An Ox in the Ditch

After reading several of the Faircloth's witty blogs (see link), I thought surely there are funny things that happen to us that would bring a chuckle to others. Then I remembered a few months ago when our washing machine broke down. It was one of those machines that we bought used about 5 years ago for 50 bucks, and it's amazing it's lasted this long. But it was definitely time for us to invest in a new machine. With a family of five, you can't wait long without a washing machine, so we went out looking the day after it broke. Well, it happened to break down on a Saturday evening, which meant we'd have to go looking on Sunday afternoon.

To all you good Presbyterians out there, you know that's kind of "frowned upon". To the rest of you, we try to make Sunday not only our Sabbath rest, but also our family day/relaxing day/ do nothing day. Any way you look at it, it was not an exciting venture. But focusing in on the whole we're supposed to keep the Sabbath idea... On the way home from church that day, I explained to the kids we had to go out shopping after nap time. Noah, our oldest, made a comment on the fact that it was Sunday and we were supposed to stay home. I explained to the kids the story in the New Testament where the farmer has to rescue his ox if it falls in the ditch on the Sabbath, that he can't wait until the next day to do it. It's a real need. And the washing machine was a real need for us.

Feeling good about my brief theological study, I ended the lesson by asking Elijah (the 4 year old) if he understood. He responded with a quizzical look on his face as he said "So, we have to go buy an ox to wash our clothes?"

Evidently, I need a little work on my exposition!