My mother never stops talking about Jesus. But in this true story, the boy’s mother never lets him tell her about Jesus.
At camp every year, the worship leader Cal always tells this story about a boy he met one year at camp. The boys’ friend invited him one day to Vacation Bible School. That day was the first time he had ever heard about Jesus.
At home his mother had a little song that she always sang to get her son to do his chores. And this is how it goes:
Will ya, won’t ya, ain’t ya gonna,
If I coax ya, won’t ya wanta,
Aww come on, ya said ya would,
Why don’t ya, wanta do the trash,
Shoo be do whop! Ohhh!
After camp, he asked his mother if he could tell her about his day. Unfortunately, she said how about tonight after she finished washing the dishes. The boy agreed and didn’t think about it all day.
Eventually, he remembered and asked her again. Once again, she said it was not a good time. The boy moped back into bed, still waiting to tell his mother about his day.
Days go by which turned into months, and months turned into years. In the meantime, he forgot to tell his mother about camp. Finally, he remembered and asked his mother to talk. Once again, she rescheduled it for another time.
The same routine continues for years. Eventually, the boy becomes a man and has moved out of his mother’s house. The day of camp is still long forgotten.
One day, he gets a phone call from his father. He learns that his mother is in the hospital and she might not have a lot of time to live. The man packs up some of his things and quickly goes to the hospital to visit his mother .
When they arrived, he finally remembered he hadn’t told his mom about camp. He quickly thinks of how he can tell his mother about Jesus before it’s too late. Finally, he had a solution and sang to his mom:
Will ya, won’t ya, ain’t ya gonna,
If I coax ya, won’t ya wanta,
Aww come on, ya said ya would,
Why don’t ya, wanta talk about Jesus,
Shoo be do whop! Ohhh!
Then, his mother said, “Why don’t we talk about Jesus.”
The mother and son talked for hours. By the time he left, she had accepted Jesus. Later in the day, the mother passed away. At least we know she loved Jesus - shoo be do whop!
That is a fun song and powerful story from camp! Great job, Alexa!
ReplyDeleteI don't know where the "Shoo be do whop! Ohhh!" came from, but the song was one written by and somewhat this story told by my old youth pastor Mark Hanson. This isn't quite the story, but close. It plays well either way. He sang the song frequently and told the story often (back in the 70's) at many an occassion, including camp-type settings, so it's not surprising it's still making the rounds.
ReplyDeleteMark Hanson sat under the teaching of Dr. John MacArthur at Grace Community Church in Panorama City, California until moving to Norwalk, California to be the Youth Pastor there. Later, he would become the senior pastor of that church for a time. He was only in his early twenties when he came to that church and where I first heard him tell this story.
As Paul Harvey would say, now you know the rest of the story. I think Mark should get his due credit for this song. By the way, there are more verses...
I just got back from Indian Hills Camp in Jamul, CA near San Diego as counselor at 6th grade camp. I was so excited when we this song several times during the week, but I couldn't remember the lyrics. Thanks for writing them down.
ReplyDelete~Nancy