Category: Children’s Story

Two Birds and a Frog

“There was once a frog who lived in a pond. But, poor frog, his pond was drying up. If he didn’t find water soon he would die. The frog heard of a stream just over the hill that was full of lots of water.

If only he could get there.  But, how could he? His short frog legs could not carry him so far away.

So the frog came up with an idea. He convinced 2 birds to carry either end of a stick then he would put his mouth around the stick in the middle and hold on tight until the birds flew him over to the other side.  Smart thinking Frog!

As they flew in the air, everything was going well. He had good jaws and was able to hold on tight. It was a pretty strange thing to see — two birds and a frog flying through the air.

Looking down, they saw a cow in a pasture. The cow was pretty impressed at what he saw in the sky and yelled up to them “Now, who came up with that idea?”

The frog heard the question and couldn’t resist replying “I diiiiiiid” as he fell from the sky.”   Author unknown

I told this story at church during children’s story time a few years back. The moral? Sometimes we let pride get in the way and suffer unfortunate consequences.

You see, it was the frog’s pride that made him open his mouth. It was his idea and he wanted to make sure the cow knew it. But it required 3 of them to make the idea work and his thoughts were only of himself.

“Pride goes before destruction; a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18

 

 

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The Boy Who Burned Himself

He was 10 years old.  He liked to run and play in the mud.  So many things to explore.

One day, as his Mama was cooking in the kitchen, he sat to watch her.  Stir, stir, stir.  A big pot of his favorite stew was on the stovetop.

“Can I have a taste?”  he asked.

“You have to wait until it’s on the table.  The stovetop gets very hot and you mustn’t come near it,” Mama said.  She had said this to him many times and he had always obeyed.

So the little boy continued watching his Mama.  When Mama went to the pantry to get some spices, he pulled his chair up close to the stovetop and leaned up against it.

“Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!  The scream from the kitchen could be heard miles away.

The little boy had reached into the pot to taste the stew but instead the whole pot had fallen on him.  With tears streaming down her face, Mama rushed the little boy to the hospital.  “It will be okay,” she assured him.

Once there, the hospital staff took care of the burns that the little boy had. But he was never the same again.  Even though Mama took care of him and reassured him that everything would be okay, the scars on his body were a reminder that he had disobeyed.

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How often we make mistakes in our lives.  We want to be able to think for ourselves and say “this was my decision.”  Good or bad.  We don’t follow the direction of the One who loves us most.  The One who knows that the cooktop is hot and we mustn’t go near it.

This morning’s devotional lesson in the book of Genesis reminds me how we came to be in our current state.

“The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.  Genesis 3:2-4

And they died.  Every day, a little at a time.

All around them, scars of their disobedience — nature, once a friend, now an enemy with thorns, earthquakes, floods.  And people — dishonest, betraying, seeking their own, unloving.

But like Mama in the story, God sits and heals our wounds and tells us “it will be okay.”

“Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  Revelation 21:1-4

It will be okay.  We are promised.

 

 

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The Girl and the Rabbit

I had lived in my neighborhood for awhile when new people moved in next door.

A little girl, shy and mostly withdrawn, would come out to play sometimes with her funny looking rabbit.

Every day, I would watch them play from a distance.

I felt myself drawn towards them and one day I introduced myself.  The rabbit stood behind the little girl as I said my pleasantries.    The little girl explained that she had had the rabbit since he was just a baby.

As I watched them play, the little girl didn’t seem to know or care that the rabbit was following her.  Every time she picked the rabbit up to cuddle him, he would smile a big smile and let out a loud giggle.

As time went on, I tried to get close to the rabbit when the little girl wasn’t paying attention to him.  At first, he was reluctant to have anything to do with me.  After awhile, he got used to my voice and I got used to the funny sounds he made as he hopped through the grass.

Hop, hop the rabbit went — through the bushes and trees inspecting each one as if he had never seen one before.

But the rabbit never lost sight of the little girl while exploring.

His curiosity made mine even stronger as I always wondered what he would be exploring next.

Soon the rabbit and I were spending time together in the garden.  He would smell the flowers and then I would smell the flowers.  It was different exploring things with the rabbit than when I  explored them by myself.

Hop, hop the rabbit went.

Now he was checking to see if I was keeping up with him.  I was.

Such enjoyment he showed in such simple things.

The only thing lacking was the little girls’ attention.  She would hardly ever pick him up and cuddle him and he so wanted that to be so.

One could see the pleading in his eyes.  But the little girl did not notice.  Or, if she did, she just didn’t feel like doing anything about it.

One day, the little girl said that they were moving.  I felt sad and wondered what playmate I might now have if the rabbit went away.  I had none at home until the rabbit came along.

The days dragged on with me not knowing when the rabbit would move away.

During this time, the little girl started spending more time with the rabbit.  She seemed to want him close by now.  He seemed happier and his hops were bigger and his giggles louder.

I see less of the rabbit now but remember everything I learned of flowers and trees and bushes.

The day finally came when the rabbit and the little girl were to move away.  She held the rabbit in her arms as they waved goodbye.  I felt sad and happy at the same time.

Now the rabbit had what he had been looking for — the love of the little girl.

I later learned that the rabbit lived to a ripe old age.

The End.

Can’t remember when I wrote this story but it was quite awhile back as the paper is worn and it was in a Spanish Bible I had on my bookshelf that I haven’t looked at in years.

Hope you enjoy it.

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