Intro / Hook – Personal Story + Cultural Observation

So Dennis came to stay with us before he preached last time.

He’s a great guy. Loves the Lord. Speaks at churches.

We love Dennis.

But also… we routinely mess with him.

Not maliciously. Just… as a family pastime.

For instance:

• The clocks in our house? Never the same time.
• The oven says 6:48.
• The microwave says 7:03.
• We’ve got one clock that just doesn’t even work.
• One clock is still on Daylight Saving Time from 2022.

Dennis asked what time it was and I was like, “Emotionally or physically?”

• Then one time, Jessica put fake roach stickers on the baseboards.
• Just casually.
• I can still hear him: “What are we doing here?”
• This particular visit… Dennis goes into the bathroom…and discovers that not a single light in there works.
  • Every. Light. Bulb. Dead. Our fixture has four of them.
  • So he’s in this completely dark bathroom, just kind of… feeling around.
  • He’s like did you know all the lights are out…. What do you say, I’m a grown man. I’m not going to say no…. So i was trying to figure out a reason…
  • Escape Room? Sensory Deprivation Chamber?
• And the best part? My kids never told us.
  • They just… adjusted.
  • They were like, “Yeah, it’s dark….. That’s just how it is now.”
  • They had adapted to the dark.
  • Like darkness is just a season of life.
  • Like it’s autumn or something.
  • “We’re in our no-light era, Dad.”
• Not fought it. Not fixed it. Just made peace with it.They had accepted the darkness.