A Cheerful Servant

ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL DAY dawned on the Roughington Farm and all the young animals scampered about the barn playing tag. Ellen, a woolly lamb, giggled as she chased after Josh the squirrel who lived in the walnut tree by the red barn. All eight of the calico cat’s kittens joined in the fun along with Sam one of Ishee’s piglets who had squeezed under the pigpen fence.
“You can’t get me!” Josh cried as he climbed up a wooden beam far out of Ellen’s reach.
“That’s not fair, Josh, I can’t climb up there.” Ellen gazed up where Josh sat laughing.
Ellen turned her attention to a different animal and ran as fast as her stubby legs could carry her. She panted and baaed as she ran in circles trying to tag one of the kittens.
“Just stay still you, silly kittens.” She gasped.
Sam oinked and grunted in laughter as he watched Ellen go round and round. “Here Ellen I’ll give you a rest.”
Ellen walked over and tagged Sam and the fun began again. Sam charged after the other animals as fast as his little feet could go laughing as he ran. All the other animal children laughed and squealed along with him.
“Oh, Sam!” Sam stopped in his tracks when he heard his mother call him. “Come here, Sam, I’ve got a job for you.”
Sam huffed. “I’ve got to go guys.” The little piglet shuffled out the barn door and toward the pigpen.
“Why does Ma always have to ruin all my fun?” He complained aloud.
He rounded the bend and slipped under the fence. “What, Ma?” He asked.
Ishee wattled up to Sam, “I need you to take this basket of acorns to the squirrel family down the lane. Josh’s mother told me about some poor squirrels they ran into the other day. The mother is sick and they do not have any food.”
“But, Ma, I was in the middle of a game of tag, can’t you send one of the other piglets?” Sam complained.
“No, I want you to go, Sam, now take this basket and don’t dawdle.”
Sam took the basket in his teeth and plodded back out the pigpen. He slowly made his way down the lane grumbling under his breath as he took each step.
“What was that?”
Sam was surprised to find himself looking into the eyes of Old Jackson the horse. He set his basket of acorns down and plopped to the ground.
“What’s the long face for?” Jackson asked.
“I was playing tag with my friends when Ma told me to take this basket of acorns to a squirrel family. I wanted to finish my game, but Ma wouldn’t let me.”
The brown horse swallowed a mouthful of grass. “Oh,” Jackson studied the piglet. “I’m sure the other animals will still be playing when you are finished delivering the acorns.”
“Yeah, but I wanted to play right now. Ma always makes me do all the chores. None of the other piglets have to do the work I do.” Sam complained.
“Hmmm…” Jackson thought for a moment. “Well, I think I have just the thing for you, Sam.”
“What do you mean?” Sam asked.
“Oh, a story that might do you some good.” Stated the horse.
“Awe, not another story.” Sam groaned.
“Listen up, Sam, I think you might enjoy this story, and hopefully learn a lesson from it as well.”
Sam decided to listen and see what the old horse had to say.
“Once upon a time, in a very thick wood lived two bears. Although, these two bears were very much alike they were also very different from each other. One of the bears was called Cloudy and the other was called Black. One day, Cloudy was fishing in the Great Crystal River when a giant moose came up to him…

‘Cloudy, I have a message for you from your father,” The moose cleared his throat. “He wants you to make your way down north of this river. He wants you to help the poor animals who live down by the beaver’s dam because a terrible flood has come upon that part of the river.’
Cloudy eyed the trout he had been hunting as it swam past him. He could hear his stomach rumbling, but he knew he had to help those poor animals as his father had told him to do.
‘Let my father know that I will make great haste to help the poor creatures down by the beaver’s dam.’
Cloudy was about to charge down the riverbank when his friend Black emerged from the forest. ‘Where you going, Cloudy?’ The furry bear asked as he waddled up to Cloudy.
‘I’m going to go help the poor animals who live by the beaver’s dam. The river is flooding down in those parts. I sure could use your help, Black.’ Cloudy explained to his friend.
Black lay down on the riverbank. ‘Awe, Cloudy, I don’t like getting all wet and besides I wanted to go berry hunting with you today,’ the bear yawned. ‘Those animals down the river will be fine, someone else will help them. Let’s go search for berries.’
Cloudy licked his lips, but then shook his head. ‘No, Black, my father gave me a job to do and I will carry it out.’
‘Cloudy, your father is the king of this forest; you don’t need to do all the work. Let someone else help.’
Cloudy would not be deterred. ‘I must go, Black, those animals need help and it doesn’t matter if my father is king or not, I should be a servant and help those in need.’
Black rolled on his back. ‘Alright, suit yourself, but I am not going to waste my time.’
Cloudy ran down the path and left his friend behind. Suddenly his stomach began rumbling even more and he felt tired and hungry.
‘It sure would be nice to go berry hunting. Black is right, just because Father is king doesn’t mean I always have to be a servant. The other animals should be serving me.’ Cloudy slowed his pace as he grumbled to himself.
Cloudy plopped down and huffed.
‘What’s the matter, Cloudy?’ A small wood mouse asked as he peeked out from behind a tree branch.
‘My father wants me to help some animals down the river, but I’m hungry and tired of being the one who has to do all the work. Why can’t someone else be the servant for once?’
‘Oh, I see, you have forgotten that God wants all of us to be servants and not only does He want us to serve others, but He wants us to serve cheerfully with good attitudes,’ The little mouse inched closer to the bear. ‘Cloudy, don’t complain about the job your father gave you; carry it out and God will reward you for your servant’s heart.’
Cloudy nodded his head. ‘Alright, little Mouse; I’ll do what you have said. Thank you for reminding me.”
Cloudy charged forward and pushed his way through the thick brush. He came to a small clearing where the river widens and the beaver’s dam was located.
‘Alright, let’s see,’ Cloudy scanned the riverbank and stepped closer to the shore. ‘Oh, no!’ Cloudy caught sight of the beaver family clinging to their house as it broke to pieces underneath them.
The water washed over their heads as they screamed with fright. ‘Oh, help!’
Cloudy swiftly made his way through the churning water toward the beavers. ‘I’m coming, help is on the way.’ He called.
Cloudy reached the beavers and had them all climb on top of his back as he swam for shore. The current was strong, but Cloudy pressed on for the land.
All of a sudden, a scream cut through the air as Cloudy crawled onto the riverbank. ‘What was that?’
‘Oh, dear, my baby!’ Mrs. Beaver cried. ‘She’ll drown!’
Cloudy jumped back into the cold water and swam for the tiny beaver. The water swept her fiercely down the river as the bear dove into the water.
Cloudy caught up with the poor animal and scooped her into his arms. ‘There, there you’ll be alright.’ They were back on land in no time met by a very grateful family of beavers.
However, Cloudy’s job was not over yet. Other animals cried out for help. A family of ducks frantically tried to swim for shore and a poor rabbit had slipped down the riverbank and was grabbing a tree root for dear life when Cloudy came across him.
Cloudy was exhausted and starving when all the animals were finally safe and sound. He lay down on a bed of grass panting and soaked to the bone.
‘Oh, Cloudy, thank you so much for saving us,’ Mr. Beaver patted the bears wet fur. ‘We have a surprise for you. A thank you for all you’ve done.’
Mrs. Beaver and Cotton Rabbit set a platter of berries in front of Cloudy and Mrs. Duck brought the bear two large fish.
‘Thank you, Cloudy!’ They all exclaimed.
Cloudy did not know what to say. ‘It was my pleasure to help all of you. In fact, I almost didn’t come because I was selfish and started complaining, but a little mouse reminded me that Jesus wants us to be cheerful servants and to do everything without complaining.’ Cloudy smiled a contented smile.
‘Eat up, Cloudy.’ Mrs. Duck nudged the bear with her yellow bill.
Cloudy devoured the berries and fish and they soon disappeared into his belly, but the lesson he learned never left him.’

“Cloudy the bear learned a very important lesson that day, Sam,” Jackson the horse stated. “He learned that God wants us to cheerfully serving others without complaining.”
Sam sighed and stood to his feet. “Is that a true story, Mr. Jackson?”
“Sam, that story is happening all the time. The question is what you are going to do about it. Are you going to learn from Cloudy’s lesson or are you going to give into a bad attitude and complain about the job your mother gave you.”
Sam took the basket back into his mouth, “I’m going to go deliver these acorns right now like Ma wanted me to.”
Jackson smiled as he watched the little piglet scurry down the lane. He knew that Sam had learned a valuable lesson from Cloudy the bear.

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Philippians 2:14 says, “Do all things without complaining and disputing.” God wants His children to serve one another without complaining and disputing. He wants us to obey our parents without whining when they tell us to do something.
It is very easy for us to have a bad attitude and complain, but we should remember the lesson Cloudy and Sam learned about cheerfully serving others without complaining.
Take the lesson they learned to heart and act it out in your own life. The next time your mom wants you to clean your room, wash the dishes, or help you younger brother or sister with something obey with a cheerful attitude without complaining. Or when your dad has some extra work around the yard for you to do, do not complain about it just carry out the task with a cheerful heart

Lilly Learns A Lesson

ONE SUNNY DAY, as the sparrows and larks whistled their songs throughout the barnyard a small kitten whose name was Lilly, peeked her white head out the barn door. Her big, blue eyes glistened with excitement as she darted out of the red barn.
Most of the other animals were taking their afternoon naps. Lilly’s, four sisters, two brothers, and mother were all fast asleep in the barn loft, nestled in the sweet smelling hay, but not Lilly. She was not interested in sleeping the day away. She was an explorer, and there was so much to explore around the farm.
Lilly walked across the yard to the Farmer’s porch. She jumped onto the railing to get a good view of the barnyard and to see if anything interesting was happening. Nothing out of the ordinary caught Lilly’s attention. The chickens were huddled in their small barn hiding from the sun’s heat. Ishee and her piglets were wallowing around in a giant mud puddle as Hank the hound dog sniffed a clump of white mushrooms.
Lilly batted a black and yellow sunflower with her paw. “What should I do?” She wondered aloud.
Then she saw an interesting looking hole “Hmmm,” She peered down at the hole “I wonder what is down there.”
Lilly hopped off the railing and poked her head into the hole, but all she could see was darkness. She wriggled around and inched one-step forward. The hole was twice as big as Lilly was and all at once, she decided to venture down into the hole and see where it led. She did not even think to take off the blue dress that her mother always insisted that she wear or her brown leather slippers. She did not even remember that her mother had warned her many times not to wander off some place by herself, especially into a dark hole. She just clawed her way down the hole coughing and sputtering because of the dirt.
Lilly could just make out a glimmer of light up ahead as she rounded a bend. Her eyes were round with suspense as she inched forward and came to a little opening.
The small hole widened up into a cozy room with a fireplace. Before the fireplace was a small rocking chair creaking back and forth. Lilly could just make out the gray head of a mole as he sat before his fireplace puffing on a pipe. To the left of the mole was a kitchen with cupboards and pantry space overflowing with green grass and dandelion blossoms. A little table sat lopsided in the middle of the room with one chair accompanying it. On top of the table was an empty bowl, spoon, fork, and napkin.
Lilly scrunched up her little, pink nose when she caught a whiff of the mole’s bubbling dinner as it simmered over the fireplace. Lilly studied the pot and guessed that the mole must be eating stewed grass. Her mama had told her plenty of stories of moles and gofers eating stewed grass or roasted grasshoppers.
Lilly decided to crawl back up the hole and explore something else before the mole noticed her, but all of a sudden a puff of smoke from the mole’s pipe tickled her nose. “Ah-choo!”
The mole whirled around and stood up from his rocking chair. Lilly shivered as she realized that the mole was a lot larger and taller up close than when she had first seen him in his rocking chair.
The mole marched over to the small kitten. “What are you doing in my hole?” The mole towered over Lilly.
“I-I just- well I was…” Lilly faltered as she trembled with fear.
“Just as I thought,” The mole picked Lilly up by the scruff of her neck and set her on top of his table. “I suppose you are a curious cat, but this is no place for a kitten like yourself.”
A big tear slipped down from Maddy’s eyes as she buried her face in her paws and cried. “I’m sorry, Mr. Mole, please don’t eat me.”
“I won’t eat you,” The mole smiled at the little kitten. “I only eat grass and flowers. Does your mother know that you are down here?” The mole asked Lilly.
She shook her head slowly and sighed. “No, she doesn’t.”
The mole clicked his tongue and gazed with displeasure down at the little kitty. “Why did you wander off without telling your mother? She is probably very worried about you.”
“I know,” Lilly huffed. “But I love exploring and Mama doesn’t let me to go off by myself. So I just didn’t tell her.”
“So, you disobeyed your mother?”
“I guess.” Lilly shrugged.
“You guess?” The mole asked. “You either did or didn’t and from what I can gather you certainly did disobey her.”
The mole sat down in his chair and gazed directly into Lilly’s blue eyes. “You know little, Kitty, Jesus wants children to obey their parents even when they do not understand why. You could have been hurt badly if you had ventured down a snake hole or a rat hole.”
“I know.” Lilly’s eyes filled with tears.
“Well, I better take you home to your mother. But remember this; always obey your mother no matter what because in the Bible, God has commanded children to obey their parents.”
“I will remember, Mr. Mole, I am ever so sorry.” Lilly sobbed.
“There, there, don’t cry it will be alright.” The mole comforted.
The gray mole stuck Lilly under his arm and scurried up his dark hole. It was not long before the mole set Lilly down on the soft grass above his hole. “Now you go straight home to your mother, and tell her you’re sorry for disobeying. Maybe someday, we will meet again, Little Cat.”
Lilly ran straight for the barn and met her mother as she was franticly searching the barn for her missing kitten. “Why, Lilly, where have you been?”
Lilly told her mother all that had happened and all about the kind mole who had helped her. Then the little kitten told her mother how sorry she was for disobeying and wandering off by herself.
“It’s alright, Lilly,” The calico cat comforted her kitten. “I am glad you have learned a valuable lesson today. It is very important that you always obey me because I tell you to do or not to do certain things so that you will not get hurt. You need to trust me.”
The two cats walked back into the barn and Lilly spent the rest of the day cleaning the loft because of her disobedience. However, Lilly did learn an important lesson that day. She learned that she must obey her mother because God commands children to obey their parents.

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In Ephesians 6:1 it says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” God has given each of us parents to take care of us and He wants us to listen and obey them.
Just like Lilly learned how important it is to obey her mother, so all of us should learn from her story and obey our parents.
Today, cheerfully obey your parents for this is the right thing to do.

The Poor Robin

ONCE UPON A TIME, there was a great valley with rolling, green grass and bright, yellow sunflowers. In the middle of the great valley was a white, frame house and a big, red barn. A farmer and his family lived in the white, frame house and all the farm animals lived in the big, red barn.
Most stories are about the farmer and his family, but this story is about the farm animals. All the farm animals lived happily on the farm. The big, red barn kept the animals warm and cozy at night and in the winter time. During the day, the animals would venture out into the green pastures and munch on the sweet grass.
Jackson, a brown horse, lived in the stall closest to the barn door. All the other animals came to Old Jackson for advice. He was also good at telling stories.
In the stall next to Jackson was Gwen, the red, milk cow. She was a quiet animal and minded her own business most of the time.
A family of five mice shared the back of Gwen’s stall. Mr. Tip Toes and his little wife had made a cozy nest in a notch in the wall for their three wee, baby mice: Whisper, Polly, and Dickey.

Across the barn in the opposite stalls lived four goats. Two of the goats were white with dark spots and regularly bullied the other two goats. The snobby goats’ names were Bell and Pearl; the other two soft, brown goats’ names were Valley and Violet.
Outside in a small pen lived Ishee, a mama pig with a litter of nine baby pig all squealing at the top of their lungs.

Next to the pigpen was another pen, twice its size with a dozen white chickens scratching at the ground and squawking something fierce. The red, combed rooster crowed and strutted as most roosters do keeping all his hens in line.
On the back porch Mindy, a fat calico cat, lazily groomed her already clean coat and yawned a sleepy cat yawn. Two other cats sparred playfully in the dirt, clawing at each others' necks. Over by the barn, tied under a walnut tree was a frisky, hound pup. Hank scratched at the tree and barked at annoying flies.

One day as the sun was climbing high in the sky Mr. Tip Toes was gathering up stray pieces of corn by the chicken pen when he heard a mournful cry for help. The gray mouse stacked his armful of corn down by a grass clump and scampered toward the cry. He twitched his pink nose and sniffed the air. He spied a small, wriggling heap by the barn door.
Mr. Tip Toes dashed over to the barn door and found a poor robin lying on the ground sobbing. “What’s the matter, little bird?” Mr. Tip Toes asked.
The brown robin with a black cap and striped vest coked as he looked into Mr. Tip Toes face. “I was flying by and-and suddenly the barn door-it-it swung open,” He cried. “I didn’t have enough time to swerve out of the way and-and I flew right into the door and broke my wing.”
Mr. Tip Toes twirled his whiskers between his fingers and peered down at the bird. “Does it hurt badly?”
“A little.” The bird sniffled.
“Then why are you crying so hard?” Mr. Tip Toes asked.
“Because no one will help me,” A big tear dripped down the bird’s cheek. “A beautiful, blue bird flew by right after I was hurt, but he would not stop to help me because he said that he was hunting for a juicy worm for breakfast.”
Mr. Tip Toes patted the little birds head. “Did anybody else pass by?”
“Yes,” whimpered the robin. “A white, cooing dove heard my cries and came to see what the matter was.”
“Why didn’t he help you?” Mr. Tip Toes asked.
“The dove watched me for a couple minutes, but said he didn’t want to get his white feathers dirty.” The robin’s shoulders shook as he sobbed and cried.
Mr. Tip Toes rolled up his cotton, shirtsleeves and gently gathered up the little bird in his arms.
“What-what are you doing?” The robin’s voice quivered.
“I’m taking you home with me. My little wife will fix and bandage up your arm,”
Mr. Tip Toes panted as he slowly made his way into the barn. “We have a soft nest made of goat’s hair and sweet grass. You can stay with us as long as you please.”
The bird’s sobs subsided as he peered into the mouse’s tiny, black eyes. “Why are you helping me? You seemed so busy gathering up grain when I caught sight of you. Why?”
Mr. Tip Toes smiled from ear to ear and made his way further into the barn. “Its simple really, in the Bible Jesus commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves. And you, Little Robin, are certainly my neighbor,” Mr. Tip Toes pulled the bird around Gwen’s stall and under the wooden slat. “Jesus would want me to help you and not pass by because I am too busy.”
Mr. Tip Toes knocked on his front door and shifted the bird’s weight in his arms.
Mrs. Tip Toes opened the door and squeaked in surprise when she saw the injured bird. “Oh, dear! Whatever happened, Timothy?” She asked her husband.
Mr. Tip Toes dragged the bird into the living room and laid the robin in their simple nest. “Felicity, this is a poor robin I found while I was gathering up some corn. He has a broken wing; do you think you can bandage him up?”
“Oh, certainly.” Mrs. Tip Toes fussed over the Robins broken wing as three pairs of curious eyes watched from under the living room couch.
Mr. Tip Toes stepped over to the couch and smiled down at his three baby mice. “Come out and meet Mr. Robin, Children, he will be staying with us until his wing heals.”
The three little balls of fur inched out from under the couch, scampered up next to their mama, and peered down at the hurt bird.
“Is he hurt bad, Mama?” Dickey asked as he leaned against his mother’s side.
“I believe Mr. Robin will recover soon, but his wing is hurt and it will need tender care.” Mrs. Tip Toes patted Dickey’s head.
“Mama, can I nurse him?” Whisper nudged Mrs. Tip Toes’ arm.
“Of course, Sweetie, we’ll all help.”
The robin smiled warmly, “Thank you so much for everything. You are so kind and I don’t know what I would ever do without you.”
“It is our pleasure, Mr. Robin,” Mrs. Tip Toes knotted the bandage. “Jesus wants us to be kind and help those in need, whether we know them or not.”
“Thank you.” The bird closed his sleepy eyes and drifted off into a peaceful sleep.
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In the book of Matthew, Jesus told a parable about an Israelite man who was on a journey. While he was traveling, a band of robbers attacked him, stole his belongings, and left him to die. Not long after the man was robbed, another Israelite man came down the path, but did not stop to help the poor man. In the same way, a second Israelite man passed by, but did not give the bleeding man a second thought.
However, another man came down the road, a Samaritan man who the Israelites do not even associate with. This man stopped, cared for the man’s wounds, laid him on his own donkey, and took him into the nearest city. This Samaritan man truly acted as the wounded man’s neighbor because he cared for him.