Me: Do you remember from Sunday School what you need to do to get to heaven?
Dylan: You have to die!
Me: Oh, true . . . but there's something else you have to do before you die.
Dylan: Uhh . . . I don't remember.
Me: What do you have to ask Jesus to do before you die?
Dylan: Give you lots of money? That's what you have to do.

So there you have it. Apparently someone needs to pay more attention in Sunday School. Of course, this is the same kid who made two finger puppets in Sunday School and insisted they were Anakin and Luke Skywalker.

Dylan was dedicated at our church on Sunday, July 23, 2006. Both of his grandmothers were there to see the event..

You never know how your child is going to behave (or misbehave) during a public ceremony. Happily, Dylan was calm, content and quiet during his dedication. I think it helped that Sebastian was quite willing to run around behind Pastor Jeff or whereever else Dylan might have been facing so that he could get a good look at his brother.

At the conclusion of his dedication, Dylan received a certificate to match the one Sebastian got when he was dedicated a few years ago.

After church, Dylan was also treated to a few dedication presents from his grandmothers.

(Since this is a boringly-written post, I might toss up a brief video of the dedication, but no promises! If I do get it added, it will show up right here.)

Over the years, I have seen plenty of people open these booklets up and fold them backwards so that one of the inside pages is then the "cover." Apparently this is useful for paying attention to the order of service (if your church has one) or a particular announcement. I have even seen people fold the bulletins in half horizontally in order to drape them over the pew in front of them, for the purpose of reading the chorus/hymn lyrics.

When it comes to books (and, yes, booklets), I'm very particular. I don't like messing with the spine on books particularly, but this preference translates to booklets as well. I avoid folding my bulleting incorrectly at all costs. In fact, I'm one of those people who, when folding pieces of papers in half, takes the time to very carefully make sure that each set of corners matches up perfectly, and I cringe when I receive a folded paper that is clearly asymmetrical.

So, on Sunday, when I showed the order of service to someone, they folded my bulletin backwards and handed it back to me. Of course, I gasped — not because it bothered me, but because I knew that this person was also the type of person who had to have everything just so . . . but apparently, he either let loose this day or his anal retentiveness doesn't translate to church bulletins.

I can hear you asking, "Why are you ranting about this? Are you really this petty?" To answer your second question: Yes, I am that petty, but that's not why I'm "ranting" about this. I really don't care, except for the fact that this person followed his action up with "I'm sure I'll read all about it on your blog." I assured them that they would. Mission accomplished.

Some stories don't have a moral, or even a purpose.

This post was originally posted at The Smarmy Carny, Novac's general blog.