrected by simply exclaiming, “do over!”

• “Race issue” meant arguing about who ran the fastest.

• Money issues were handled by whoever was the banker in “Monopoly”

• Catching the fireflies could happily occupy an entire evening.

• It wasn’t odd to have two or three “best” friends.

• Being old referred to anyone over 16.

• The net on a tennis court was the perfect height to play volleyball and the rules didn’t matter.

• The worst thing you could catch from the opposite sex was cooties.

• It was magic when dad would “remove” his thumb.

• It was unbelievable that dodgeball wasn’t an Olympic event.

• Having a weapon in school meant being caught with a slingshot.

• Nobody was prettier than Mom.

• Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better.

• It was a big deal to finally be tall enough to ride the “big people” rides at the amusement park.

• Getting a foot of snow was a dream come true.

• Abilities were discovered because of a “double-dog-dare.”

• Saturday morning cartoons weren’t 30-minute ads for action figures.

• “Oly-oly-oxen-free” made perfect sense.

• Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was cause for giggles.

• The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team.

• War was a card game.

• Water balloons were the ultimate weapon.

• Cards in the spokes transformed any bike into a motorcycle.

• Taking drugs meant orange-flavored chewable aspirin.

• Ice cream was considered a basic food group.

• Older siblings were the worst tormentors but also the fiercest protectors.

In an interview, actor Kevin Bacon shared a conversation he had with his six-year-old son after he had seen the movie Footloose for the first time.

The boy said, “Dad, that was really cool how you jumped up on the roof and swung from the rafters. How did you do that?”

“Well, son, I didn’t actually do that part,” said Bacon. “A stunt man did.”

“What’s a stunt man?” asked his son.

“That’s someone who dresses like me and does things I can’t do. Things that are too dangerous.

“Oh. Well, what about that part in the movie where you spin around on that gym bar and land on your feet,” persisted the boy. “How did you do that?”

“Well, son, that was the stunt man again, not me. He’s really good at gymnastics.”

“Oh.” A long pause. “Dad, just what DID you do in the movie?”

Bacon sheepishly replied, “I got all the glory.”

Jesus stood in for us so that we could have eternal life and share in God’s glory. He was nailed to the cross in our place, to pay for our sins, because He was the only one who could do it and emerge victorious.

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-edited from Still More Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks by Wayne Rice.

Years ago, when our daughters were very young, we’d drop them off at our church’s children’s chapel on Sundays before the eleven o’clock service. One Sunday, just as I was about to open the door to the small chapel, the minister came rushing up in full vestments. He said he had an emergency and asked if I’d speak to the children at their story time. He said the subject was the Twenty-third Psalm.

But just as I was about to get up from the back row and talk about the good shepherd, the minister burst into the room and signaled to me that he would be able to do the story time after all. He told the children about sheep, that they weren’t very smart and needed lots of guidance, and that a shepherd’s job was to stay close to the sheep, protect them from wild
animals and keep them from wandering off and doing dumb things that would get them hurt or killed. He pointed to the little children in the room and said that they were the sheep and needed lots of guidance.

Then the minister put his hands out to the side, palms up in a dramatic gesture, and with raised eyebrows said to the children, “If you are the sheep, then who is your shepherd?” He was pretty obviously indicating himself.

A silence of a few seconds followed. Then a young visitor said, “Jesus. Jesus is the shepherd.”

The young minister, obviously caught by surprise, said to the boy, “Well, then, who am I?”

The little boy frowned thoughtfully and then said with a shrug, “I guess you must be a sheep dog.”

I remember the look on that young minister’s face every time I get to thinking that I’m the shepherd in charge of some of God’s sheep.

By Keith Miller