Suspended in Disbelief

           Sunday at church, St. Bob—who sits on the stand up front, as one of the leaders—darted right down to me after the service.

          “Come with me,” he said. And he seemed serious.

          He led me to the tiny Family History room.  The sister missionaries wanted to put their bicycles in there, but he held them off. “Just five minutes,” he said, and closed the door.

          What surprise could he possibly be hiding?

          He began taking off his suit coat.

          “What on earth are you doing?” I gasped. Surely he didn’t think this was an appropriate place—”

          “My suspenders have come off in the back,” he said. “I need you to put them on again for me.”

          Oh, good heavens!

          “My pants nearly fell down,” he whispered.

          I remembered our eldest son as a child, once saying, “It’s okay if your pants fall down. You can always pull them back up.”  But I decided this wasn’t what Bob needed to hear just now.

          He’d begun wearing suspenders about a year ago when he discovered how much more comfy it was than a belt. I happily snapped them onto his pants in the back and he slipped back into his suit coat.

          We opened the door so the missionary girls could stow their bikes there, and saw their wide eyes. Now I’m REALLY glad I didn’t laugh out loud when I learned about Bob’s suspender emergency.

My book, A Little Christmas Prayer, is the perfect Christmas gift. Sometimes it takes a child to raise a village, and this tale teaches anyone, of any faith, the magic of gratitude. All my books and Youtube Mom videos can be found at jonihilton.com.