A Bit of Humor . . . Not My Usual Post

I was reading the Clubhouse magazine that my younger siblings get from Focus on the Family, and I found this article really hilarious. Especially the first part about the hugs. But it also has a good message. It's a little different than my usually posts. Hope you enjoy it!

Adventures of Average Boy

By Bob Smiley as told to Bob Smiley

I don't own a tourniquet (Note: a thing you wrap around part of your body to stop bleeding.) I'll never need one. If I'm ever bleeding and want it to stop, I'll simply ask my mom to hug me. My mom is the tightest hugger in the world! Sometimes she hugs me so tight that hours later my eyes are still bulging. I think the medical term is Optical Poptitude.

My dad, on the other hand, doesn't hug a lot. He pats me on the back to show his love.

"Good job setting the table, Son!" he'll say and then whack me on the back, sending me about two feet forward and causing me to have to reset several things on the table.

Between Mom's hugs and Dad's pats on the back, I'm surprised I have hung on to my eyeballs for as longs as I have. I actually enjoy the hugs and back-pats, because showing love is part of a great relationship.

Relationships are funny, because they're all different. Sometimes your relationships develop slowly.

For instance, there's a girl on my bus, and we speak only once a day. But we're great friends.

She suffers from constant leg cramps. Every day, I try to sit next to her on the bus. However, each day she gets a really bad cramp in her lower leg. She then kicks out her leg in the empty seat next to her and starts shouting, "Ohhhh . . . my leg is cramping again! I have to keep it straight out on this seat!"

This happens every morning. And Donny is really mean to her. He sits there and laughs as I walk past her to another seat. But every day I use the situation to let her know someone cares about her. "I'll pray for you and your leg," I whisper. "See you tomorrow."

It's a small relationship, but it's important. I have tons of those experiences each day.

My coach and I meet only once a day for PE, but we have an awesome relationship. A year ago his doctor told him he needed to exersize more. The doctor specifically said Coach needed to get his heart rate up every day. I don't know how I help him do that, but I do!

He once told me, "Bob, just having you in class gets my heart rate to at least 120 beats per minute every day."

"120!" I replied. "That's awesome! Your heart rate matches your age. That's got to make it easy to remember."

"There you go doing it again, Mr. Smiley!" he said appreciatively. "Now go take a lap."

Every day you and I see people. Sometimes we have a small relationship - like the one I have with my coach or the leg-cramp girl. Sometimes we have a big relationship - like the one I have with my parents or my school principal. Each time we see these people, we have a chance to leave them happier or sadder than they were before they saw us. If you try to make others happier each time - by putting them first - you will build great, strong relationships. That's my challenge to you. That, and help me figure out how to cure leg cramps. Hurry!

Now if you will excuse me, I just got a paper cut and it's bleeding. I think I need a hug.