Winchester, ID small church at Christmas
Ever Heard of a Karimption? Western Slang Devotional by Stephen Bly
Old Jack Ferguson had a special role in our church. He counted the folks who attended the worship service. But he didn’t bother with exact numbers. He had three western slang rankings: funeral size, Sunday rodeo comfort, or karimption.
A funeral size crowd fills all the pews with chairs set up in the back. A few folks stand near the doors and windows. A big attendance.
If it’s a Sunday rodeo comfort count, that’s a medium gathering. There’s still enough room for everyone to scrunch around, even spread out some.
Then there’s the karimption. To the old-time cowhands, a karimption is a bunch…a squad…a small crowd.
Well, some Sundays we had a western slang karimption crowd.
Ten Cities or Small Town Church
One such Sunday I sat in the front pew, singing some chorus, and talking to the Lord about the few attenders. I kept thinking about the Bible verse that goes, “Well done, my good servant!” And then the master replied, “Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities” (Luke 19:17).
I was more or less telling Him that any time he wanted to move me to take charge of those ten cities, I was ready.
Well, it seemed like the Lord told me, “How do you know whether this is the small thing…or the ten cities?”
Stephen Bly 2010
I protested. I told Him that surely this little karimption of ours had to be considered a small thing.
Then He seemed to say, “I’ve done some of my best work when the crowd was quite small. Now, let’s see how well you do!”
That’s when it dawned on me that there’s no such thing as a small crowd when the Lord is present. I think old Jack was wrong. It wasn’t a karimption after all. Fifty folks and the Lord sitting up front…all of a sudden, I couldn’t think of a more exciting group to preach to.
Copyright©1994
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WESTERN WISDOM “Karimption” audio podcast by award-winning western author Stephen Bly. Sponsored by BlyBooks.com Legacy Series.
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