"The Snowball Fight"

“The Snowball Fight”

 

 

The sky was a solid grey with no sun, no blue sky, or fluffy white clouds, just a solid grey.  Henry and Harry watched the snowflakes drift from the grey sky to the ground below.  They watched as the black dirt and the dried-up grass became covered with a blanket of white snow.  Before long, all the ground was covered with soft, white snow.  Not one bit of dirt or grass could be seen.

 

Henry and Harry’s dad came into the living room, dressed in boots, a heavy coat with a hood and a colorful scarf wrapped around his neck.  “Well, boys get ready we are going to go out and have a snowball fight, it will be you two against me.” 

“But Dad, that’s not fair, two against one!”  Henry said.

“Yeah, we’ll win this snow ball fight!”  Harry declared.

“Maybe and maybe not, you see I’m bigger and have longer, stronger arms than either of you!”  Dad said, with a smile on his face.

“You’re on!” Henry shouted.

They got into their snowsuits and boots and grabbed their gloves and hats, and off they went, all three of them.  “Okay boys, I’ll make twelve snowballs and you all make 12 snowballs, and whoever gets hit with ALL twelve snowballs loses, and has to serve creamy hot chocolate to the winner, DEAL?” Dad said. 

“Oh Yeah!”  Both boys yelled.

So the snowball fight began, at first it seemed like their dad was going to win, but Henry and Harry got their heads together, and their dad, trying to hide behind a tall, but skinny pine tree, was suddenly bombarded with snowballs from both sides. 

You see, the boys were hiding behind a hedge that went all around the front yard, they hid behind the hedge and they put their brightly colored, knitted caps on the hedge and then one crept along the hedge one way and one crept along the hedge the other way and they sneaked up on their dad and let go with all their snowballs.  Then all three of them fell to the snowy ground, laughing.

And Dad true to his word, served the boys their steaming mugs of creamy hot chocolate with lots of big, fluffy, white marshmallows floating on top.  As they were sitting and sipping their hot chocolate and talking about the snow, Henry said, “Boy, Dad it didn’t take very long for the snow to cover ALL the dirt and grass.” 

“Your right Henry, it was coming down pretty fast. Did you boys know the Bible even mentions snow?”  Their Dad replied.

“Aww, come on, Dad, REALLY?”  Henry asked.

“Sure in a number of places, the one that I like is Psalm 51:7, it says: ‘Take away my sin and I will be clean, wash me and I will be whiter than snow.’  You boys remember when it was snowing and covering the dirt and grass, and before long, you could not see the dirt or the grass?  Let’s say the dirt is our sins and when we tell God we are sorry for our sins.  He forgives us and the blood of Jesus covers the dirt or sin that’s in our heart.  We no longer look dirty to God, but our heart becomes white as that snow!”  Their Dad explained.

“Hey, that’s pretty neat!  Jesus washes us and we become whiter than snow.”  Harry exclaimed, as they sipped their mugs of hot chocolate and watched the snow falling on a snow covered ground.

 

 

 

"A Good Name"

“A Good Name”

There was a boy whose parents named him, Lemuel Edwin Billaby.  He was called Lemuel. 

His family moved to a different town when he was in the fourth grade.  A lot of the kids made fun of his name it was not an ordinary name, and some would laugh and call him “Lemon!”

This hurt Lemuel’ feelings a lot, and he didn’t make friends with anyone, because he thought they were ALL making fun of him.

One day, when his mom came to pick him up from school, she noticed how sad he was, so she ask him, “Why such a sad face?”

“Mom, why did you name me ‘Lemuel?’  It’s an awful name, I hate it!’  He said, in tears.

When they got home.  Lemuel , got out of the car and ran to the house and into his room, shutting the door behind him, falling on his bed, crying , he was so sad.  Within ten minutes his bedroom door opened and his mom walked in carrying an armful of big scrap books and she sat down on the side of Lemuel’s bed, and said, “Lemuel, this is the reason we named you what we did.” 

She opened the first big scrap book and there were all kinds of pictures and newspaper clippings about a fireman by the name of “Lemuel.”

 It was Lemuel’s great-grand pa, he was a fireman, and a hero, not just once but many times.  He had rescued a lot of people from burning buildings and he had received a lot of rewards and medals.

The following day at school, the teacher told the class that they were to write a paper on the one person they admired the most.  Lemuel was so excited.  When he got home and told his mom, she helped him.  She made copies of his great-grandpa Lemuel’s newspaper clippings and photos for his report.  She also let him take one of the medals to school.

The next day,  Lemuel gave his report, he was so proud of all the things that his great-grandpa, Lemuel had done, that made him a TRUE hero.  So he added this at the end of his report, “I am so proud to be named after this brave, hero, my great-grandpa Lemuel.”

The class applauded, and they gathered around Lemuel to look at the pictures and newspaper clippings and to be able to hold the medal. 

That afternoon, when Lemuel got into the car, he was smiling from ear to ear and mom was smiling too.  Lemuel said; “Thanks, Mom for giving me my name.”

A good name is to be more desired than great wealth.  Proverbs 22:1