Category: Children

Hollywood and the Dream Catcher.

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Early in the morning when the sun peaks above the stars and begins the long trek up to the top of the sky in all its splendor is the best time of day. The clouds’ part company and allow their friend the Sun to gently rise, warming the land, and causing the flowers to bloom. The flowers turn their blooms towards the sun and follow its rays all day long.

Miss Tillie is smiling as Hollywood daydreams about things in the past when he lived on a cattle ranch called the Flying Too. He made up many songs as a young man and he recalled one this morning.

Back home again on the Flying Too,

From a young lad to a man, I grew.

Twenty long years I’ve been away,

I sometimes wonder why I strayed.

Pushing out across the high plains,

I know every foot of that prairie range.

My years turn back as I dreamed along,

and hum to myself this old song.

Hollywood could see the ridge from the old Flying Too homestead in his mind. On a good day you could see nearly 50 miles in most directions. Every day the cattle scattered and he loved to run out to the ends of the land, hunting for them, bringing them back home for their supper, and taking a good bath in the creek.

Every day he was on the ranch was peaceful but eventually things changed and he wondered what was over the next hill. He wondered what it was like to be on other ranches. He wondered if he could be a cowboy on any other ranch. He wondered. His song continued:

An Eagle fly’s low with life on its wing.

God sent butterflies out to sing.

The West wind blows with a curious sigh.

Fireflies dance on the bells they ring.

The tumbleweed stops and rolls on by.

Mercy comes down and heals the divide.

All is well in God’s country tonight.

All is well in God’s country tonight.

Hollywood was remembering his friends and family who had scattered to the four winds. From time to time a letter would come and let him know of their fate. He would send out letters to them and then he started creating dream catchers with an attached note for the trees on the range. He carefully wrapped the notes in a leather pouch and attached them to the dream catcher. As he wandered about the Wind River Range he secured the dream catchers to a tree.

Sometimes he would hear about his dreamcatcher messages when he drifted into town for supplies, but no one knew it was Hollywood that was writing the messages. He was becoming a bit of a curiosity in the community as people tried to learn who was writing the messages.  Miss Tillie knew, but she never told anyone the messages came from Hollywood.

One of his favorite messages was this…

It has been my observation that God loves all of us more than we will ever know. Even before we were born, he knew about us and loved us for what we would become. He even planned for our life and helped us to find our way through life. We are wise to honor God with the things we earn from the land, we should share with others when we have plenty and even when we do not. If you do this, God will keep filling your barns with crops overflowing, and your wells with cool water. Those who find God’s wisdom will be blessed; I suggest that you spend your life growing in wisdom. God’s wisdom is more valuable than gold, more precious than diamonds, there is nothing that compares with God’s wisdom. The way of wisdom will lead you to a long life, a pleasant life, a good life of service to God. You will find peace when you find God’s wisdom. Hang on to the good things, hang on to God’s wisdom.

Hollywood and his dreamcatchers were famous in his later days. Sometimes his messages appeared in the local newspaper. People would read and talk about them for hours. He kept writing for most of his life. Miss Tillie was always sure to make the little leather pouches and keep a fresh ink pen ready for Hollywood to support his creation of new messages. They worked hard, their barn was full, and they shared with many who needed help.

As the sun went down, Hollywood and Miss Tillie reflected on their life and on the Flying Too ranch. He could not imagine a life any different than the life he was living.

Proverbs 9:10 — The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.

Please note: In 1956 a cowboy poet, Jim Jennings, published a short book about his experience working at ‘dude’ ranches in the west. My Great grandmother, Goldie Livingston, obtained a first edition copy of Jim’s self-published book in the fall of 1956. The poetry in this story is adapted from Jim’s book.

Hollywood and the Cool Breeze

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The sun had not even reached above the ridge near the area where Frank Burbank and Miss Tillie were camping. Frank was a cowboy and a guide, but most people just called him Hollywood. Miss Tillie was a schoolteacher. She was married to Frank, but everybody called her Miss Tillie, even Frank. Her full name was Rosemarie Tillie. Frank and Rosemarie knew each other as young adults.

They drifted apart as Frank went out into the world looking for adventure and she worked to become a schoolteacher. Rosemarie received wise counsel from her Grandmother Ruth. Her grandmother told her to be patient – God would bring Frank back to his senses. She grew her skill as a Wind River Range teacher and waited for Frank to become more stable. Over the years, Rosemarie lost sight of Frank and put him out of her mind. But, just as Grandmother Ruth had said — Frank settled down. It was Grandmother Ruth that gave Frank the nickname of ‘Hollywood,’ She named him Hollywood because Frank looked a bit like a Hollywood star. Frank and Rosemarie did not get married until the middle portion of their life.

Today, in the autumn of their life, they were camping in this valley looking for interesting things to see and butterflies to chase. Gradually as the sun appeared, Hollywood (Frank Burbank) remembered parts of a song that his mother (Gracie Burbank, Mother Gracie) used to sing when she was younger.

Hollywood sang aloud:

I love to feel the soft summer breeze and hear whispers through the trees.

Where you listen to the mountain stream, we often sit and dream.

The cowboys I remember true, were men who worshiped God above.

They just loved the big outdoors; God made this place for them to adore.

When he completed the song, Hollywood and Miss Tillie sat quietly for a minute. Then the smell of breakfast filled their Wind River campsite. Hollywood loved to smell coffee and bacon. He could not wait for breakfast. His tummy rolled and grumbled; he was pacing around the fire.

Hollywood said — Cannot wait, cannot wait. Really need some of your yummy breakfast, so we can begin the day.

Miss Tillie smiled and calmed him down as she carefully crafted the morning breakfast. She finished the bacon and set it aside, she finished the eggs and covered them with a lid to keep them warm, she made a little bit of oatmeal, and then she poured a nice cup of coffee. She found a bright red tablecloth with little stripes going every which way.

Miss Tillie smiled and said — I have used this tablecloth many times, it is full of memories, it will make the food taste better.

Then Miss Tillie laid out the plates on the tablecloth and placed the coffee cups where they were easy to reach. She invited Hollywood to have a seat so they could pray before they ate.

Miss Tillie prayed — Father God may you bless this food that we are about to eat, may you bless us in our activities today, may you keep us safe from trouble, and may we see the glory of your creation today. In Jesus name Amen.

With a great big smile on his face, Hollywood said – Amen! Let us eat.

Everything looked so good, Hollywood did not know where to begin; he just looked at the plate for a while. Then he gently picked up a small piece of bacon and crunched away on the wonderful flavors and aromas that Miss Tillie had made for him. Hollywood then found the eggs and gently placed them on a fork so he could treat them with all the respect that she did when she prepared them for him.

Hollywood sat back with the piece of toast and began to think about a song he was remembering. Something that Miss Tillie used to sing when she was very young and just getting started as a teacher. Hollywood remembered the song and started to sing —

I love to walk in the springtime and listen to the larks.

Can you hear God’s wind blowing, can you hear the angelic harps?

They sing in the valley where the deep snow laid just a month ago.

Now it is spring and I smell the flowers when I walk ever so slow.

Miss Tillie said – my grandmother Ruth taught me that song. She learned it from her mother. The song reminds me of the times when my grandmother would teach me about the things of God. She told me that God created the heavens and earth—everything we can see, everything we cannot see.

Miss Tillie continued — At first the Earth was difficult to see, it did not have much of a shape. The Spirit of God hovered and looked around. Then God made more changes. He said – let there be light. And just like that, light appeared, and he smiled. It was good. Then he let the night have its place and the day have its place. He was pleased. The next day, when the light appeared, he said — let there be a sky and land and oceans. Blue sky and blue waters appeared.  It was beautiful.

Miss Tillie continued – every time my grandmother Ruth sang the song, she taught me how God made everything we can see and everything we cannot see. I will always remember the respect she had for God. I hope I will always teach that respect to my students.

Hollywood sipped on his coffee. He could see the hope in Miss Tillie’s eyes as she talked about the things of God. He wondered what adventures they would get into today. He loved to listen to the stories from Miss Tillie’s childhood. Together they walked all through the valley for the rest of the day. They talked about things, listened to the larks, and marveled at God’s creation.

As the day ended, they settled down for supper. The night song from the critters was magnificent. The stars above retold the story of God’s creation. All was well in the world; Miss Tillie and her husband were content. A cool breeze lulled them to sleep. God was smiling…

Genesis 1:3-6 — And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

Please note: In 1956 a cowboy poet, Jim Jennings, published a short book about his experience working at ‘dude’ ranches in the west. My Great grandmother, Goldie Livingston, obtained a first edition copy of Jim’s self-published book in the fall of 1956. The poetry in this story is adapted from Jim’s book.

Parable of Ten Bridesmaids

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The Bible says that Jesus died on the cross and came back alive. After that, he went up to heaven to be with God. Before he went to heaven, he said that someday he would return. He would return to the earth and get all the people who loved and obeyed him. He would take them back with him so they could live in heaven too.

So Jesus will come back someday and take us to heaven. When do you think that will happen? Could it be today? Could it be tomorrow? Could it be 20 years from now? No one can answer that question. No one knows when Jesus will come back to the earth.

No one knows when Jesus is coming back, but there is something we do know. Jesus said to get ready. How do we get ready for Jesus to come back? We get ready for Jesus by obeying God and by loving him. Are you ready?

In the bible, we read about a time when Jesus was teaching people to get ready for when he comes back. To help them understand about getting ready, he told a parable. A parable is a story that helps people to understand something very important. Here is the parable:

Once there was a big wedding. The wedding was so big that there were 10 bridesmaids. The bridesmaids all helped the bride get ready for the wedding. Weddings back then started at night. Everyone knew that sometimes during the night, the groom would come to the bride’s house and call out for her. The bridesmaids would hold up their oil lamps so that the bride and groom could see each other. The groom would be so happy to see his beautiful bride!

Everyone would keep holding up their lamps so that everyone could walk down the streets all the way to the groom’s house. Then there would be dancing, eating, and lots of fun celebrations at the wedding.

In Jesus’ parable, he told what happened when the ten bridesmaids helped the bride get ready for the wedding. Five of the bridesmaids were wise. They knew that sometimes the groom would wait long before he came to get the bride. So the wise bridesmaids brought extra oil for their lamps. They wanted to be ready even if the groom came very late in the night.

The five other bridesmaids were foolish. They did not think about bringing extra oil.

After the bridesmaids got the bride ready, they waited for the groom to come. They kept their lamps lit so they would be ready when he came. As time passed, the bride and all the bridesmaids got sleepy and fell asleep.

Then someone shouted, “Here’s the bridegroom, come outside and meet him!”

The bride and all of the bridesmaids woke up. They fixed their lamps to make them nice and bright. The five foolish girls noticed that their lamps had run out of oil and had burned out. They asked the wise girls for oil, but there was enough for them to have some too.

The foolish girls had to go and try to find more oil for the lamps. They did not get to go out with the bride to meet the bridegroom. They did not get to walk down the streets to the wedding feast with all of their friends. They were too busy trying to find oil.

When the wise bridesmaids and everyone else arrived at the groom’s house, they went inside and began the celebrations. The groom shut the door and locked it so no strangers could get inside. The foolish bridesmaids were not allowed in when they came to the door. The groom didn’t even know who they were!

This parable explains how it will be when Jesus comes again. We do not know the day or the time when Jesus will come back. We should always love God and obey him so we will be ready whenever he comes. We want to be ready to go with Jesus to heaven.  Are you ready?

Scripture Reference: Matthew 25:1-13

Parable of an Unforgiving Servant

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Peter, one of Jesus’ apostles, came to him and asked him a question. “Lord, how many times should I forgive someone when they do something wrong to me?”

Jesus knew that we should always forgive someone if they are sorry for what they have done. Instead of saying “always”, Jesus said, “Peter, you should forgive someone seventy-seven times!” Some versions of the bible even say, “seventy times seven”.

Then Jesus decided to tell Peter a parable to help him understand how important it is to forgive someone when they are sorry. A parable is a simple story that has a very important meaning. This is Jesus’ parable:

Once there was a king who was very rich. He had many servants who worked for him. Some servants were in charge of lots of the king’s money. They were also in charge of other servants.

The king checked to see if one of his servants cared for the money. When the king checked on the money, he discovered that his servant had not paid the bills but had borrowed the money for himself. It was not just a little money. The servant had borrowed thousands and thousands of dollars! He had borrowed so much money that he could never pay it back. This man had a huge debt.

At first, the king decided the only way to get his money back was to sell the servant and all of his family as slaves. The servant was very upset. His wife and children would all have to go and live in different places. They might never see each other again. The servant begged the king to forgive him for what he had done. He begged and begged him to not sell his family as slaves.

The king felt sorry for the servant. He decided to forgive the servant for borrowing thousands and thousands of dollars. He even told the servant that he would not have to repay the money.

Do you think the servant was happy? Do you think he was so happy that he treated everyone nicely that day? No, he did not.

When the servant left the king, he found another servant who owed him money. The servant only owed this man a few dollars. His debt was very small. Even though the king had been nice to him, the servant grabbed this man and began to choke him. He told him he would put him in prison until he paid back the few dollars.

Some of the other servants heard what had happened and went and told the king. What do you think the king thought? He had forgiven the servant a huge debt, but the servant could not forgive another even a small debt.

The king was very angry and threw the man in prison. He would have to stay in prison until the debt was paid.

Do you think Peter understood the parable that Jesus told him about forgiveness? The parable means that God has forgiven us for everything we have ever done wrong to him. He has forgiven us a huge debt! Now he wants us to forgive people when they are sorry for the bad things they do to us. God forgave us a huge debt like the king in the parable did and we should forgive others for their small debts against us. That’s what the servant in the parable should have done.

Scripture Reference:  Matthew 18:21-35

Parable of a Prodigal Son

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Jesus told a parable about a man with two sons. A parable is a simple story to help people understand something hard to understand – something that is important to understand.

In this parable, a man had two sons. The father knew that someday he would get very old and die. When he died, all his money, house, and farm would be given to his two sons. The money and property that children receive from someone who dies is called an “inheritance”.

The younger son was very impatient. He did not want to wait for his father to die to get his inheritance. He wanted his father’s money soon so he could go and spend it. He asked his father to divide the money and give him his part. The father wanted his son to be happy, so he did as his son asked. He divided the money and gave half to his youngest son.

The younger son took all the money and left home. He went to live in another country that was very far from his home. He bought everything that he wanted. He spent money on parties and wasteful things. People liked him because he had lots of money and bought things for them.

The problem was that soon the money ran out. He had no more money for parties, and his friends stopped liking him. It turns out that they weren’t real friends after all. They only liked him when he bought them things. Now that he had no money, they did not even want to be around him.

Soon, the younger son ran out of food and became very hungry. He had to think of a way to earn money, or he would starve!

The situation became even more serious because there was a famine in the country where the son lived. That meant that there was hardly any food for anyone to eat. Many other people were hungry. too

A farmer who owned pigs needed a helper, so the son began to work for the farmer. His job was to feed the pigs. The son was so hungry that even the pig food started to look good to him.

Finally, the son began to think about his bad choices. He thought about his father and brother. At home, people loved him. At home, there was plenty of food.

The son began to realize that he had made a terrible mistake. He should never have asked his father to give him the money early. He should have been patient. If only he could go back in time and be a good son.

“But it is too late now,” he thought. “I have done many bad things. I am not good enough to be a son now. My father would never forgive me and take me back.”

But the son had another idea. His father had many workers and many jobs to do. They worked hard but at least they had enough food. If he asked his father nicely, then maybe his father would allow him to be one of the workers. He could take care of the animals and work hard.

So, the son decided to return home.

The son thought the father would be angry, but as he got closer to his old home, he was shocked to see his father running to meet him.

When the father saw his son coming, he was filled with love for him. He was so happy to see his son that he threw his arms around him and gave him a big hug and a kiss. “My son has returned to me!” his father cried.

The son said, “I am sorry, but I have done terrible things. I do not deserve to be your son. I can just be one of your workers.”

But the father did not treat him like a servant at all. He welcomed him home as his son. He told the servants to cook a big dinner. He put a beautiful robe on his son. He put a ring on his finger and special sandals on his feet.

“I thought my son was dead, and I would never see him again. But my son has come back to me!” the father said. “He was lost, but now he is found.”

The father had a special meal prepared, and everyone in the household celebrated.

Almost everyone, that is. When the older son saw everyone celebrating, he became jealous and very unhappy. “This is not fair,” he thought. “I have been the good son all along, but I am not getting the attention. I never left home and spent all the money, but nobody is having a party for me.”

But the father went to the older son and told him he loved him too. He explained to the son why he was so happy. “Don’t you understand, son? I am so happy because I thought my son was dead, but now I know he is alive!”

“He came back to me. He was lost, but now he is found!” he continued, “Please, let’s celebrate together.”

Jesus told this parable so that people would understand something about God. Sometimes we are like the young son in the parable. We do wrong things. We start to feel very bad. We might think that God would never forgive us.

But God does forgive us! When we tell God we are sorry, he is so happy. He is happy because he loves us and always wants us to do the right thing.

Do you think God will love you and forgive you if you tell him you are sorry for something?

Scripture Reference: Luke 15:11-32

Parable of a Lost Sheep

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Once a shepherd had a flock of 100 sheep. Shepherds love their sheep. Sometimes they even have names for the sheep. A shepherd leads his sheep to nutritious green grass to eat. He looks for nice clean water so his sheep can have a drink when they are thirsty.

A shepherd watches after every sheep and takes care of them. Sometimes dangerous animals like bears and lions would come and try to hurt his sheep. The shepherd protects the sheep and chases all the dangerous animals away from them.

At other times the sheep would wander away from the rest of the sheep and the shepherd had to call out the sheep’s name. When the sheep heard the shepherd’s voice he would run back to the shepherd.

The shepherd loved every one of his sheep. He even had names for his sheep. Every night he would count his sheep to make sure that all 100 were there.

Jesus continued talking about the shepherd in the parable. One day the shepherd counted his sheep and found that there were only 99 sheep instead of 100. The shepherd was so worried.  One of the sheep must be lost.

Even though 99 of the sheep were safe the shepherd was so concerned about the 1 sheep that was lost. Immediately, he left the other sheep in a safe place and set off looking for the lost sheep.

The shepherd searched everywhere. What if the sheep were hurt? What if some wild animals had attacked it?

Finally, he found the lost sheep! The shepherd was so relieved and happy.

The shepherd lifted the sheep up onto his shoulders and carried him all the way back to join the rest of the flock.

Every sheep is important to the shepherd. Even if only one is lost he will search everywhere to find it.

In the same way, people are important to God.  He does not want anyone to be lost either.  Every person is important to God.

Do you believe that people are important to God?  If we know that someone is missing, what do you think we should do?

Scripture Reference: Matthew 18:10-14 and Luke 15:1-7

Parable of a Good Samaritan

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Wherever Jesus went people would come to hear him tell about God. They loved to hear him tell parables. Parables were stories that helped people understand important lessons.

Once a man who was an expert in the Law of God asked Jesus a question, “Teacher, what must I do to live forever?”

Jesus knew that man was an expert in God’s Old Testament Laws. He asked the man what the Old Testament Law said that a person must do to live forever.

The man’s answer was, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and, Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus told the man that he was right. That was the greatest commandment. That is the way to live forever.

Then the man asked about loving your neighbor as yourself. Did he have to love all his neighbors or just the ones that lived close by? He asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”

Instead of telling him the answer Jesus told a parable. This is the parable:

A man was travelling by himself from Jerusalem to the town of Jericho. While he was on the road some robbers attacked him. They beat him up and took everything he had – even his clothes! The man was left all alone on the road. He waited and waited for someone to come by and help him.

A priest came walking by on the road. Priests were God’s helpers in the temple. They knew how to worship God. They knew all of the rules of God. Do you think the priest helped the man? No, the priest went to the other side of the road and passed right by the man without help.

Next, a Levite came along the road. Levites knew all of God’s laws. They were good Jews. Do you think the Levite stopped and helped the man? No, the Levite looked at the man and then crossed the road and walked right past him.

Finally, a man from Samaria came along the road. The Jews did not like Samaritans. Everybody thought that the Samaritans would never help anybody. But this Samaritan was good. He saw the man on the road, and he stopped to help. He put oil and wine on the man’s wounds. (Oil and wine were used for medicine in those times.) Then he lifted the man onto his donkey and took him to a nearby inn. He took care of the man all night to make sure he was going to be well.

The next morning the Samaritan had to leave to continue his journey. He wanted to make sure that the injured man was taken care of, so he gave money to the innkeeper. He gave him enough money so that the man could stay at the inn for two months! He even told the innkeeper that he would come back the next time he was travelling and pay more money if the man was still sick.

Everyone was very surprised to hear this parable. When Jesus was finished, he asked the expert in the Law of God a question, “Three men went on the road that day: the priest, the Levite and the Samaritan. Which of these men do you think was a neighbor to the man who was beaten and robbed?”

What do you think the expert in the Law of God answered? That’s right, the Samaritan was a neighbor. Helping anyone who needs help is being the kind of neighbor that God wants. We don’t even have to know the person. We should help them just because they need help.

Scripture Reference: Luke 10:25-37