overall logic

Benny's creative communication logic is sometimes a little difficult to follow.  But, I love that he loves to communicate, and that he is often not daunted if he does not know exactly the right words. 

We got our first significant snowfall of the season Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning.  All the kids were home on Wednesday to start the Thanksgiving break.  Anyone who knows Benny knows that he is a major outdoor lover. It is never really too hot or too cold. He just likes to be outdoors.  So, he was very excited when Jen sent Lily upstairs to get dressed in her snow gear. 

He excitedly asked Jen, "you find my farmers, Mom?"

"Farmers?", Jen asked.

He persisted, "you find my farmers, Mom?"

She didn't figure out what his "farmers" were until she pulled out some snow pants (that he had not seen since last winter) to get him dressed.

"My farmers!"

He was very excited about his "farmers" because, to him, they represented the key to getting outside in the snow.

So, for a priceless glimpse into the mind of Benny, here is what we figured out to be the logic behind his "farmers":

Do you see his overall logic? 

settle out of court

The advice my pastor gave me was to "settle out of court... take the plea deal".

Got your attention?

Good.

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Growing up in church, I have heard a lot of messages about God's plan for the redemption of man, often referred to as "the gospel" in my Christian circles.  However, Pastor Myron delivered a gospel message this morning that I found unique.

He was preaching from the Gospel of Luke 12:54-59.  In verse 58, Christ said this:

"As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled on the way, or your adversary may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison."

The Bible describes God as the righteous judge.  Like it or not, the Bible also describes each of us as guilty in our sins.  I believe, according to the Bible, we will each stand before the righteous judge and give account of our lives.  There are two ways to play that... represented or unrepresented.

God made a way, through the death of His son, Jesus Christ, for our sins to be forgiven.  As Pastor Myron put it, He offers us a "plea deal".  We are each guilty and deserving of judgement, but God allows each of us to transfer that judgement onto Jesus, who has already bore it for us.  The catch, though, is that you have to "settle out of court".  You have to take the plea deal now, as it is freely offered.  Then, when your days come to an end, you may go to your judgement represented.  Jesus will represent you to the Father as one of his own.

The second option is to ignore the plea deal and wait to settle when you face the righteous judge... but you will do so without any representation... on your own!

The advice my pastor gave me was to "settle out of court... take the plea deal".

I think that is good advice... how about you?

seriously!

One of my current favorite Benny-isms:  "Daddy... laugh, seriously!"

Laugh, seriously? 

At first glance, this would seem like a classic oxymoron... or is it?

I'm not sure where or how Ben added "seriously" to his vocabulary, but he latched onto it somewhere.  Whether he understands its meaning is debatable... likely not, I suspect.  This sentence is really the only place I have ever heard him use it.

Following this sentence is an artificial Benny belly laugh, modelling what he wants me to do.  He will repeat the sentence and the artificial belly laugh as long as it takes for me to imitate the artificial belly laugh... not just once, but multiple times.

Inevitably, at some point during this repeated exchange of requesting me to "laugh, seriously", artificially modelling it, and my artificial imitation, the artificial belly laugh turns into... well... serious laughter.

Oxymoron?  I think not.  There it is... we are laughing, seriously.

Benny most likely has no idea how profound his apparent oxymoron really is, but he knows he seriously likes to laugh.  And, I think he seriously likes to laugh with people around him.  And, in his innocence, he has a tendency to make people everywhere "laugh, seriously".

Thanks for the laughs Benny!  I love that about you... seriously!