short stories Archives - Tony Funderburk

I’ve shared the story before how my younger brother and I lived with my grandparents, my dad’s parents, for a little while. This was way back closer to the middle of the last century. In Norman, Oklahoma. And my parents were getting divorced. So my dad made sure my brother and I had a stable home to stay in while they went through the process. And that’s where I first learned about peach preserves, as well as other kinds of fruit preserves. But peach preserves stand out above the rest. And I’ll tell you why. Because I’m a peachy kinda guy. OK, that’s not the real reason. True, but not the real reason. The real reason I remember, peach preserves, even more than the rest is because of my Grandmother’s peach cobbler and a little story she and I share. One time, as she was making one of her peach cobblers from scratch, she gave me one of the peach pits. And she told me to open it up and find the seed. Being the highly curious five year-old boy I was, I did that. I remember thinking how the pit felt like wood. And it even had sort of a crisscross lattice look. So, I was certainly surprised to find a somewhat soft seed inside the “wooden” pit. “Grandmother,” I blurted out. “Look! I found it!” “Do you know what that seed can turn into?” she asked. “No. What?” I replied. She said, “Take this old spoon outside and dig a small hole and plant that seed inside it and then cover it up with the dirt.” So, that’s exactly what I did. And that was that. At least that’s all there was to it for almost another 20 years. But it was about that many years that I was back at their house as an adult, with a lot of extended family, celebrating my grandparents 50th anniversary. And you know how it goes. The three sons, one of which was my dad, brought the families, and each family brought some goodies. So, plenty of good food, relative, seeing each other for the first time in a while, and one particularly delightful treat for me. Right there on the kitchen counter was a cobbler made with homemade peach preserves. As I was serving up a slice for myself, Grandmother came in and asked me how I liked it. Of course, I said I loved it. And she said, “Would you believe I got the peaches from that tree right out there in the yard where you planted a seed when you were a little boy?” I thought that was so cool. Still do. And I doubt that I’ll ever forget that story. What brought it to mind for me today was a line from the second letter. Paul wrote to his protégé, Timothy. It made me think about what God does that. Nobody deserves. He sort of makes us into some peachy preserves. Here’s the line from Paul’s letter: And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. That’s what I wish for you and me today. And here’s some more of… What I Wish There are people of the past And people of today… They’re standing in lines, And they’re passing away. But let’s not talk about that. Let’s go and find some fun… Burn our candles at both ends… Let our wild sides run. We don’t wanna hear it. We don’t wanna know why… ‘Cause then maybe we’ll feel near it, And we’ll break down and cry. Oh, I wish our world was better.I wish our world was fair.I wish we’d get together And end the grief out there.Yes, I wish our world was perfect. And I wish our world was sane. I wish there was no hatred Or quest for earthly gain… That’s what I wish. There are innocent children Who were living on dreams. Now their dreams have exploded Blown apart at the seams. And they look to their mothers And their fathers for help. But their parents can’t help them ‘Cause they can’t help themselves. We don’t want to hear it. We don’t want to know where… Just as long as it’s not us… Who are we to care? Oh, I wish our world was better.>I wish our world was fair.>I wish we’d get together And end the grief out there.Yes, I wish our world was perfect. And I wish our world was sane. I wish there was no hatred Or quest for earthly gain… That’s what I wish.   © 1988 Get Tony’s Daily Devotional delivered to your inbox for free. I share it with believers who want to focus on the power of God’s love and rightly divide the word of truth. Spend your time reading, listening, and watching good stuff based on the power of God’s love instead of looking for it. And, to show my sincere appreciation for your time and attention, I’ll send you download links to music and The Very First 6 Days (a rhyming book for kids about the creation week) right away. Kids from 3 to 103 can enjoy these fun goodies. Just add your email to the form and let’s connect right away. The form can be filled in the actual website url. Stay tuned, The post Peach preserves and what no one deserves appeared first on Tony Funderburk.

There are lots of bad guys (and that includes the female part of “guys” too) out there everyday. You can’t swing a metal jump rope without hittin’ at least one. In fact, I could tell you a story, three stories in fact, that happened one after another on three consecutive nights way back in the 20th century. Well, I’ll just share the short version of the first one. I was beaten by a motorcycle gang. Yep. True story. A group of them arrived at a place where I worked, and I had been advised to let them know they wouldn’t be allowed in. The establishment had a dress code. And, as you might imagine, the bikers didn’t come close to meeting the standard. They didn’t like being told to leave. And they started to, let’s say, “raise some cane.” One thing led to another, and I found myself locked outside with no other workmates. And the biker dudes threw me on the hood of a VW and commenced to pound the daylights out of me. I knew I couldn’t take them on, so I just rolled onto my belly and protected my face and head as much as possible. After what felt like too long, I heard sirens, and they hopped on their hawgs and took off. Workers opened the front door after hearing the sirens and motorcycle engines. And they found me lying on the sidewalk. Of course, the management saw the huge swollen spots on my face and rushed me to a nearby hospital to be checked out. Fortunately I ended up with only minor cuts, bruises, and a concussion. That was just the first night. Remind me to tell you what happened the next two nights. But bad stuff ain’t all. There’s something else out there everyday, too. The Way to be alert and aware. The Way to be prepared to avoid all, or at least most, of the baddies out there everyday. And the Way to get wiser and not just smarter. Since too many good guys don’t have a clue how to properly handle bad guys, it’s a good idea for YOU to learn how to discern. And that’s just a fancy word that means figger some things out. But never worry. Never fear. Because, as I said, your Way is here. Or at least the Way is a close as your bookshelf, table, or even your phone. That’s where I go when I need or want to know more about how to handle bad guy stuff. Here’s how it works: When you wear the full armor of God, You’ll be ready when the enemies attack. You can’t see ’em, but beware, they are out there everywhere. But with God’s help you can always fight them back. Take a second and join the growing body of believers who’ve already signed up for the Tony’s Daily Devotional . And, to show my sincere appreciation for your time and attention, I’ll send you download links to 2 of my books and 2 songs, right away, that grownups AND kids can enjoy. Then, I’ll do my best to encourage you to sing a new song with the power of God’s love. Stay tuned, The post Out there everyday so stay in the Way appeared first on Tony Funderburk.

Maybe you think of “A Christmas Story” when I share the term, BB gun. Or maybe you remember wanting one yourself once upon a time. Hopefully you’re not a scaredy cat who’s triggered (pun definitely intended) by any use of the word gun. Whatever you think of, I’ve got a funny story about a goofy BB gun. Once or twice upon a time Dad brought home a pellet rifle, he’d found during his workday, and gave it to my younger brother and me. OK, you probably think, “Tony, you’re supposed to be telling a BB gun story. What’s that got to do with a pellet rifle?” Gosh, aren’t you the little detective? Sure, I know the two guns aren’t the same. But they are the same KIND. Because they both use air to fire off the ammo. Anyway… Dad had to work on the little rifle’s pump and trigger to get it to work well enough to use. And he did a great job because the gun worked just right after he finished. He even bought us a box of pellets. And we had some target practice for a few days till the pellets ran out. Then, my brother and I took a quick bike trip to the sporting goods store nearby to get some more. But we discovered something extremely important. BB’s were a lot cheaper than pellets. And we figured since an air rifle can shoot either one, we’d go for the BB’s. And the only problem would be how to aim and shoot. As long as we aimed at something straight across or up no problem. But we couldn’t shoot at anything that was down. Because, after loading a single BB in the barrel, it would just roll back out if it was pointed down. Kinda silly. Right? Yeah, but hey. We saved who knows how many pennies by buying BB’s. So, it was totally worth it. And for a lot of the shooting we did, we could make do. One time, during a bike and hike journey into the wilderness, we took the BB gun to get some practice shooting at bugs and limbs and other stuff. The wilderness was just some land that followed the path of a bayou down in South Texas. We had plenty of BB’s. And a couple of our buddies came with us. We all had a blast. And we were probably out there for a few hours. But, as young boys often do, we all got hungry and knew it was time to go home. My brother discovered his bike had a flat. I told him I’d watch it for him, after one of our friends offered to give him a ride home to get a tire patching kit. So, he jumped on the bike with his buddy and they rode across the trail. When they were about 75 yards away, I got a crazy notion to just aim the BB gun in the air and shoot in their direction. In my young mind of mush I had pictured the BB landing in the dirt somewhere just to spook ’em. But wouldn’t you know? (I sure wouldn’t.) The BB fell out of the air and hit my brother on his neck. It wasn’t flying fast enough to break his skin. But I know it stung. Because he flew off the bike, turned around and saw me, and started running back at me yelling bloody murder. If you were ever an older brother, or if you’re one now, you know how hard it would be to not laugh. Darn near impossible. But if you were ever the younger brother, or you’re one now, you can probably remember the frustration (and pain) of dealing with an older, bigger brother. Ah, good times. OK, the morals of this story are: Don’t turn a pellet rifle into a BB gun Make sure you have a bike tire patch kit, especially if you’re a younger brother Never fire any kind of gun in the direction of someone you don’t intend to hurt Make sure your loved ones know you love them (because crazy things happen in life) Well, there you go. An epic story of adventure from back when epic stories of adventure happened daily. Hope you enjoyed it. If you say no, I’ll go see if I still have some BB’s around here somewhere. Take a second and join the growing body of believers who’ve already signed up for the Tony’s Daily Devotional . And, to show my sincere appreciation for your time and attention, I’ll send you download links to 2 of my books and 2 songs, right away, that grownups AND kids can enjoy. Then, I’ll do my best to encourage you to sing a new song with the power of God’s love. Stay tuned, The post BB gun wasn’t fun when the exploring was done appeared first on Tony Funderburk.