It was just a few days before Christmas. Two men who were next-door neighbors decided to go sailing while their wives went Christmas shopping. While they were out in their sailboat a storm blew up. The sea grew angry and they had a hard time keeping the boat under control. As they maneuvered toward safe harbor, they hit a sandbar and the boat grounded. They jumped over and tried to push with all their might, trying to get the boat afloat.

With his feet knee deep in mud, the waves pounding him against the boat, the wind whipping his hair about wildly and his heart pounding from the effort, one man said to the other (with a knowing grin on his face), “This sure beats Christmas shopping, doesn’t it?”

Source: James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, p. 86.