"That Hat!" and Other Stories

I thought I would share a photo with you of a new hat that I recently received as a gift.  It is sure to brighten your day!

My husband, Joe, explained the hat to me.  It was made up north in Ghana where it is hotter than it is here.  (That is hard to imagine - "hotter than here!") People working in the fields wear them as an "air-conditioning" system.  There is a normal straw hat underneath all of that which protects the head from the sun.  The straw sticking up catches any wind and cools the head as the sun is beating down.

A few months ago, there was a group of visiting pastors and laymen from the States. We had them over for supper one night. Just after the group arrived for supper, Danny walked outside carrying a big glass of water. Just as he got out where everybody else was, he tripped and spilled his whole cup of water down the front of one of man's pants. Danny came inside and sheepishly said, "Mom, I accidentally spilled my water on a man." After supper and dessert, we all went inside because the bugs start to come out as it starts to get dark. We had several plastic chairs for people to sit in. One man was sitting in his chair when two of the legs suddenly gave way. As he was lying on the floor in pain, Bonnie marched over there with her hands on her hips to tell him, "You'll have to buy another chair!" She knew that Gilbert had to buy a new chair when he broke his chair at school; so, she thought that man needed to buy a new chair too. The other men thought it was a great photo opportunity.

Cynthia Pape, her husband Chad, and their four children are missionaries in Northern Dominican Republic. Deputation was a great learning experience for the Pape family. One of the lessons Cynthia learned was to laugh instead of taking things too seriously. One time, her boys were throwing a football around in a church parking lot and almost decapitated the pastor. Another time, her son Steven told the church people that they lived in their car; the people were so concerned! Cynthia blogs at papes2dr.blogspot.com if you would like to follow along.

If you have a language blooper or some other funny story that you would like to share with us, please e-mail it to me at loconsford@gmail.com. Please include the name of each family member, your field of service, and a picture of your family if possible.

Until next week, keep your sunny side up!