"God hath made me to laugh..."

Motherhood is an exhausting business.  I'm thankful that the same little ones who can so quickly drain me can also be the source of my re-energizing as well.  That's especially true when the things that they say evoke laughter.  Here are a few quotes from Nathan that I jotted down during the past few months - I hope they make you laugh!

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(Several weeks prior to this conversation, Nathan had listened to this recording of Frank L. Baum's "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.")

Nathan:  "Mom, are tornadoes real?" 

Me:  "Yep, they're real."

Nath:  (Pause) "I think the devil makes tornadoes."

Me:  "No, God makes tornadoes, but he makes them because men are sinful."

Nathan: (Pause)  "I think Dorothy was sinful."

Me: (Trying not to laugh): "Tornadoes come because all men are sinful, not just the ones who they affect.  And Dorothy is just a story, Nathan.  She wasn't a real person."

Nathan:  "I know that."

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Some time ago a road grader and front loader cleaned up a small glacier of ice that had accumulated at the intersection near our house.  The three little boys and I had just arrived home from dropping the kids off at school, so we sat in the van and watched them work for a bit.

Nath: (Watching the road grader): "When I'm big, I'm going to drive one of those."

Me:  "Oh, that would be a cool job!"

Nath:  "Yeah!"  

Suddenly the road grader tipped to the side as it chipped away at the ice; only the two wheels on its right side were touching the ground.  Nathan looked startled, then concerned.  He glanced over at the front loader.

"Nevermind," he said.  "I'll think I'll drive the front loader."

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We had just finished lunch and were sitting on the sofa, reviewing the previous day's Bible story, which was on Jesus' feeding of the 5,000.

Me:  "What do we call that, Nathan, when Jesus changes that little bit of food into enough food to feed thousands of people?  It's a word we use for God's special wonders."

Nathan: (Tapping his pointer finger on his top lip)  "Hmmm...  Hmmm..."

Me:  "I'll give you a hint.  It starts with the letter 'M.'  Mmm... Mmm..."

Nathan:  "I know!  Magic!"