What's Up Wednesday --- May 21st

Jen's grandpa went to be with the Lord on Sunday. It was sad to see him go, but a relief to know he is no longer suffering. We got to pray and sing over him soon before his death.

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. --- 1 Thessalonians 4:13

I found out I was recommended as one of the final 2 candidates that has been interviewing with the church back in PA. The head pastor and his wife will be flying to Ashland to meet with Jen and I for 3 days next month. (This is not a picture of the church...it is much larger with a membership of around 1,600).

I am excited to get back to the detention home this Sunday and spend time with the kids and do the church service. Pray especially for Tyler who ever week mentions he is losing hope. He has been there for several months and for the past 3 months none of his family has come to visit him even though they all live in town.

As a follow-up to Magical Monday (thanks for all the e-mails!)...here is the rest of the story...

Every magic course I have ever taken teaches the same philosophy, "A mistake is never a mistake unless you let the audience know". I have always taught my assistants this philosophy and if something goes wrong during the show...the audience doesn't know...always play it like it was supposed to happen that way and try to get a laugh out of it.

So from the box I told Amy, "tell some jokes"....and I couldn't hear what she was saying, but the audience was laughing (Amy is one of the former assistants that was a professional actress). In the lid of the box was a 1 inch hole to allow air and light. So I raised the key through the hole and called for Amy. The audience went nuts thinking it was part of the trick and cheering. Unfortunately the key was still on the key ring which wouldn't fit through the hole. Amy said, "You want me to pull a 4 inch key chain through a 1 inch hole...I'm not the magician" and the audience burst into laughter again. I took the key off the ring and pushed it up to Amy. The audience cheered like we had done the greatest trick ever, and little did they know it was all a mistake.

So did we continue to perform the trick this way on purpose? NO WAY!!! Every audience is different, and I think we were really lucky on this particular night.