Kathy and I attended 10 years of “LCMS Strands” - annual weekend event, close to Valentine’s Day, where 30 to 40 couples from all over Missouri (LCMS Mo. District) celebrate their marriages together, with a renewal at Sunday morning Worship Service. Each year, it was led by a different couple (so, the theme was different each year), with the husband being a Minister and the Sat. evening banquet’s MC was another Minister.
For our wedding, after we had proposed the Bible readings for it, we asked our Pastor to include another one, which included “a cord of 3 strands is not easily broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12), referring to the wife & husband & Jesus bonded together forever!
He told us that he’d include it in his sermonette, which he did, after stopping the wedding in the middle of it, to say that he wanted to be the 1st one to give us a wedding gift (a small box containing a short rope of 3 strands, something we have cherished to this day)! Later, we learned about the LCMS Strands event and attended it for 10 years, until Mo. District could not afford it financially anymore.
Each year, on Sat. before lunchtime, we joined in an activity that also included a Bible study. One year, we did an arts & craft activity that had Kathy and I really focused in it, so much, that, after most couples had finished with it, and, the Bible study began, the other couples were led by the Pastor & his wife with a project that included sentences, in alphabetical order, regarding words of wisdom about good marriages, but, I was still focused on the arts & craft activity.
They were already on “J, K & L” sentences, when I asked Kathy “what are they spelling?”, to which she laughed uncontrollably & so loudly, that the other couple, sharing our table began to laugh, without knowing why we were laughing, but, it was just contagious - so much so, that it was spreading though-out our section of the auditorium - it took me a while to understand what they were actually doing, and, to this day, whenever Kathy and I need a laugh, we just ask the other “what are they spelling?”.
Another year, the MC for the banquet was, perhaps, the funniest man I ever heard; I and others were falling out of our chairs. He looked like “Curly” (from the 3 Stooges).
During this banquet (held at a resort in Branson, Mo.) we learned that he was the Pastor at the LCMS church at the Lake of the Ozarks; since we visited this area almost yearly, we thought we’d visit his church to hear his sermon - imagining his congregation hysterically laughing during his sermon (something we just could not imagine happening, but, we’d loved to witness).
So, the following year, we took a vacation near his church, and, looked forward to visiting his church to hear his sermon.
As we entered his church, we noticed it was full of people and there were a few clergy there, but, he did eventually, come to the pulpit to give his sermon.
We noted that, as he gave his sermon, he was more serious than any Minister ever - he was not funny at all! Though we did not laugh, it was an inspirational sermon.
Afterwards, as we were leaving the church, we shook his hand on the way out and did not mention that we saw him the previous year at the Strands event.
Interestingly, we told our Pastor, who married us, about this - he knew of this hilarious Pastor (when he wasn’t giving a sermon) and was familiar of how funny he normally was.
Kathy and I attended 10 years of “LCMS Strands” - annual weekend event, close to Valentine’s Day, where 30 to 40 couples from all over Missouri (LCMS Mo. District) celebrate their marriages together, with a renewal at Sunday morning Worship Service. Each year, it was led by a different couple (so, the theme was different each year), with the husband being a Minister and the Sat. evening banquet’s MC was another Minister.
For our wedding, after we had proposed the Bible readings for it, we asked our Pastor to include another one, which included “a cord of 3 strands is not easily broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12), referring to the wife & husband & Jesus bonded together forever!
He told us that he’d include it in his sermonette, which he did, after stopping the wedding in the middle of it, to say that he wanted to be the 1st one to give us a wedding gift (a small box containing a short rope of 3 strands, something we have cherished to this day)! Later, we learned about the LCMS Strands event and attended it for 10 years, until Mo. District could not afford it financially anymore.
Each year, on Sat. before lunchtime, we joined in an activity that also included a Bible study. One year, we did an arts & craft activity that had Kathy and I really focused in it, so much, that, after most couples had finished with it, and, the Bible study began, the other couples were led by the Pastor & his wife with a project that included sentences, in alphabetical order, regarding words of wisdom about good marriages, but, I was still focused on the arts & craft activity.
They were already on “J, K & L” sentences, when I asked Kathy “what are they spelling?”, to which she laughed uncontrollably & so loudly, that the other couple, sharing our table began to laugh, without knowing why we were laughing, but, it was just contagious - so much so, that it was spreading though-out our section of the auditorium - it took me a while to understand what they were actually doing, and, to this day, whenever Kathy and I need a laugh, we just ask the other “what are they spelling?”.
Another year, the MC for the banquet was, perhaps, the funniest man I ever heard; I and others were falling out of our chairs. He looked like “Curly” (from the 3 Stooges).
During this banquet (held at a resort in Branson, Mo.) we learned that he was the Pastor at the LCMS church at the Lake of the Ozarks; since we visited this area almost yearly, we thought we’d visit his church to hear his sermon - imagining his congregation hysterically laughing during his sermon (something we just could not imagine happening, but, we’d loved to witness)
So, the following year, we took a vacation near his church, and, looked forward to visiting his church to hear his sermon.
As we entered his church, we noticed it was full of people and there were a few clergy there, but, he did eventually, come to the pulpit to give his sermon.
We noted that, as he gave his sermon, he was more serious than any Minister ever - he was not funny at all! Though we did not laugh, it was an inspirational sermon.
Afterwards, as we were leaving the church, we shook his hand on the way out and did not mention that we saw him the previous year at the Strands event.
Interestingly, we told our Pastor, who married us, about this - he knew of this hilarious Pastor (when he wasn’t giving a sermon) and was familiar of how funny he normally was.
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