Have you heard the one about the dog, the wedding and the preacher’s wife? What about the church outhouse thieves?
Barbara Eubanks has heard them. In fact, she wrote them. And Eubanks, a pastor’s wife from Boaz, needs no convincing — God has a sense of humor.
Since retiring from 35 years of teaching English in May 2005, Eubanks has made it her mission to spread the gospel the best way she knows how — with the written word and with laughter.
“Writing was my forte,” said Eubanks, a graduate of Samford University in Birmingham. “I love teaching students to write … Somewhere down the line, I got the idea that it was good to write while they were writing, so I started jotting down these funny things that had happened.”
Eubanks said that 40 years of marriage to a preacher is all the comedy material she would ever need. Her husband, Steve Eubanks, is currently serving as interim pastor of New Heights Baptist Church, Albertville, in Marshall Baptist Association, where the two are members.
“I had all of these great stories, but I just didn’t know what I was going do with them,” she said.
Eubanks quickly found out. Her first book, “Humorous Happenings in Holy Places,” a collection of devotional anecdotes infused with lightheartedness, was released by Tate Publishing in December 2004.
In late 2006, the Christian publishing house released Eubanks’ second, slightly more solemn collection, “And the Angels Laughed: 101 Anecdotes and Devotionals.”
In addition to her newfound literary prolificness, she has, since retiring, tapped into an unbridled enthusiasm for the Christian speaking circuit, speaking at nearly 70 events since September 2005 and nearly that many scheduled into May 2008.
But Eubanks thinks her mission is worth the hectic pace of “retirement.”
“Our society just shows us all the bad stuff on the news — all the bad stuff all time,” she said. “I think [Christians] miss the point sometimes; we forget that God wants us to be happy.”
For Eubanks, a happy Christian is a good witness.
And Lori Elmore is one of those happy witnesses.
Friends since their days at Red Apple Baptist Church, Boaz, in Marshall Association, Elmore has made a habit out of gifting Eubanks books to anyone she thinks could use a good laugh.
“I’ve given [her books] to several people,” said Elmore, women’s ministry coordinator for Cottage Hill Baptist Church, Mobile, in Mobile Baptist Association. “They’re just wonderful for birthday presents. They’re very funny and down-to-earth but they’re also very inspirational.”
For books written by an author with the skill to spin an embarrassing moment like accidentally “mooning” the congregation into an analogy of basking in God’s glory a la Exodus 33, Elmore’s description of Eubanks’ work seems right on target.
“I feel like I’ve got a message, and I say that word carefully because I‘m not a preacher,” Eubanks said. “But nonetheless I feel like I have something to say to people, something to remind them that God wants them to be happy.”
For more information, visit www.barbaraeubanks.com.
Longtime Alabama pastor’s wife pens book about humorous happenings in church
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