?????GOT SKILLS?????

I am dedicating this post to a friend of mine. Most of you probably know him: Jon (other wise known as "Noj")Verbinnen. Jon, this totally reminded me of you. Thanks for lots of fun times!! (And sharing countless ‘skills’ :)

We all have different skills. For instance, I can squish my eyebrows together and then upward. When I do that, it makes a giant M in the middle of my forehead. I can also play a song using only my hand and armpit.

Juggling is another skill I have. I can also spin around 87 times without falling down. That’s not all. Did you know I can pogo four times in a row? (I also know how to fill in small holes all over our front yard caused by the pogo stick.)

I have many other skills, too. In fact, the ones listed above are probably only 50 percent of my skills – so not even half. And God has a reason for all the skill He gave me.

Sometimes when people are sad, I can use my skills to cheer them up. One time a lady sitting next to me was crying, so I leaned over and said, “Today my forehead will be brought to you by the letter M.” I then squished my eyebrows together and upward.

She started laughing so loud that everyone else at the funeral stopped and looked at her. I think they were amazed at how I was able to use my skills to cheer up this really sad lady.

It was kind of uncomfortable, though, because no one said anything. They just stared at us. Even the guy who had been talking just stood there. It was totally quiet except for the sound of blood rushing to my dad’s face. He was sitting on my other side. I looked over and he was making a W with his eyebrows.

I knew I needed to do something quick, so I used another one of my skills. I quickly started playing “Amazing Grace” under my arm. It’s one of my dad’s favorite songs. Plus, I thought it was appropriate for a funeral.

I would like to point out that the song wasn’t my best performance, though. My hand was kind of cramping, and my armpit was really sweaty. My dad quickly took me outside and played a different tune. But the point is that my skill cheered up that lady.

Another time I used my skill to help my mom. While we were putting up our Christmas tree last year, she discovered that one of her four antique Christmas ornaments had broken.

Right after it happened, I walked in the room with a bowl of popcorn so my brother could string it and put it on the tree. (I’m no longer allowed to be near a needle, but I’ll cover that in another story.) Mom was crying.

I love my mom, and when she’s sad I come to her rescue! So I knew just what to do. I started juggling! She looked up as I grabbed these three Christmas ornaments lying beside her and tossed them into the air.

”Bob!” she yelled. “My antique Christmas ornaments!”

That was followed by about 40 seconds of silence. Finally, my mom said, “Wow! Where did you learn how to juggle?”

“Dad taught me,” I said, concentrating on my juggling pattern.

“That’s amazing,” she said, smiling. “I’m so proud of you! Now stop it, because I only have three of those left.”

Skills are a gift from God. But just like everything else, we can choose to use them for good or for bad. I hope you use your skills in the right way. Now if you will excuse me, I’m trying to learn a new song, and I have to go find my triangle. (Another skill I have that doesn’t make my hand smell as bad as my other form of music.)From the Adventures of Average Boy by Bob Smiley as told to Bob Smiley.