A few years ago, a good friend of mine took his three-year-old daughter, Amy, to her first circus. Before the event her father tried his best to describe the exciting atmosphere of the big top. She asked lots of questions along the way. Would she get to pet the elephant? Could she swing on the trapeze? Would the clowns come and talk to her? The night before, she could hardly sleep. She woke her parents ...

Crazy things happen to our sense of judgment when we get angry.

In February 2009, a 27-year-old woman from Fort Pierce, Florida, walked into a McDonald's restaurant and ordered a 10-piece McNuggets meal. You know how it is when you're hungry and you have a taste for something particular. Your imagination starts working and you can almost taste those McNuggets now.

Well, that's when things got really ...

Win a Date with Tad Hamilton is a romantic comedy set in the rural town of Frazier's Bottom, West Virginia. Tad Hamilton is a Hollywood heartthrob whose movie career hits an unexpected snag when the media begins to expose his less-than-honorable exploits off camera. In an attempt to restore his image, Tad's manager and agent concoct a brilliant marketing scheme. They come up with a fund-raising contest ...

The first funeral I ever conducted was for a beautiful three-year-old. She was the first child born to a couple in our church, and the first grandchild in their extended family. Unfortunately, she was spoiled. While visiting the little girl's home one day, I observed that she loved to ignore her parents' instructions. When they told her to come, she went. When they said, "sit down," she stood up. ...

We had recently moved from Tennessee to Mississippi. Our four-year-old son, Jeep, came home from church one Sunday, excited about the Sunday school lesson. "My teacher taught us all about the whales," he announced.

"You mean Jonah and the whale?" my wife asked.

"No," he said, "Jacob and the whales."

"I think it was Jonah," my wife corrected. "He was swallowed by a whale in the ocean."

But Jeep knew his ...

Worship brings all kinds of responses, as I observed in church recently. An elderly woman was standing with eyes closed and hands raised in prayer and praise. The three-year-old standing in the pew in front of her turned around and gave her a high-five!

I was the new teacher for the toddler-age Sunday school class, which included my 14-month-old daughter. During a lesson on creation, I'd ask questions like, "Who made the trees?" or "Who made the sun?" and the children would respond, "God did." I was pleased the children learned quickly that God made everything.

Teaching lessons at home was more of a challenge. I had tried hard to teach my daughter ...

Each Sunday our minister presents a "children's sermon" to all the young children. Recently a bright-eyed three-year-old girl listened intently as he explained that God wanted them all to get along and love each other. "God wants us all to be one," he said. To which the little girl replied, "But I don't want to be one. I want to be four!"

For two months before her third birthday, our daughter Sandie said, "I'm going to have a party" countless times a day. When the great event was finally over Sandie still told everyone, "I had a party." After several weeks, we finally told her not to talk about the party any more. For one whole day, no mention was made. But as I tucked her into bed that night she prayed, "Dear God, I had a birthday ...

During a long and losing baseball game, the restless 12-year-old players were questioning Ritchie, their assistant coach, about his attractive younger sister. Annoyed at the idle chatter, the head coach hollered, "When you're in the dugout, talk baseball!"

After a moment's silence, a young voice began, "So, Ritchie, does your sister play baseball?"