His mom said he was an ugly baby

Betty Lukens pictureSeveral months ago we were given the opportunity to buy a Betty Lukens flannel graph set for a great price. There was a missionary family that was going to be coming to town and they are a retailer for the wonderful picture set. We were buying a small set from them and another missionary family was buying a large set. The family that was selling them would bring them in for us so that we would not have to pay unreasonable amounts for shipping. Their trip got postponed and we had to wait for our flannel graph sets.

However, they did come this week to teach a class in a local church on how to teach children’s classes. It was a great 8 hours worth of classes. I am really glad I was able to attend. The couple who taught the classes have over 40 years of experience in children’s ministry. Not only did they teach “how,” but more importantly they taught “why.” I have always been impressed by people who have a philosophy for what they do. It is not just a set of rules, but guiding principles, that if you keep them in perspective, will help you build your own set of dos and don’ts.

The husband was illustrating how to teach a Bible story and he chose the first part of the life of Moses. The Bible says that Moses “was a goodly child.” My Spanish Bible says he was a beautiful child. The whole idea is that he was a good looking baby.

The missionary telling the story stopped and asked the audience if they had ever seen an ugly baby. Of course, everyone obligingly said “no.” Then he said, “I have seen an ugly baby.” All the men laughed and the women were shocked that he would even say that. Then he continued by saying that his second son was an ugly baby. The women were even more shocked.

I happened to be sitting by the speaker’s wife. I leaned over and made a comment about my sister being the ugliest baby in the world (before you blast me, I don’t have a sister). The wife then laughed and said, “Our son really was an ugly baby!”

He must have really been a sight if even his mother admits that he was ugly. They claim he has grown up to be a handsome man though. Sure, like I believe that.