Category Archives: Grandma’s Stories

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“I Can’t See You; You Can’t See Me!”

IMG_0041Uncle Jeff laughed as he watched the little girl hiding her face against her father’s legs. “Haha”, he laughed, “she thinks we can’t see her if she can’t see us! That reminds me of something I saw the other day while taking the train down to the city”.

“Oh, do tell us, Uncle Jeff”, Bobby said.

“Yes, please”, said Betty as she climbed up beside him.

Sarah crept in behind him pretending she wasn’t really listening, but she like Uncle Jeff’s stories as much as the others did.

“Well”, said Uncle Jeff, “We often see this sheep and goat in a paddock near the train line as we go past. We call them Sheepley and Goatley. But last week, they were through the fence right beside the line. We could see them as we came round the corner, but there’s no way we can stop the train when it’s going full speed. So we blew the whistle as loudly as it would go. Both Sheepley and Goatley looked up and saw the train coming, so they ran to the fence where they had got through. But they couldn’t find the hole they had crawled through, so they each stuck their head through the fence and thought they were safe. They looked so funny!! Haha!” and Uncle Jeff started laughing again as he remembered it.

“What silly things!” Betty said, “I wouldn’t do that!”

“I’m not so sure about that”, Uncle Jeff said, “How many times do you pretend you haven’t done something wrong when you have? That is just as silly because God has seen what you did!”

Betty squirmed and said, “I s’pose so. But look at baby Lizzie over there. She thought we couldn’t see her because she couldn’t see us”.

“Shhh Betty!” Bobby said, “Did you see them any more Uncle Jeff?”

“When we came back later that day, there they were again feeding right beside the danger on the line once more”, he said, “And they did the same thing again….they ran to the fence and poked their heads through it thinking they were safe”.

“I guess that’s a bit like people who won’t face what God tells them in the Bible”, Sarah said thoughtfully from behind them.

“That’s quite right Sarah,” said Uncle Jeff, “We’ve got to remember that one day we are going face Him and tell Him why we didn’t listen and do something about it. Well, off you go outside, that’s all the stories for today”.

“Thanks, Uncle Jeff”, said Bobby, “Race you to the gate, Betty!”

Grandma's Stories

Who’s Driving Your Car?

Hitchhiker 2  Sarah was sitting in church one Sunday morning with her mind only half on what the speaker was saying. ….

“I’m going to tell you a modern day parable to illustrate what I’m trying to get across to you”, he was saying, “We hear people talk about being ‘filled with the Holy Spirit, and allowing Him to control you’. The Apostle Paul tells us that we are to allow the Holy Spirit to fill us….we are not to be controlled by strong drink like a drunk person, but we are to allow God  to control us in the same way….”

Sarah suddenly sat up when she heard the preacher say….”It’s like this. Imagine you are driving your car along the road of life, and you see a hitch-hiker with his thumb up asking for a ride. You somehow know that this is the Lord Jesus asking to come into your life. You have the choice of either going straight past Him or stopping and giving Him a lift. Most people will just go straight past Him and not give Him a thought. But perhaps you think you would like to ask Him into the car with you.

You stop and let Him in….but where are you going to put Him? In the luggage compartment? No, you are not that mean. In the back seat then? Well, no, you would like to talk to Him a bit on the trip. What if He asked for the keys of the car? No way, you think, I’m driving this car and I want to go here or there where I please.

This is just what we all do with the Lord Jesus…we might let Him drive a short distance after we’ve been to camp and got a spiritual lift, or after hearing a good speaker at church. But then you simply HAVE to make a stop along the way, and when you get back into the car, you are back behind the wheel again!”

Sarah sighed. Why did preachers always have to put you on the spot? She knew very well that there were times when she did wrong things and went to wrong places or looked at wrong things, and that Jesus certainly wasn’t driving her car at those times.

The preacher finished his talk, but the things that he said stuck in Sarah’s mind, and as she got older she always thought of this little parable whenever she was tempted to do something she knew wouldn’t please the Lord.

She really DID want to let Him drive her “car” but it wasn’t always easy. After all what was it the Lord Jesus said to His disciples? “If any person will follow Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me”. (Luke 9:23)

Grandma's Stories, Stories for Littlies

Why Clean the Shower?

CHLD348   Bobby and Betty were playing ball outside on a winter’s day. The ground was quite wet and it wasn’t long before the ball was covered in mud. The next shower came and they went inside for a drink.

“Bobby!” exclaimed Mum, “Just look at your hands and your clothes! You are covered in mud!!”

“That’s alright, Mum”, Bobby said, “It’ll wash off!” and he reached out for the drink that Mum had ready.

“Bobby!” Mum said sternly, “That’s no way to talk! Don’t you know how much work it takes to get your clothes clean?”

Betty came bounding into the kitchen just then.

“Betty!” Mum exclaimed, “Whatever have you been doing? You’re so grubby!”

“I’ve been playing ball with Bobby!” Betty said (as though Mum couldn’t tell!)

“Well, you’d better both go and have a shower and put clean clothes on as soon as you’ve finished your drinks”, Mum said.

“I’m going first!” Bobby said, as he gulped down the last of his drink and went off to the bathroom.

“You make sure you wipe the shower box out with the spray cleaner when you’ve finished”, Mum called after him.

“Why do we have to wash the shower box out?” Betty asked, “It’s clean water”.

“Well”, Mum said, “there’s the dirt that comes off you, and the soap has a certain amount of grease in it, so the splashes inside the shower get thicker and thicker until it looks like a greasy scum over the whole thing. That is VERY hard to get off. It’s much easier to keep it clean all the time”.

“That’s right”, said Dad as he came into the kitchen catching the last bit of conversation. “You know it’s just like the little bad things that we do and say every day. If we don’t keep telling God that we are sorry for these things and ask Him to help us do better next time, we end up being mean and nasty all the time. It’s not a good idea to be like that! It’s much better to do it every day.”

 

Grandma's Stories, Stories for Littlies

The Green Sheep.

Green SheepBobby was jumping up and down with excitement. Uncle Jeff had just pulled into their driveway, and he always had some story to tell. Uncle Jeff was a train driver, and if that were not exciting enough, he always saw the funny side of things that happened on the side of the railway line as he went by. It didn’t take as much concentration as driving on the road, so there was plenty of time to look around as the train chugged along the line.

After Uncle Jeff got settled down with a cup of tea in his hand, Bobby snuggled up to him and said, “How did your train driving go last week, Uncle Jeff?”

“Well”, said Uncle Jeff, “We had quite an eventful week last week. We saw lots of animals near the line in different places”.

“Oh”, said Bobby, “Do tell us about them! What were they? ”

“One day we went past this farm where there was a pond for drinking water at the bottom of the hill. The sheep were all in a mob up near the railway line, so I gave a loud toot on the train whistle as we went past. You know, those silly sheep took fright and went galloping down towards the pond. When they got to it, they split in half and some went one way around it while the others went the other way. But would you believe it, there was one sheep sillier than the rest because it kept going straight ahead and flipped straight into the water! It was so funny to watch”, and Uncle Jeff chuckled as he remembered it all over again.

“Can sheep swim?” Bobby asked.

“Well, we asked ourselves the same question”, Uncle Jeff said, “But you know they can!”

“How do you know?” Bobby asked.

“Well, when we came back, we saw the same mob up near the line again”, Uncle Jeff said, “And this time there was one wet green sheep with them! He hadn’t only gone into the pond, but it was full of green slime and weeds, and the sheep got covered in it all. So he came out a green sheep. Ha,ha”, and Uncle Jeff laughed again at the memory of it all.

“Oh, that WAS funny!” Bobby said, “ What are the other stories?”

“They will have to wait for another time”, Uncle Jeff said as he got up and took his mug out to the kitchen and began to talk to the grown-ups there.

There’s a moral to this story…..the Bible says we are all like sheep that have gone astray, we have all gone our own way and it’s only the Lord Jesus that can get us out of the mess we find ourselves in. Out of all those sheep that went running down the hill, most of them turned and kept out of trouble. All except for the one that went straight into the pond! That one is just like us when we follow the mob that is running into danger. We have to make sure that we use our head before we lose it, and be careful to keep away from friends who take us to wrong places.

Grandma's Stories

What is a Shadow?

P1020998   A well known preacher lost his wife and was left with three motherless children. As was to be expected, the children couldn’t understand why their mother had died, and had many questions they asked their father.

One day as they were going in the car to the cemetery, a large truck and trailer passed them closely making a dark shadow over the car.

“Ooh, I wouldn’t want that truck to hit us!”, one of the children said.

“Which would hurt us the most, the truck or the shadow of the truck?” asked their father.

“The shadow can’t hurt us”, one of the older children said.

“No,” said their father, “And that’s just what it was like for Mum. Death didn’t hurt her because she loved Jesus, it was only just a shadow for her. It has only taken her body, and not touched her spirit or soul which are with Jesus in heaven”.

“Oh, that makes it so easy to understand now”, said the oldest boy.

 

Yes, though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff they comfort me.  (Psalm 23:4)

Grandma's Stories

Samuel and His Mum.

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Hi, my name is Samuel. I’m not all that old, and I’m living with the old priest in the temple. It’s a bit lonely here sometimes, but my Mum explained to me how I was a special baby from God, and that she had promised to give me back to God when I was old enough. It’s rather nice to think I can do something for God. I sometimes wonder  what it’s like where God lives. Eli (that’s the priest) says it’s too hard to even try to imagine it, so I guess he’s right.

He’s quite nice. He tries to make up for me not having my Mum here, but I don’t like his sons much. They are rude to him and boss me round. They even take ladies into the side rooms of the temple. I’m sure that’s not right. God’s temple is His house on earth, and there are a lot of rules to make sure we don’t do things wrong. God has given us, His people, special laws to keep. Eli is very fussy about these things.

Things like the lamp must be kept burning all the time. His sons couldn’t care less. They are so greedy, and take all the best bits of meat out of the sacrifice pot. I’m sure they don’t love  God as they should!

High Priest    I have special clothes to wear, ones like the priests wear. My Mum brings me a new set every year when she comes to the temple to worship God. I love my Mum so much, she is so nice! But she explained how much better it is to love God, so I do my best.

A strange thing happened not long ago. I had just got into bed and was nearly asleep when I heard a voice calling me. I jumped out of bed and ran into Eli.

“I’m here, Eli”, I said, “what do you want?”

“I didn’t call you, son”, he said, “Go back to bed”.

So I did.   The same thing happened again….I heard the Voice once more,   just quietly, but clearly. So I ran in to Eli again, and he told me to go back to bed again. When it happened the third time he said, “If you hear it again, say ‘Speak Lord, for Your servant is listening’ “.

It made me shiver to hear that, but sure enough, the Voice came again, and this time I sat up in bed and said, “Speak Lord, for Your servant is listening!”

I just knew it was God’s voice and that what He was telling me was for Eli. He said that He was going to punish Eli’s sons because they were so evil, and wouldn’t listen to Eli. I didn’t know how I was going to tell that to Eli the next morning, but after I had got up and opened all the doors, I managed to tell him. It wasn’t a nice message. But all he said was, “It is God’s message, let him do what is right”.

I’m determined now to always do what God wants. I know that is the best way to grow up! I told my Mum this the next time she came to see me, and she was so pleased. She said it makes up for us having to live away from each other.

 

 

 

Grandma's Stories

Why do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

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    People often ask this question….it just seems that life isn’t fair!! We do the best we can and then things go wrong for us!  The Bible tells us about a man like this, a good man who did the best he could and then he lost everything. It also gives us a picture of why this happened which will help us to see things differently when things go wrong or us too.

If we turn to the Bible and look at Job chapter one, verse one, we read….”there was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was perfect and upright, one who feared (respected and reverenced) God and who hated evil.”

So we see that Job always did his best and as we read down the chapter, we see the things that he did for himself and for his family. Let’s turn it into a story……   One day, God’s team of angels came to report to Him. God noticed a shiny, glistening, sneaky looking one among them who  didn’t usually come, and recognised him instantly.

“Where have you come from, Satan?” He asked.

“I’ve been walking up and down all over the place,” Satan replied shiftily.

“Have you seen any person as good as My servant Job is?”, God asked, “No-one else is as good in the whole world as he is….he loves Me and hates everything evil! He makes me an offering every day, not only for himself but also for his family.”

“Ho”, sneered Satan looking at God, ” No wonder he is so good! You look after him on every side, and have given him all he’s got! I bet if you took it all away from him it’d be a different story! He would curse You to Your face if that happened!!”

God knew His man, and He knew He could trust Job to do the right thing.

“OK,” He said to Satan, “We’ll see. I’m allowing you to take away everything that he has. I know he will stand firm for Me.”

Satan chuckled gleefully. ” I’ll make him sorry for following God’s ways. I can beat him!”

So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

The next day, Job got up early as he usually did, and made the morning sacrifice for himself and his wife. Then he made another sacrifice to cover each of his children. As he did this, he prayed for each of them, as he did every day. “Lord”, he said, “Please help the boys to stand firm for you; help them to resist temptations, and always be helpful  to their mother and sisters. I pray for the girls, Lord that they will not be vain with how they look, but that they will try their best to be beautiful with their minds and their speech.”

Job knew that his eldest son was putting on a party that day for his brothers and sisters, and he hoped that everything would go well for them all. While he was sitting there after breakfast thinking about them, he saw one of his servants rushing up the path. He could tell something was wrong.

“What’s the matter?” he called out as the man got close enough to hear.

“We were out in the field ploughing with the bullocks and the donkeys were there beside them when a marauding tribe from over the hill came and rounded them up, killing all the herdsmen, and I’m the only one who got away!”

With that, he fell down on the ground panting with the run, and fright at what he had seen.

The man had hardly finished telling Job this when another servant came panting up. “Oh, oh!,” he said, “There was a massive lightning storm over the paddock where the sheep were, and they have all been struck dead as well as the other servants there. I’m the only one who managed to get away to tell you!”

A third servant came panting in from another direction and said, “The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yes, and killed the servants with swords; and I only am escaped alone to tell you.”

Job hardly had time to take all this in when another servant came rushing in from the direction of the oldest boy’s house.

“Oh no!” he wailed when he saw Job, “Your sons and your daughters were eating their meal and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house when there was a terrific gust of wind rushing in from the desert like a tornado, and the roof was lifted off and the whole thing collapsed on everyone else in the house, and they are all dead! I’m the only one to  escape and tell you!”

Job had been sitting down all this time, and now he stood up and tore his long robe off his shoulders. He went inside and shaved the hair all off his head to show how upset he was.

His wife and servants wondered how he would cope with all this bad news and the disasters that had happened. But he didn’t curse or swear, or even complain. It didn’t even enter his head to ask God why this had all happened.

Instead, he got down on his knees and prayed in front of everyone left in his house, and said, ” I was born naked with nothing, and I will go back to God the same way, with nothing. The LORD gave me these things, and the LORD has taken them away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

The Bible tells us that in all these disasters Job didn’t sin or complain and blame God foolishly. I wonder how I would react in a situation like this! Job is a marvelous example to us all!

 

 

 

 

Grandma's Stories

Why Bother Pruning?

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      Bobby watched Grandma snipping away at the plants around the side of the house. They were quite big plants and he thought they looked quite nice.

“Why are you cutting those plants back Grandma?” he asked.

Grandma paused a moment and then said, “You see these leaves here, Bobby?” she asked, “They have all got little black spots on them, and that’s a disease. Besides, these plants are getting too big and are covering up the smaller ones underneath them”.

“Oh”, said Bobby, “So you are taking all the bad leaves off. Will they grow again?”

“Oh yes,” Grandma replied, “In a couple if months you won’t know them. They will all send up new shoots again, and the bush will look much better.”

“What about those weeds there Grandma? Are you going to take them out?”. Bobby asked.

“What do you think Bobby?” Grandma asked.

“Yes, I guess they aren’t doing any good there. Shall I pull them up for you?” Bobby went on, and then bent down to pull them out.

“What does this remind you of, Bobby?” Grandma asked.

“Well, I know weeds aren’t supposed to be in the garden”, Bobby said, “I guess they are like the bad habits we have….if we leave them and keep doing them all the time they will grow and take us over”.

“That’s quite right Bobby”, said Grandma. “And the pruning is another way to get rid of things we shouldn’t be doing like telling lies and cheating. It might hurt us to put things  right, but when we have done this, we can start to grow good habits and the flower buds will start coming. Then people will admire us and enjoy our company just like they will admire these flower bushes when they grow again”.

“Wow!” said Bobby, “I never thought of that before. I guess it’s a good idea to cut all those bad leaves off after all Grandma!”

Grandma smiled to herself. She knew that Bobby wouldn’t  forget this lesson in a hurry. She also remembered the Bible verse that talks about pruning where Jesus said…..I am the true He takes  away: and every branch that bears fruit (flowers) , He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit (flowers).