n “Front Porch Tales: Warm-Hearted Stories of Family, Faith, Laughter, and Love” (HarperCollins Publishers, 2001), Philip Gulley writes with humor about his childhood and growing up in a small town. There’s a laugh for you on almost every page as he recounts events and interesting people in his life.

Yet, he imparts wisdom within his humorous tales. For example, he writes that “We do ourselves a disfavor when we expect family life to be ‘The Brady Bunch’ revisited. Truth is, most of our families lurch from one mess to another.”

In one of his home-spun tales, he points out that parenting is one of the things that seldom turns out the way we plan it. You’ll love Gulley’s response to his mom after his child threw a tantrum to get what he wanted and Gulley’s mom warned him that there’s no telling where a child who is allowed to behave that way will end up.

And you’ll chuckle when you read about his neighbor’s cat using up its ninth life.

In addition to the family-oriented stories, you’ll want to read why his wife bought handcuffs, what happened when the tree went crashing, why he thinks he’s better off than his wealthy cousin, taking inventory, the Wizard of Is, and many other humorous, enlightening tales.

But more than the humor, Gulley, a Quaker pastor, applies Christian principles in each of the short essays as well as many quotes from the Bible to make a real point of his stories. For instance, in one tale he describes how long it took him to build a kitchen table and why such a process can’t be rushed. He then ties that to God’s handiwork in shaping, smoothing and finishing to make a Christian’s life a thing of beauty.

The stories in Gulley’s book are both humorous and inspirational. Only about 170 pages and not much bigger than the size of your hand, the book is a quick read — which is a good thing, because you won’t want to put it down. (If you need sleep, don’t start reading it just before you go to bed; the hilarious stories will keep you turning the pages for more.)

Paul Harvey, Jr. describes Gulley’s words as drawing us into a world not often seen in today’s turbulent high-tech times. Although published in 2001, the book is still available in some stores and at many Web sites selling books. “Front Porch Tales,” one of more than 14 books authored by Gulley, is a “must” for your home library. And it makes a great Christmas gift for your friends and loved ones — or for yourself.