By Greg Miller © 2019

“Today is here,” Mrs. Excitement exclaimed. “Let’s turn it into a great and wonderful day!”

 “Great would be fantastic!” Mr. Encouragement said. “Wonderful would be superb! But great and wonderful…that combination simply sounds too good to be true!”

“I’m going to be rejoice all day, because it will be great!” Mrs. Excitement promised.

“And I plan to ooze joy onto everyone I meet,” said Mr. Encouragement, “because today will be my most wonderful day ever.”

Mr. and Mrs. Endure had never known much excitement or encouragement. They had never experienced much of anything they considered wonderful or great. “If we can make it through the day without any major incidents, it’ll be a roaring success,” Mrs. Endure stated.

“You’re right,” said Mr. Endure. “Having too much wonderment or excitement will have to wait a few more years until we’re older.”

Mrs. Excitement was always on the lookout for more enthusiastic people with whom to share her life. One day, while walking through the supermarket, she observed Mr. and Mrs. Endure examining the fresh produce.

Mr. Endure was examining the firm texture of a large red tomato. “This tomato is a bit too hard for me,” he told Mrs. Endure.

Mrs. Endure examined the tomato, then replied, “And there are still some green spots here, so we should put it back in its place.”

Mr. Endure returned the tomato to its resting spot. He walked on down the aisle and stood in front of the lettuce. Feeling the outermost leaf of the nearest head of lettuce, Mr. Endure was pleasantly surprised. “Now this is what I call a nice head of lettuce,” he said.

Mrs. Endure felt the head of lettuce and immediately agreed with her husband. “Wow! What a luscious-looking head of lettuce!” she declared. “We can have a delicious salad for dinner this evening!”

Realizing they still needed a large tomato for their salad, Mr. and Mrs. Endure walked back to the tomato section. The couple realized they had been a bit hasty in their judgment of the tomato and, with great thanksgiving, added the tomato to their shopping cart.

Mrs. Excitement and Mr. Encouragement had both been eyeing the same tomato as had Mr. and Mrs. Endure and were disappointed that it was no longer available.

Mr. Encouragement snapped out of his temporary depression and declared, “That’s okay,” he grinned. “The Lord took the tomato away from me and gave it to Mrs. Endure. I thank the Lord that I played a small part in blessing her with the tomato. Besides, the one next to it was almost as big.”

He chuckled, “I think the Lord must have made sure that one was left just for me!”

To contact the writer of this column about speaking engagements (in the U.S.A.), including Christian Comedy Fundraising Outreaches, Christian Creativity Seminars and/or puppet ministry, please type “Speaking Engagements” in the subject line and e-mail [email protected] or [email protected].

By Greg Miller  2018

 Greg is retired from the Elizabethton STAR Newspaper, after working there for almost 23 years. He now freelances for the paper. Contact email address is [email protected], also facebook.com/kidcool4jesus. Available for speaking engagements/other ministries. Jesus is Lord