Broken in church

[seapuppy]

A woman named Cindy stood up during her church's prayer request time one
Sunday morning, took the microphone from one of the church ushers, and bared
her soul to the enrapt congregation: "I want to tell you about the awful
accident that my husband, John, has suffered this past month. He was riding
his bike, lost control, ran off the highway and hit a tree. He was rushed
to the hospital, and could have died, but thank the Lord, all he suffered
was a broken scrotum."

The congregation gasped in horror. The men in the congregation were
obviously uneasy and writhed in their seats as she continued, "John has been
in terrible pain all month since the accident. He has trouble breathing. He
has trouble swallowing his food. He can hardly lift anything, he's in so
much pain, and he has missed work because of it. He can't lift our children
up to hold them and give them the personal love that they need. Worst of
all, we can no longer cuddle and have intimate relations. He is in constant
pain, a pain so terrible that our love life has all but slipped away into
oblivion. I would like to ask you all in the congregation to pray for John,
and pray for us, that his broken scrotum will soon heal and be as good as
new."

A dull murmur erupted within the congregation as the full impact of this
terrible accident sunk in, and the men in the congregation were visibly
shaken up with the thought that, "there, but for the grace of God!" Then,
as the murmuring settled down, a lone figure stood up in midst of the
congregation, worked his way up to the pulpit, obviously in pain, adjusted
the microphone to his liking, then leaned over and said to the congregation:

”My name is John, and I have only one word for my wife, Cindy. The word is:
STERNUM! I HAVE A BROKEN STERNUM."