If you remember from last time… I won’t hold it against you if you don’t remember last time. I’m sure you have a lot of things to remember, and my articles are way down your list of things to remember.

So, regardless of whether you remember or not, I made the executive decision last time to step away from personal stories and spend a while looking at what I think are some of the funniest, even most hilarious, stories in the Bible. Please know, I am not trying to be sacrilegious. So, if at any point you are offended by any of this, feel free to apologize to me, and I will gladly accept your apology.

I want to call your attention to a story that is found in Luke 2:41-46. Here’s a short recap. Joseph and Mary and Jesus and part of the family had been to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. When the feast was over, Joseph, Mary and part of the family started back home. They had traveled for a day when they discovered Jesus was not with them.

The Scripture does not say which parent made this discovery. But I’m betting on Mary. Here’s why. Joseph was probably busy looking at his phone to get the latest scores from ESPN. Ok… Joseph was probably not doing that. But like most men, I suspect he was distracted. So, I still think Mary noticed first.

If you play out that scenario for a bit, think about that initial conversation between Mary and Joseph. Undoubtedly Mary must have said to Joseph, “Do you know where Jesus is?” Joseph, probably caught off guard just a bit may have said, “In my heart?” And Mary would have just stared at her husband.

If you think about it Mary and Joseph lost the Son of God. That’s a pretty big deal. I suspect she must have had plenty to say to Joseph on the trip back to Jerusalem. It may have sounded a lot like what I have often heard from my wife: “I gave you one thing to do… just one thing.” (I hear that often when I get back from a Wal Mart run to pick up a couple of things and bring back five sacks full of stuff but not the two things I was supposed to get).

But I have digressed. I suspect it was a long trip back to Jerusalem to find Jesus. But we shouldn’t be too hard on those young parents. God is the only perfect parent. The rest of us have different degrees of struggles with parenting which means we aren’t perfect. Maybe the best thing to do is work not on being a perfect parent but on being a better parent.

I don’t know if you have ever lost or misplaced one of your kids before. If you did and it was an accident, don’t be too hard on yourself. I don’t think I ever actually did that but there was more than once I may have considered giving both of ours boys away to anybody willing to take them. Oddly enough, no one would ever take them. I guess the word was out about the Ligon boys.